How to make an easy self-watering wicking bed from an IBC.
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
- In this video I'll show you how to build a wicking bed. It's like a giant self-watering pot that keeps the roots out, grows a great garden and is a brilliant water saver. There's step-by-step instructions on how to make one out of these commercially available IBC (bulk containers). Make sure you get one that has not had anything toxic in it before it's come to you.
I do think there are cheaper ways to make this that filling the IBC with scoria - you can use besser blocks, some wire mesh.. basically anything that separates and hold up the soil from the water, and wont contaminate the water.
This is for you if you want to make a water-efficient garden especially if space is tight, water is scarce and you don't want to muck about watering everyday in hot weather. This same technique can be used for any container. Just remember the basics of getting the layers right, not to have soil sitting in water and grow what you want.
It's a bit of effort to make but you will reap the rewards once it's done it works a treat
Cost: Once you've seen what I've done here - you'll see ways to cut cost and corners. You can use recycled material, different rocks, not as many fancy fittings etc. - Jak na to + styl
This is such an excellent instructional! I can hardly believe I'm the first to like and comment. Keep up the great work - because this video was super useful.
So pleased you liked it. I made it years ago when wicking beds were very new .. just didn't get around the posting it. Good luck with building it - they make such a big difference to water use and keeping roots out ... the best
Brilliant tutorial
Thanks so much
Clever use of the overflow to hold the inlet in place!
Enjoyd you,re presentation and you,re Aussie accent , from up here in Canada ,cool . Being a guy , I,d need a few more measurments , ha . EG. -depth of rock , soil and such . Did ,very much ,enjoy the video,thanks .
This was great, time to make ours. Thanks!
Thankyou I’ll be making some of those.
great vid you make it fun
Glad you enjoyed
Looks great, thank you
Great instructions, I cant wait to set mine up. Thankyou :)
You’re welcome 😊. Let me know how it goes and grows
Very good and clear illustration of how the self-watering ones are built. Many thanks for that! I really like it and will build one myself. How long does one water filling last and how do you know when to fill water in?
You are welcome! Depends on the weather , your level of mulch and what you're growing. I find in the heat and height of summer one filling a week is good when I've got a water-loving crop in (cucumber for example). I just look down the tube and see if I can see the water level. If it's half full it will still wick that water up into the soil. I generally fill it up once a week or when the water tank is full and we're about to get some rain!
This is super helpful..Thank you!! Is that black corrugated pipe having slots/hole in it (french drain)?
YEp. We call it agricultural pipe in Oz.
Great video. Curious did you look at what the ibc had contained previously.? Do they need to be food safe? Thanks..
Yes and yes. I think it was a oil used in soap and we do did a very sold washing out the IBC. You can get food grade - this didn't seem like a huge issue for us but now that you mention it ...!!
Will builders plastic work to seperate soil and scoria?
No ... you need something that will wick up (or absorb and draw-up) the water from underneath the soil. I find the geotextile the best as it will last a long time. You could use another type of fabric but it might degrade quickly meaning you'll have soil all through the substrate/scoria layer and that would mean clearing it all out.
Why is there such a long piece of filling pipe?
I think it was over kill - but main thing is you don't want the resevoir to get too much dirt in it or the overflow outlet/hole to get blocked.
How much would this cost to make?
The biggest cost is the scoria stones. You can get lots of recycled/reclaimed bits to use but buying all the parts new it's about AUD$500 (Australian buckeroos!)
Wicking leaks. Lol
You're onto it!