The great 2024 wicking bucket/pot experiments

[21hens-incharge]

I think my overflow hole is either 1/2 or 3/4 inch. It just needs to be big enough to not get clogged. I agree that 1/4 inch is probably too small.



IMHO, one overflow hole is enough as long as it does not get clogged. FWIW, I have never had any of my drain holes clog up. But I am sure I used either a 1/2 or 3/4 inch overflow hole in my sub-irrigated planters.

Also, my planters' drain holes do not have direct contact with the potting soil. There is a barrier between the potting soil and the water reservoir, so that also greatly reduces the chances of any clogs from soil debris. It is really only water in the reservoir that would ever drain out.

I thought we had that barrier in place well enough. It is possible that when filling that ones soil section some got between the trough and the liner.

Just one of those things to pay attention to.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It's been almost 2 weeks since I updated things here.

Still growing strong in the buckets. These are all bell peppers and starting to bloom. I have topped up the water twice since planting.

This cherry tomato advertised as pot friendly is very compact and producing tiny treasures now. I have topped it's bucket up 3 times since planting.

 

[gtaus]

Still growing strong in the buckets. These are all bell peppers and starting to bloom. I have topped up the water twice since planting.

Those peppers are looking much better than anything I have going on this year! You bucket system seems to be working well.

I do have a couple of questions/comments on your buckets.

First of all, do you have any way to visually tell how much water is remaining in the bottom reservoir? For example, I use a strip of foam from a water swimming noodle placed inside my fil tube. When the noodle indicator drops to level with the top of the fill tube, I know it's time to refill the planter. That just makes things easier for me. Not all plants drink water at the same rate and having a water level indicator helps me know which planters need more water.

When I saw how high your PVC fill tubes stuck out of the bucket, I first thought to myself that was interesting. Why would you make them so high? But then I thought of a couple of great reasons to make those fill tubes so tall. First of all, you don't have to bend over to fill the tube with the buckets on the ground. At a certain age, that might be a great adaptation for those of us with back challenges. And then I thought of another possible advantage to having a very tall fill tube in that you might be able to tie off a taller plant growing in the bucket, providing extra support for the plant, as well as serving as a fill tube.

I would like to hear your thoughts on why you made the fill tubes so tall. Maybe you had other reasons I have not considered. Since we are talking about your experiment and results, I am just posing these questions and observations to better understand stuff.

Love your updates. Keep them coming...

 

[21hens-incharge]

First of all, do you have any way to visually tell how much water is remaining in the bottom reservoir? For example, I use a strip of foam from a water swimming noodle placed inside my fil tube. When the noodle indicator drops to level with the top of the fill tube, I know it's time to refill the planter. That just makes things easier for me. Not all plants drink water at the same rate and having a water level indicator helps me know which planters need more water.

I am doing the old fashioned stick my finger in the dirt method or lift the bucket to check weight. A neighbor has a few self watering pots with 1/2" fill tubes. He has a very skinny dowel type thing he painted red at the top. I will have to ask if he has a tiny bobber on the bottom or what he's using.

If the sun is hitting the buckets the water line is visible.
When in full sun my peppers wilted badly.

When I saw how high your PVC fill tubes stuck out of the bucket, I first thought to myself that was interesting. Why would you make them so high? But then I thought of a couple of great reasons to make those fill tubes so tall. First of all, you don't have to bend over to fill the tube with the buckets on the ground. At a certain age, that might be a great adaptation for those of us with back challenges. And then I thought of another possible advantage to having a very tall fill tube in that you might be able to tie off a taller plant growing in the bucket, providing extra support for the plant, as well as serving as a fill tube.

I would like to hear your thoughts on why you made the fill tubes so tall. Maybe you had other reasons I have not considered. Since we are talking about your experiment and results, I am just posing these questions and observations to better understand stuff.

Love your updates. Keep them coming...

I left them tall for several reasons.
My back gets enough torture between what I do for a living and pulling weeds. Tall is easier to reach and with them being 1/2" the water can't be on fully so it takes a bit longer.

There is zero chance of having to shove leaves around to add water so less chance of breaking things.

