How to build a self watering / wicking garden
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- čas přidán 7. 05. 2023
- Here is how to build a self watering or wicking garden bed.
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Love it. I found it most sense-making for me with your construction of wicking beds.
I really like how you've done your beds. They are by far the best explained/ shown examples of wicking beds I've seen ( for me to properly understand). Far more practical and how I would like to do them. Thank you.
You're welcome, I'm glad to hear the video is helping others!
found your channel via Aaron Clarey - you should see your sub count spike a bit more in the comming weeks.
It's already trippled, I'm supper greatful for all the support!
Thanks for this awesome tutorial!
You're welcome!
May we have an update on the two wicking beds you installed in the first video? Love the design.
The two from this video and about 10 others that I and my clients have built have done really well! One client had a first year garden in 6 of them with trellises between them and had great production. Another had 2 of these and planted herbs and strawberries that outproduced my 7 year old in ground garden beds. And another client, who has killed most of the potted flowers she has, was able to keep everything in these beds thriving and happy and has only added water a couple times all summer.
The one thing that could trip people up is getting the wrong soil. If these were filled with an improper or low quality soil, they would not do very well.
Good concept, but each one of those water troughs are $200+. 10 tanks would be $2000+. 2"x12"x 8' #2 lumber are $7 each. Use 3 for a 4'x8' garden bed. 21x10 = $210. I can make 10 raised beds for the cost of 1 of the galvanized water troughs. For $1800 I can get my lazy butt up and water the garden when needed.
You are correct. These gardens fit a specific niche and I am showing people how to build ones that work well and look nice. I personally do my gardening in the ground but some people would prefer the convenience, look and ease of use that these provide.
@@thehomesteadconsultant Yes! They're awesome for a new gardener! Thanks again for the video!
Where are you buying your wood? It’s why more expensive in south west USA.
@@margiestevens2384 I checked the prices on the local Home Depot website.
Ma’am, that’s less expensive than wood, right now.
Hi, I really like your system. I am unsure how the roots access/wick the water if there are two layers of plastic between the roots and the water. Maybe I missed how that works! Thanks for your explaination to come 🙂
The layers are weed block and not plastic. This means they are permeable and water wicks up through them into the soil layer.
You said that it is sitting on the ground, but what is underneath it? Plastic?
Weed barrier is under it. I prefer to have them set on concrete pavers or toppers when possible.
Do cinder blocks leak toxins to plants or are they safe to use as water reservoir?
@@katypadgett8593 if the soil is in good health, plants typically will not uptake toxins and most chemical issues with cement are rendered innert during the curing process. There are a million things to worry about as far as toxins before I would be concerned about cement.
Love this idea. Would fine gravel work as well as the sand?
Probably but it may not be quite as efficient at moving/wicking water because there is greater area between the surfaces of the stones which will affect the surface tension that helps move it upwards.
Gravels by themselves will not wick. You need to have wicking material such as soil or peat moss that fall between the gravel pieces to do the job. I don't think sand is a good wicking material either, unless it is submerged in water so the wicking material above it is pulling water, not sand itself.
i assume this doesn't work for open bottom beds. Is there a system you recommend for open bottom?
Could you explain a little more what you mean by open bottom? There are a few techniques that can be used for other planting systems, but I am not 100% sure I know what you are asking about.
If you just mean an inground rased bed, then wood core gardening can help tremendously with watering.
@@thehomesteadconsultant I have Vego steel garden beds. Similar to your troughs, but there are no bottoms.
@@yashikaokon technically, you could dig out an area below them into the ground, add a waterproof lining and then follow the rest of the steps.
@@thehomesteadconsultant Thank you!
Soil improves, i.e., develops fertility better with ROOTS, any roots. Therefore, don't kill off weeds, grow a cover crop year round.
Yes, but also, the roots of the plants that are being killed off, if one goes that route, still provide tissue for the biom of the soil to eat and live on over the winter.
There are a lot of ways to do things. For some, cover crop management is a lot to learn about and doing "things that are simple and good enough" are better than "doing it perfect or not at all"
What fabric is this?
www.lowes.com/pd/Scotts/5004685485
I feel like we could’ve met a couple of steps here. You could just fill the bottom with gravel and out having to deal with cinderblocks or sand or as much landscaping fabric. Gravel, landscaping fabric, soil, but I do like this idea and I plan on doing this in areas. My sprinkler system doesn’t reach.
If you fill the bottom with gravel, there will be far less of a void for the water reservoir and your system will need to be filled with water much more often. It will also be FAR HEAVIER.
Where are we carrying it? No one's carrying this thing anywhere. I don't think it would hold less water, in fact it would hold more because sand is more compact. But you do you. @@thehomesteadconsultant
Not sure if blocks are toxic?
@@illinoisvideoatlarge8039 most things that could be considered toxins should be rendered innert by the chemical reaction that makes concrete solid. Concrete is made up of mostly naturally occurring materials. I would be more concerned about the PVC (contains Vinyl Chloride) or the zink oxide coating on the tanks than the concret block, but we could worry for years about possibility of tiny amounts of undesired materials that likely won't get taken into a plant. Alternatively, we could worry less and get started noe growing healthier food than you could possibly buy in the store.
I prefer growing in the ground, but this is a great option for those who can't.
Looking nice is irrelevant.!!!! Why is the overflow so low, after all the cinder blocks will wick up a lot of the water.?? So what you said at the end of this video is you can flood this garden bed to kill any weeds that have found their way into your garden, is that right????? What does re-set your garden bed actually mean, please tell .???
You can adjust the hight if the overflow by changing the hight of the pipe. The over flow is almost at the top of the cinder blocking reservoir, I'm not sure why you think it's low 🤔
If you install a longer overflow pipe, you can intentionally flood the bed to kill off weeds at the end of the season and then drain if for the winter.
This is the last video in the list. I wonder if you notice any substantial increase in watched hours.
How many of your 4,000 hours have you achieved?
Not substantial increases, but I do have 2019 watch hours total
@@thehomesteadconsultant OK does that list you made have 4 hours of viewing in it? I'm just guessing 4 hours.