Quote:
Originally Posted by luigiwu
What is the wick for to help drainage? Or to suck up water, if that little jar is full? People making SIP use a pellon material or poly-cotton rope but imo, with what you have now, it won't be effective in anything. (you'll need a lot strips and then I believe your drainage holes at the bottom will work against that. Your supply will need to be located higher than your drainage holes too but for starters the drainage holes at the bottom works against this. You need an overflow hole at the side of SIPs.) Anyway, things to keep in mind, a wick is effective for distributing water via capilary action (peat moss!) for an approx cube of 12x12x12inches - imo, that's why 5-gallon buckets are quite perfect due to the depth of it.
I am all about subirrigated container gardening. Its the only way I can grow stuff in a small plot in a big city (and be at work all day long.) Basic single SIPs are like Raybo's earthtainer and then there are global buckets and alaska grow buckets. My personal favorite is Larry Hall's rain garden grow system to familiar - tons of fun on youtube land where his channel is located.
|
Hi Luigiwu,
I was actually attempting to aid in drainage of the perched water table. I am finding out that my mixture may be too moisture retentive, based on threads I've read here and all the perched water table info on the GW forums.
It very well may be pointless, and given the size of the container, the PWT may not have much of a negative effect at all. I guess that is what I have been trying to figure out.
The articles about the perched water table over on GW, make it sound like if you don't use the 5-1-1 mix or something similar with all large particles, that your container garden could be severely impaired by water retention and rotting roots. It all sounded pretty darn scary to a someone who's never tried any container gardening before
As for the little jar with the paper towels, it was only temporary. I was trying to see if/how much the piece of rope was actually drawing moisture out of the soil.
I am not trying to sub-irrigate via the wick, but completely the opposite. I was making an attempt to help the soil drain better. I guess I got a bit paranoid that my moisture-retentive growing medium may be harboring a large perched water table, According to the rather scary articles I've been reading about the PWT concept, if true, it would effectively shorten the depth of my growing space, or worse, lead to rotting roots eventually.
Whether or not the perched water table is even something I need worry about in a container setup like mine, is really what I am trying to learn.
Thanks!