The great 2024 wicking bucket/pot experiments

[gtaus]

The bucket peppers are outpacing the grow bag peppers dramatically. The grow bags require daily watering.

I was excited to learn about grow bags until I figured out that they would need daily watering. That's when I got into the sub-irrigated planters with the built in water reservoirs. For my larger food raised beds, I use the hügelkultur method where the wood acts like a giant water battery. Not quite as good as a real water reservoir that you could measure in a bucket or sub-irrigated planter, but good just the same.

FYI, I just refilled my sub-irrigated planter for the second time this summer. That's about once per month. But we have had good natural rainfall this year so that helps a lot.

Did you ever get some kind of water level indicator on your grow buckets so you know when they have to be refilled? That's one feature that I enjoy on my sub-irrigated planters. I can just look at my water level indicator and refill it if needed.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I too had hopes for the grow bags but the buckets are the winner so far.
No I didn't add gauges/floats to the buckets. I may do that next year. I plan to take them apart so I can put larger diameter fill tubes and can add them then.

The sub irrigated planters are worth the effort to put together for sure.

 

[gtaus]

I have a lot of "free" 5-gallon buckets from Harbor Freight. They are having another free bucket weekend sale at Harbor Freight this weekend...

I am an Inside Track Club member, so I always keep a short list of consumables that I use and will wait until these weekend free bucket sales come around. They have these free bucket sales maybe once every 2-3 months. I have lots of these buckets and use them for lots of stuff.

Of course, they would be excellent as grow buckets like those in this thread. The coding on the bucket indicates it is food safe.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It rained last night. Not enough to water anything but shallow rooted plants but it RAINED! We hadn't seen more than enough to slightly dampen the sidewalk in almost 3 months!

I am sure we could have done without the wind that came with it.

Damage assessment will happen at first light.

The potatoes are done blooming and starting to look tired. Digging gently revealed there are indeed potatoes in that bed. We are waiting for the plants to die back before digging them up.

The jalapenos in my half barrel planters have struggled more this year than any year before. I have actually lost a couple. I attribute it to losing 2 large shade trees that used to give a bit of shade in the afternoon.

Wheelbarrow cucumbers and zucchini are doing well. They are in the shade most of the day.

Bucket peppers are looking good. I need to check for actual fruits today. The grow bag peppers are small in comparison and need checked for fruits too.

I grew a different variety of tomatoes this year and find the fruits (while plentiful) disappointing in size. I had hoped to do some canning. They are only 2" in diameter. One of these plants is producing cherry sized fruit. I definitely didn't start any cherry tomatoes.

I will try to get some pictures today. Remembering is the hard part there. I only get one day off work a week so the chores have piled up on me. It's going to be a busy day.

 

[21hens-incharge]

A few quick pics...

Tired taters.

TATERS! Super happy about this.

Wheelbarrow zucchini and cucumber.




Tiny tomatoes.


Bag pepper then bucket peppers.



My not so hot jalapenos. Normally they are taller than the cages by now.


This plant is 6' tall and healthy. Those sure look like cherry tomatoes to me.

 

[21hens-incharge]

This is the tomato variety I tried and am not a fan of.

 

[gtaus]

A few quick pics...

I am not worthy! Many of my plants are really struggling this year and way behind what I had hoped. I had a bad squirrel and rabbit problem early on that I have yet to recover from the damage. I'm glad to see someone else is having a good year.

Since this thread is mainly about your wicking bucket experiment, I hope you take some pictures and track the progress of your wicking bucket versus your grow bag, planter, etc... methods. I know it's not a formal scientific study, but I am thinking your grow bucket plants are going to be the winner in that contest. Also, I hope you are tracking such things as how often you have to water the various methods, because it sounds like the grow bucket is winning in that category as well.

FWIW, I just refilled my elevated sub-irrigated planters for only the second time this summer. I really like the labor-saving aspect of not having to water those sub-irrigated planters with the large water reservoir (about 15 gallons) all the time. Your wicking buckets use the same method, just on a smaller scale. So, I expect you are going to have great results.

Thanks for the updates on your experiment.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The buckets are the winner by far. They only need filled about once every 2 weeks even in the extreme heat we have had. The grow bags with the same plants and same soil need watered every day and still the plants are half the size.
The growing season has been abnormally dry here. I am impressed with how infrequent I have had to add water to the buckets.

Honest to goodness my garden is struggling in the heat. The onions and cabbage are doing the best. The tomatoes are very disappointing since I had wanted to do some canning. I think it's the variety that's the issue there.

 

[gtaus]

I am impressed with how infrequent I have had to add water to the buckets.

That is what I discovered with my sub-irrigated planters. Not only do I only have to water them about once a month, but the plants just do so much better in them because they always have access to as much water as they want. It's really a great system.

My goal is to replace all of Dear Wife's planters out on our deck with grow buckets. I think the plants would do even better, but she is good at watering the old planters when needed - like every other day. I just don't have the desire to check and water those type of planters every day when it gets hot outside. Give me a wicking system with a water level indicator and I am happy.

Given the success of your wicking buckets, have you considered connecting the wicking buckets together and adding an automatic watering float valve? I have watched some YouTube videos where people string their buckets together and add a float valve to a control box. All the buckets are maintained at a set level all the time. That looks like a great system if you have lots of buckets. Probably overkill for only a few buckets. But I enjoy looking at stuff like that.

 

[gtaus]

I am impressed with how infrequent I have had to add water to the buckets.

That is what I discovered with my sub-irrigated planters. Not only do I only have to water them about once a month, but the plants just do so much better in them because they always have access to as much water as they want. It's really a great system.

My goal is to replace all of Dear Wife's planters out on our deck with grow buckets. I think the plants would do even better, but she is good at watering the old planters when needed - like every other day. I just don't have the desire to check and water those type of planters every day when it gets hot outside. Give me a wicking system with a water level indicator and I am happy.

Given the success of your wicking buckets, have you considered connecting the wicking buckets together and adding an automatic watering float valve? I have watched some YouTube videos where people string their buckets together and add a float valve to a control box. All the buckets are maintained at a set level all the time. That looks like a great system if you have lots of buckets. Probably overkill for only a few buckets. But I enjoy looking at stuff like that.