The Science Project - Part One

To keep myself out of mischief and busy I set up the ‘ science’ project using wicking beds and straw bales, to put into practice all that I had been reading about in my magazines. Steve and Lorraine (owners of the caravan park) let me cordon off a small area (keep the roos out) next the c’van where I could dabble to my heart content, and the amusement of others.

The idea of a wicking bed is to water your plants from the bottom allowing the water to wick up through your bed which is heavily mulched on the top. The reason for this is that you use a lot less water than when you grow veggies in the ground.

Sounds like a good idea considering we are in the arid south west of Queensland.

What you need is waterproof containers, these can be as big or as small as you wish, you can use a bath or a basin, or you an waterproof a raised garden bed.

I decided to use smallish containers and buckets, due to the small area I has cordoned of, after all this was just and experiment.

The first wicking containers I made were from plastic buckets.

 One bucket sits inside the other. The outer bucket will act as the water reservoir, the inner bucket will be where the plants will grow (hopeful!).

 In the this view here you can see all the little drainage holes I have drilled in the base of the inner bucket. There is also a much larger hole in the centre where I have almost pushed all the way through, a smaller plant pot, also with lots of holes in it. This is going to act as my wick and will sit in the water reservoir in the bottom of the outer bucket.  To one side I have drilled another hole in the base of the inner bucket which I have pass a piece of polly pipe to sit in the bottom of the outer bucket. I will water through this polly pipe.

 Here in this photo you can see the holes I am making in the base of the inner bucket.











This photo shows the inner buckets (upside down) with the small plant pot protruding through. You can see the other hole which the polly pipe will pass through.









Here we are with the three buckets I did completed.








Here you can see the inner buckets are now placed inside the outer bucket, and the polly pipe is passed through the inner bucket to the water reservoir below in the outer bucket. The final thing to do was to drill some overflow holes in the outer bucket just below the base of the inner bucket. This is to prevent the soil in the inner bucket from becoming water logged.







The next thing to do is to fill the inner buckets with a good quality potting mix. Firm down in the centre of the bucket to create a good wick.








Then the best bit, plant up with your favourite veggies, and mulch heavily, you can even place a plastic cover over the top (with a hole for you plant) to prevent moisture loss.  Water your buckets through the white polly pipe until you see water coming out of your overflow holes in your outer bucket.















Here I used some garden canes and some plastic to create a wind break for my new seedlings.