Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Wicking Beds

Collapse

X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Wicking Beds

    Hi, my name is Stuart and I grow a lot of vegetables in my wicking beds. I intend to build more this spring but I have a problem that I would like help with ? At this time my wicking beds are made of timber and lined with pond liner, each 2m x 1m x 1m bed costs £80 to make. Like a lot of people I am concerned about the plastic waste ! So I contacted some companies who make containers from recycled plastic the size I want but they cost £350 each. I wondered if enough people got together who wanted these containers we could get the price down to a price near the price of timber. Last summer was hot and dry and the wicking beds worked very well as no water is lost when watering. My hope for the future is to spread this idea around the world where the lack of water & food is causing millions of people health problems & death.

  • #2
    Hi and welcome to the vine

    I haven't come across the term wicking bed before but can see it is just a raised bed. Using that term makes be wonder where abouts in the world are you? Most peeps on here are UK based - so you may have shipping issues. Also allotmenteers tend to be skip divers and recyclers. For a 2x1x1m bed could you not suffice with old baths? can you get your hands on empty tradesmen bulk bags?

    Good luck with what ever you chose.
    Last edited by Norfolkgrey; 03-12-2018, 05:58 PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      Welcome to the vine

      Comment


      • #4
        wicking beds.

        Originally posted by Norfolkgrey View Post
        Hi and welcome to the vine

        I haven't come across the term wicking bed before but can see it is just a raised bed. Using that term makes be wonder where abouts in the world are you? Most peeps on here are UK based - so you may have shipping issues. Also allotmenteers tend to be skip divers and recyclers. For a 2x1x1m bed could you not suffice with old baths? can you get your hands on empty tradesmen bulk bags?

        Good luck with what ever you chose.
        wicking beds have a reservoir of water under the soil/compost. Its funny you said to use a bath ! I did and drilled a hole 4" up from the bottom with an overflow pipe into a bucket. In the reservoir I put some perforated ground drainage pipes and sealed the ends to stop any thing getting in to block them. Then I put a filler tube in place. Then I cover the pipes with gravel and cover with sand before filling with compost. I hope you understand the system now, I have photo's, can I put them on this site ??.

        Comment


        • #5
          Hi Stuart and welcome to the Forum.
          "Wicking beds" is a new name for me too so, please pardon me, while I try to understand it

          If the beds are lined with plastic, is there a risk that the beds will become waterlogged when there's heavy rain? This summer's dry heat was exceptional, certainly not the normal summer weather.

          I grow directly into the soil and didn't water anything except the greenhouses and pots and nothing suffered.

          Is your concern about using plastic, the pondliner that you've used to line the beds? The rest is timber which is renewable and scroungeable - as is plastic, really, if you use bulk bags, compost bags or even water retentive materials like cardboard or woollen carpet.

          Why are the beds 1m deep? There are few veggies that need that depth of soil. Reduce it by half and you also reduce the area of pond liner you need.

          As someone who prefers to garden with nature and reduce, reuse, recycle, I would be averse to buying a recycled plastic bed for my garden. I have seen metal raised beds for sale - even those don't tempt me!

          Regarding photos, you'll be able to add them to your posts when you've been a member for a while longer and have made several more posts. Keep posting!

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Stuart Wakefield View Post
            wicking beds have a reservoir of water under the soil/compost. Its funny you said to use a bath ! I did and drilled a hole 4" up from the bottom with an overflow pipe into a bucket. In the reservoir I put some perforated ground drainage pipes and sealed the ends to stop any thing getting in to block them. Then I put a filler tube in place. Then I cover the pipes with gravel and cover with sand before filling with compost. I hope you understand the system now, I have photo's, can I put them on this site ??.
            Thank you for the explanation. Have made wicking pots in the past but the only reason has been to be lazy on the watering. Have you trialled crops with this system v without? Would love to see the difference. (Wouldn't do it but would love to see it. )What were your reasons for going with it?

            Comment


            • #7
              Hello and welcome to the vine Stuart
              I'd not heard of wicking beds either but have found some info on google, they seems to be a good idea if you can't get to water your plants very often like while you're on holiday or even school gardens. I've made a self watering system for my GH chillis and cucumbers but that's as much as I need but its still interesting to see new ideas.
              Location....East Midlands.

              Comment

              Latest Topics

              Collapse

              Recent Blog Posts

              Collapse
              Working...
              X