I did plan to tie them to the plants if needed. I have short tomato cages just in case they get big too.

The main reason is for my back.

I failed to mention the grow bags.
Those peppers are doing just as well....BUT I water those every morning on my way to water chickens.

I also have a cucumber in a bucket and it needs refilled more than the peppers do. It is doing very well as is the one directly in the raised garden box. I did it that way so I can compare results.

The strawberries in the water trough suffered no ill effects from the plugged overflow incident. They are being stubborn and sending off a bunch of runners.

On the front porch I have 2 large planters we set up as self watering too. Those fill tubes are 1" and cut short. So far the plants are doing well there too.

I will try and get more pictures once it cools off outside.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Side note....

Chopped straw that is labeled as being chopped after seed heads removed still contains tons of seeds.
I have wheat sprouting everywhere I used it as mulch. At least it pulls easily and the chickens like the sprouted wheat.

 

[gtaus]

I am doing the old fashioned stick my finger in the dirt method or lift the bucket to check weight. A neighbor has a few self watering pots with 1/2" fill tubes. He has a very skinny dowel type thing he painted red at the top. I will have to ask if he has a tiny bobber on the bottom or what he's using.

If I was a better gardener, I could probably just stick my finger in the dirt and know if it was time to water, or not. However, the reason I got started into sub-irrigated planters was that I am not so good at "old-fashioned" methods of gardening. In any case, the water reservoir method just works so much better for me, and I don't have to worry about under/over watering my plants.

As to the water indicator noodle strips I use, I just got a swimming noodle from the Dollar Tree and cut into strips that fit down my fill tube...

I cut the strips to length to be flush with the top of the fill tube when the water reservoir is empty. When filled, the noodle indicator floats up and sticks about 3 inches above my fill tube top. But my fill tubes are only about 16 inches tall. I don't know how well that would work on your much taller fill tubes. And I "upgraded" my fill tubes to about 1-1/2 inches round so I could stick my garden hose into the fill tube.

I left them tall for several reasons.
My back gets enough torture between what I do for a living and pulling weeds. Tall is easier to reach and with them being 1/2" the water can't be on fully so it takes a bit longer.

Yeah, I'm at that age where I think about my back more and more. I put out our wood dock with my brother about 3 weeks ago, wrenched my back, and it has taken until the last few days where I have been to move around without popping aspirin 3X-4X per day. Dear Wife wants me to retire from any future dock work. She's probably right.

Anyways, when I saw those tall fill tubes on the buckets sitting on the ground, I thought that would be a great adaptation for those of us getting on in the years and need to be more careful with our backs. That's also a big part of the reason I have gone to growing almost everything in raised beds. Less bending over.

I failed to mention the grow bags.
Those peppers are doing just as well....BUT I water those every morning on my way to water chickens.

I have watched many videos on grow bags. Probably a great solution for some people. In my case, I think it would be a full-time job just watering the plants I have everyday.

In fact, even my raised beds are all built with the hügelkultur method where the logs in the bottom act as a giant water sponge. My gardening results have improved dramatically since I converted to using hügelkultur raised beds. They take less water than my in-ground garden did, and the sponge logs seem to balance out the water for the plants so I don't ever over/under water the plants.

My best results, however, are from my sub-irrigated planters with the built in water reservoir. But those planters just cost more to make and setup then building some pallet wood raised beds and filling them with logs in the bottom.

Speaking of costs, have you mentioned how much it costs you to make a grow bucket? I figure it would cost me close to $10 per bucket after I pay for the bucket, pipes, and other tubes.

FWIW, the pallet wood raised bed v2.0 that I am now building costs me less than $2.00 each...

I have been getting FREE 5-gallon buckets at Harbor Freight when they have their bucket sales every few months. I have been scavenging some PVC pipes for fill tubes. And I have been saving plastic containers/bottles to hold water but keep out the soil in the bottom of the bucket. I hope to bring down the cost of my grow buckets if/when I finally get them put together.

 

[gtaus]

Side note....

