Not sure if this is the right section to post but someone asked me to start a thread on wicking pots (which got me into aquaponics)
It all started with Mantis
I've tried various methods.
1. Builders buckets
Pots in builders buckets
Buckets in buckets - these were from a local housing estate build - I scrummaged through builders cage rubbish to get them - then scrubbed them. Got the idea from 'Global buckets'
this was an auto float valve idea which I didn't get round to doing because I didn't have level ground.
Idea is that it auto-fills the other pots its connected to.
another use for them
In ground compost worm bucket
2. Recycling tubs
The 'Mantis' Design
These are fantastic and my greenhouse if full of them
3. Blue barrels
Blue barrels - get them from: Sushi, Vinagar, soy sauce, rice syrup companies
They are usually free and easily cleanable and apparently non-recyclable.
Design 1 - got this from Rob Bob on youtube
Deisgn 2 - another youtube one with modifications
The benefits
Wicking Beds
Got this one from all over the net. Hugely beneficial under the house eves where you don't get any rain and don't want moisture next to your bricks. The best plot in my garden (faces north)
Aquaponics
My latest project is aquaponics which will test me out
The wicking pots are great but they don't 'move' the water and can become stagnant. The other thing is you have to water them every now and then.
I'ts early stages but I think the fact that I don't have to water or feed the garden with aquaponics is a trade off for the setup and 'fragility' of the system.
