Anyone ever used a wick to feed water to a outdoor potted plant??

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Hey there! I'm not getting much response for this question in the outdoor forum, so I thought I would try this here.

Does anyone have any experience using a resivour and a wick to sustain the moisture needs of a potted plant outdoors? I knew of people doing something like this on OG, but I've never really got much insite on it.

I'm curious how much water a system like this would use roughly, I've got no clue. I figured maybe someone here may have more of a handle on this??

I guess the planter would be about 10 gallons.

 

[Babbabud]

ive used wicks indoor in five gallon buckets . they worked well with multiple wicks . This was prolly 1972 growing in a closet under a floro. It worked though and you could go quite a long time without watering. Funny I didnt notice this in the outdoor thread ... sorry

 

[Guest]

I posted something like this on OG..... I havent grown outside in many years....


My way consisted of a 5 gallon bucket buried a ways underground....

some digging involved.... lol....


The the plant planted in the ground above it....


The 5 gallon container had several pieces of rope fanned out wicks... and a filler tube to refil the container....

but a similar concept...

If I remember I used to refil about monthly....


It was a lot of work but it worked....

 

[Babbabud]

yea we used a bucket in a bucket and filled the space between them with water and the wicks were the delivery system.

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Hey thanks guys!

budleydoright-What region do you live in roughly, if I may ask? What were your summer temps like?

Babba-I asked the question in my recent Irrigation/watering thread, so it was kinda burried in there, thanks for the info!

PS- Here is the current idea I am working on, I'll have a refil rez located in the area so I can fill each rez if I need to through the season.

 

[Guest]

I live roughly 2 hours north of chicago...

 

[growinwoods]

i know this might be a stupid question. but how does the wick deilver water upwards against gravity?

 

[Skunkface]

i know this might be a stupid question. but how does the wick deilver water upwards against gravity?

I believe the term is capilary action..

 

[Breezy420]

Lol growinwoods question only took 3 months to answer

 

[Jack D Ripper]

this thread is really interesting. Im going to try an outdoor wick grow next summer, what do you think of this plan?

Ill be using a $13, 50 yd. spool of "water wick"

Water Wick - Round Braided Bleached and Treated Cotton
This wick is specially designed to wick water for a variety of applications including uses in the agricultural industry. The Water Wick is 100% cotton braided at a specific pic count (braid tightness) over pure cotton strands. This wick is used for plant watering and disinfectant dispersion systems to name a few uses. The diameter of this wick is about 5/32", or just over 1/8" diameter. Anticipated "draw" is about 8 inches. Not intended for outdoor use.

Im going to cut the wick into hundreds of 1 foot segments and feed them through holes in a 8 in. diameter PVC. pipe. The pipe will be about 15 feet long, so it should hold 39 gallons of water. Heres a pic of my idea:

 

[dirtybudz]

I have yet to see it hear, though I havn't searched, but a friend grows outdoors in a marshy area. next to a downed tree they attached wire tomatoe baskets and lined with coco fiber planter. the water wicks ran down into the adjacent stream and the container was filled with mix. I believe the technique was from Jorge's book and the results were fantastic.

 

[pothead66]

Hey thanks guys!

budleydoright-What region do you live in roughly, if I may ask? What were your summer temps like?

Babba-I asked the question in my recent Irrigation/watering thread, so it was kinda burried in there, thanks for the info!

PS- Here is the current idea I am working on, I'll have a refil rez located in the area so I can fill each rez if I need to through the season.
View Image

Sorry for reviving this thread but I really need your help.
Would that wick system work if instead of a REZ I use a nearby canal? The canal will be 2-3 m distance from the pot, maybe more.. So will the wicking be impaired if the wicks will start from down the canal, and several feet bare ground , then going thru the pot?

What soil mix should I use? Would nylon rope work?

 

[pothead66]

bumpity bump

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

It works great, you don't really need the wick, roots find their way to water, especially fast through well dug soil

I hear that NFT was developed after someone noted that the maize plants on the edge of the field beside the stream were going mad, huge fast growth, compared to those in the rest of the field.

So, any system offering water to roots will be popular, just remember that roots don't like change, they like a constant state in the rootzone, so, dont let it dry out, auto top up valves are great, and remember that the roots will probably explode and try to choke your underground reservoir, do not be afraid to chop back what you don't want

The best outdoor plants I have ever seen were on a delta, 2m deep of lovely light rich alluvial soil with gravel below that has fresh water moving through it. Once established they didn't need watering.

 

[chronosync]

Nylon would seem like a poor choice for wick material. Mop yarn.

 

[stoned-trout]

mop heads work too...yeehaw