Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I see lots of members trying wicking beds there are a few simple rules to follow
1 wicking beds work best with an air void under the soil
2 dont keep your water level to high [he said 100 water level i will go 200 so its twice as good ] you are heading for failure [been there done that ]
3 your bottom pipe needs a shade cloth or weed mat covering
4 you dont need a wicking material [dirt all the way ]
5 wicking beds are really a super water efficient dirt garden they need manure liming every other year potash occasionally ect ect
6 with wicking beds practice crop rotation
7I only ever use sheep sh;'t in my beds
8 see my thread as to how i constructed mine
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=663&start=2175
9 good luck they are great

thanks for the info

Thanks for that F&F, I will be doing some this year.

Thank you f&F. I have been thinking of using a wicking bed for a piece of landscaping, as I have no control if the HOA uses fertilizer there. I still want it to be water wise. This will help. Also, it is good to see you back.

Thanks for the tips - my bathtub one has not worked well - possibly due to lack of liming as it went pretty acidic (added a fair bit of blood and bone to the woodchips). I used wood chips in the bottom from native eucalypt trees - I've corrected the pH with lime, though growth still seems stunted, with pale leaves.

Does anyone know if the native wood chips would cause other issues for the plants - for that matter can you compost them ?

Next one I will try all soil....

Hi Mattyoga, if the wood chips are fresh and not aged they may be considered green. This can cause nitrogen drawdown, the foliage of plants may become yellow. Adding blood and bone will help counter this effect and time will also help. This is common when fresh straw/hay is used too.

From what I understand eucalyptus is only good for koala food. San Diego is covered in eucalyptus, someone thought it might be good for railroad ties, instead we have Roman candles every time there is a wild fire. They make louts railroad ties btw.

Eucalypts also produce a hormone, atleast when they are alive - also in the leaves that fall, that inhibits the growth of other plants that may be growing under/near the tree.
Whether this is still in the wood i dont know.
When i have piles of mulch lying around and need to pot plants, i will quite often use some of the slightly broken down mulch with a decent amount of dynamic lifter mixed in, seems to work perfectly 95% of the time.

Hmmm - after a bit of research I found this quote,

"Is it okay to use EUCALYPTUS or OLEANDER leaves?
Eucalyptus and oleanders contain toxins that inhibit the growth of other plants, but these are broken down by the composting process. Studies from the University of Arizona Plant Science Department showed that finished compost from eucalyptus and oleander contained no harmful toxins at all. However, if you compost these it's important to get the pile really HOT (by making it large, with lots of carbon, and turning often). To be on the safe side, you may want to make a SEPARATE pile with eucalyptus/oleander, and see how it turns out. To do a test, you can try sprouting seeds in tea from the finished compost, and see if they germinate."

from
http://projectcompost.ucdavis.edu/node/19

I think that may be the problem with the wicking bed - the composting process would be slow so I may have created a eucalypt inhibiting tea for the plants to grow in! Although I didn't add leaves - just wood chips, but that would have had chipped leaves in it as well...

I know not much grows around the base of gum tree's in kalgoorlie, which I assume is because of the leaves on the ground.

What you are referring to is called allelopathy. For instance, the leaf litter and root exudates of some Eucalyptus species are allelopathic for certain plant species.

Thank you PJL, i couldnt remember the name.
And Yes, ive also heard the roots do it - more so than rotting leaves, so i would think its the fact that the trees are there and not the leaves as such in your case charlie.

Reading this thread take in what they all said but i recon your main problem is anaerobic areas in your next bed put a bigger void in the bottom

I have about 2m of 90mm pipe in the bottom of the bath. Though this means more water reservoir space and less drying out which I thought may make anaerobic areas worse... Or am I missing something?

If you can manage anaerobic areas in wicking beds [and you can with a bit of thought ] you have got it nailed
I must admit one of my current 5 beds turned pear shaped as soon as i noticed it remedy was easy and with in 2 days plants started growing again