Wicking Beds

[GaryD]

Hi,

I've converted our little square foot bed to a wicking bed.

While I'm a fan of square foot gardening, I think that the optimum, all-round gardening systems is a raised, square foot wicking bed. Not only is it just as water-wise, but it will grow a wider range of vegetable crops than your typical flood and drain grow bed.

While the bed is only 200mm deep (god forbid), I've created a 70mm reservoir in the bottom of the bed by setting up a basic weir arrangement over the existing drain from the bed.

I've secured the weir in place with a 90mm end cap. I got this idea from my colleague Martin O'Dee. He used it to ensure that the media barriers in his systems didn't move around - it can be a real pain if the clay pebbles or gravel get under the barrier - and the end cap (which is retained in place by the bulkhead fitting) make sure that the barrier stays firmly where it should.

I wrapped the weir in a piece of shade cloth to stop the growing mix from washing out of the bed.

I filled the bed with a mix of coarse coco coir and mushroom compost and watered it thoroughly before planting it out to tomatoes, beans and herbs.

I've placed another 90mm end cap on the weir to ensure that I don't drop anything into the drain.

It's early days.....but I'm keen to see how it works out.

Gary

[mornings]

Gary,

Paint me dense if you like. This looks good but I still do not understand how it works. I thought worms were involved. What happens when the mushroom compost plays out?

m

[fishfood]

I treat wicking beds as normal garden beds you add sheep muck blood and bone lime [once a year] just like a dirt garden i water mine as an ordinary garden [only less In winter ]you do not get a lot of benefit but they shine in summer
Wicking beds are a water efficiant garden bed

[mornings]

Thanks fishfood,

I guess I don't understand why, if one has good, deep, balanced soil (which, admittedly, has taken many years and tears to get) with a natural reservoir of water, one would not just have regular beds in one's garden. I mean, what is done with WBs looks good, but are they really cost effective? Or, maybe, are they cost effective when, for some reason, one simply cannot create good deep soil?

m

[GaryD]

Hi mornings,

Nice to see you around again.......your insightful posts are always welcome.

I think you've answered your own question.

Most parts of Australia have ancient depleted soils so good, deep balanced soil is not easy to find......and, if it takes years and plenty of hard work to make, it might be more time (and cost) effective to create small intensive growing environments like wicking beds.....particularly for backyard situations.

I still believe that, over time, learning the things that you know is a worthwhile thing to do. In the meantime, however, wicking beds give you a quick and easy solution so that you can be eating clean fresh food while you're learning the art and mystery of creating highly productive growing soils.

Gary

[fishfood]

Thanks fishfood,

I guess I don't understand why, if one has good, deep, balanced soil (which, admittedly, has taken many years and tears to get) with a natural reservoir of water, one would not just have regular beds in one's garden. I mean, what is done with WBs looks good, but are they really cost effective? Or, maybe, are they cost effective when, for some reason, one simply cannot create good deep soil?

m

I don't think wicking beds really have a miracle ingredient
I see them as a dirt garden with a better way of watering
When you water a dirt garden a lot of it eventually drains out the bottom
A wicking bed there's water there when the plants need it
If you have enough money you could build a garden bed with all the electronic Wis bang stuff that delivers water when the plant needs it

[GaryD]

Hi,

Today, I made up some worm feeding stations for our raised sheet mulch beds.

I first came across this idea as a consequence of a conversation with Glenn Martinez (from Olomana Gardens) when he came to Brisbane in January 2009.

If I recall correctly, he was actually using something similar in his AP grow beds. He also used them in a little pod garden he was selling.

While I wouldn't use them in a grow bed, I think they're a great idea for wicking, square foot or raised bed sheet mulch gardens. They allow you to put kitchen waste into the bed without the problem of birds, rats, cats and dogs digging it up......and the worms can access it without going near daylight which they don't much care for.

I used a 320mm section of 100mm pipe, a threaded joiner and a screw-on end cap. I bored plenty of large holes to allow easy access by the worm to the food scraps. We'll bury these in the beds in the coming days and add a handful of compost worms at the same time.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

I finally got around to installing our new worm feeding stations into our raised beds.

I made up another one (to accommodate the shallower wicking bed) and installed it, too.

I bought a box containing 1,000 composting worms from Bunnings for $49.00 (I thought extortion was illegal) and divided them among our wicking and raised beds. I also put a small handful into the Baby Q grow bed.....so they can harvest the dead bacteria (and the occasional suspended solid).

Gary

[julie]

If anyone out there needs composting worms cheaper than that price - call Jane and Ron on (07) 3201 0451.


Julie

[GaryD]

Hi,

I'd like to be able to buy worms by the kilogram.......at a commercial rate.

Gary