Chopped straw that is labeled as being chopped after seed heads removed still contains tons of seeds.
I have wheat sprouting everywhere I used it as mulch. At least it pulls easily and the chickens like the sprouted wheat.

I use grass clippings and/or wood chips. Works pretty good for me and I don't have buy anything. I probably prefer the grass clippings as they can just be cultivated back into the soil at the end of the season. You don't want to mix the wood chips into your growing soil.

I get some weeds from the grass clippings, but not too much. Wood chips, of course, block out everything.

 

[21hens-incharge]

If I was a better gardener, I could probably just stick my finger in the dirt and know if it was time to water, or not. However, the reason I got started into sub-irrigated planters was that I am not so good at "old-fashioned" methods of gardening. In any case, the water reservoir method just works so much better for me, and I don't have to worry about under/over watering my plants.

As to the water indicator noodle strips I use, I just got a swimming noodle from the Dollar Tree and cut into strips that fit down my fill tube...

View attachment 3863712

I cut the strips to length to be flush with the top of the fill tube when the water reservoir is empty. When filled, the noodle indicator floats up and sticks about 3 inches above my fill tube top. But my fill tubes are only about 16 inches tall. I don't know how well that would work on your much taller fill tubes. And I "upgraded" my fill tubes to about 1-1/2 inches round so I could stick my garden hose into the fill tube.



Yeah, I'm at that age where I think about my back more and more. I put out our wood dock with my brother about 3 weeks ago, wrenched my back, and it has taken until the last few days where I have been to move around without popping aspirin 3X-4X per day. Dear Wife wants me to retire from any future dock work. She's probably right.

Anyways, when I saw those tall fill tubes on the buckets sitting on the ground, I thought that would be a great adaptation for those of us getting on in the years and need to be more careful with our backs. That's also a big part of the reason I have gone to growing almost everything in raised beds. Less bending over.



I have watched many videos on grow bags. Probably a great solution for some people. In my case, I think it would be a full-time job just watering the plants I have everyday.

In fact, even my raised beds are all built with the hügelkultur method where the logs in the bottom act as a giant water sponge. My gardening results have improved dramatically since I converted to using hügelkultur raised beds. They take less water than my in-ground garden did, and the sponge logs seem to balance out the water for the plants so I don't ever over/under water the plants.

My best results, however, are from my sub-irrigated planters with the built in water reservoir. But those planters just cost more to make and setup then building some pallet wood raised beds and filling them with logs in the bottom.

Speaking of costs, have you mentioned how much it costs you to make a grow bucket? I figure it would cost me close to $10 per bucket after I pay for the bucket, pipes, and other tubes.

FWIW, the pallet wood raised bed v2.0 that I am now building costs me less than $2.00 each...

View attachment 3863735

I have been getting FREE 5-gallon buckets at Harbor Freight when they have their bucket sales every few months. I have been scavenging some PVC pipes for fill tubes. And I have been saving plastic containers/bottles to hold water but keep out the soil in the bottom of the bucket. I hope to bring down the cost of my grow buckets if/when I finally get them put together.

It was about $10 a bucket. Certainly not a cheap venture with purchased buckets.
I have been following the pallet builds you do. They certainly look effective.
Being in the city my available ground is largely spoken for so I like the bucket as I can tuck them in where a raised box won't fit.

I use grass clippings and/or wood chips. Works pretty good for me and I don't have buy anything. I probably prefer the grass clippings as they can just be cultivated back into the soil at the end of the season. You don't want to mix the wood chips into your growing soil.

I get some weeds from the grass clippings, but not too much. Wood chips, of course, block out everything.

My chickens would be mortified if I failed to give them clippings on mowing day lol.

I saw the chopped straw idea in a YouTube and thought well why not. Now I know why not.
It's not a big deal to pull the sprouts but it was disappointing.

 

[gtaus]

My chickens would be mortified if I failed to give them clippings on mowing day lol.

I have three acres of lawn/wooded property, so I only mow on days ending in "y"! Mostly I toss the grass clippings into the chicken run. However, every once in a while, I will use some grass clippings as mulch on my raised beds.

 

[21hens-incharge]

In no particular order and please excuse the weeds. They are free range weeds.