I hope you can zoom in to read this is from the 200ft of “water wicking wick” I got off Amazon for 6$. Simple, cheap,=fun.
I’m not going to lie, even after over a decade of growing I still suck at watering. The very basic part of growing, I ruin. I’ve tried auto pot, and blumat. Both I failed at several times until I got it and then when I had issues I said WTF!!?
I gave my autopots away and I said to hell with these expensive autocrappers I suck… until I got tired of under watering again. I can tell you I was underwatering because when I switched to using the wicks, I’ve been using a wholllleee lot more than ever before.
The plants drink as they need it’s like blumat but for the root system not the soil. I’ve yet to run into issues but it’s only my first time. Very self explanatory, I thought I made it up it’s so damn easy, but there’s videos on YouTube and info out there on self wicking trays diy I just think they’re a life saver and game changer for someone like me who actually really needed that correction. Everything else I do is pretty much ok lol but I dont ph or ec check and the trays get tap water. When I want to do a dry back I simply don’t fill the trays for 3 days and then I do my liquid feed from the top to get them saturated and then fill the trays back up from the bottom. That’s important. On the paper at the top it says how to use the wick. I’ll be experimenting more with the different wicking methods but this one is very solid so until I run into a window plant cutting I’ll be here for a while.
I have had over watering problems and also have had some success with SIP’s buckets and soil. Also some great results with coco coir & perlite, with daily feeding to run off. But I’ve learned that I can even muck up young plants, with these, if the medium gets too wet.
Hey thanks for the feedback yea if the medium gets too wet on many of these it’s an issue. Anytime really the medium gets too wet it can be an issue. I overwater on transplants. Always. A time I really shouldn’t but I do… anyways, I used the wick and it didn’t seem to stay that wet, I was actually jumping for joy when I realized it’s a root feeding system not medium. To my knowledge! I could be a big ole dummy but really working good for me
I found a wicking tutorial many years ago now, a tub in a tub deal, holes in top one, bottom basically a reservoir the wicks pulled up from…
I added a air stone to my, lower tub.
Perlite in the upper one, with 5-6 wicks.
It worked pretty well, I was it’s worst enemy.
What I did not do years ago was to give both tubs a good cleaning every once in a while.
Was all my fault, the wicks are good way to move fluid.
I did build a small humidity cover for mine.
I can not find my pics of it, but was like 2 or more computers ago.
It super easy to migrate stuff, NOW, LOL!
Being self taught, with the pamphlets that come with a system, I walk a hard path for many years, me and my computers.
I did not know about the benefits of pool shock, back then.
Maybe I’ll revisit the wicks one day.
I love it! So, I have rigid 1.5 gallon pots (hard plastic) with one 8inch wick going up the root ball… in the 3 gallon plastic grow bags, I took a long wick (15in?) and I go in one hole, around the transplants root system, and out an opposite hole with both sides of the wick dangling in the tray, the fabric 7 gallon pots are resting on something I call a grid, it’s 4 strands of wick that form a perfect square in the middle of the plant riser I’d say 4 in square?. I’d say the fabric pot set up is most ideal. I already had to take out a couple herms and when I discarded the plant, it was a mess I didn’t think about the wick holding on to everything or TRYING TO LOL! The air pruning and no reason to go through the pot is what makes me like them the most, instead of layering soil in the bottom of the pot I just put the transplant directly on the bottom so the wick would work right away.
I’m using sunshine mix 4 basically coco peat perlite. The roots haven’t yet poked out but I imagine the air pruning from the fabric pots will stop that? We’ll see. I will post pics for sure thanks for the questions! I should’ve mentioned the medium and style grow*
I’ll create a topic. It took me 8 yrs I call it gustek. It’s pretty rad. A lot of people don’t understand the real fundamentals and think it’s impossible. Those r some classic psilocybe cubensis.
I was just starting to research again on wicking techniques.
For my flowering tent, I plan to use a pressurized Blumat system that I have had for 5+ years but never installed so I really want to try it out finally.
But for my veg tent I was wondering how I could automate the watering so I don’t over/underwater on occasion and can leave things alone for longer without worrying.
So do I get it right:
Essentially I put my plastic pots on a little plastic or whatever grid (raise it like 5cm off the ground). Put both of that in a tray, lay wick from tray into pots and then just water the tray that the grids/pots/wicks are in?
Cause that would be so simple to set up that it would make sense for veg tent as well.
well I transplant my plants on a foldable table I got on the wall next to my flower tent. So I would probably put the wet wick through the bottom holes of the plastic pot before fillig in with soil.
You say that the wick has to be in contact with the rootball though, not just the soil?
Cause then the clones/seedlings have to potentially go quite low into the pot or the wick has to go through quite a bit of soil.
The roots will also engulf the wick then, so I assume I just transplant the vegged plant including the wick into my flower pots/raised bed? I can’t imagine removing the wick after without hurting the roots.
This is my first go at it myself. I did have the wick in contact with the football, can be up the side doesn’t necessarily have to be a transplant that anchors the bottom of the bag or pot, however I DID do that for my flower transplants that are in 7 gal fabric pots, rootball directly on the bottom of the fabric pots because I wasn’t going to poke holes for wicks, I figured the root layib on the fabric on the wick is good and sure as shit it is!
Well I decided to buy one of those moisture meters from a garden centre. I did some tests with the same soil in solo cups (bone dry, soaking wet and and just damp). So the meter is working.
My two plants in soil are under watered. I was thinking they are stunted due to my over watering. Just another lesson/faceplant on my learning curve.
I purchased the same wicking string from Amazon and an a riser locally. I usually don’t grow in the summer as I go out of town often. But I’ll try this with a 3 gallon fabric pot with soil and perlite.
yea if the medium gets too wet on many of these it’s an issue. Anytime really the medium gets too wet it can be an issue. I overwater on transplants. Always. A time I really shouldn’t but I do… anyways, I used the wick and it didn’t seem to stay that wet, I was actually jumping for joy when I realized it’s a root feeding system not medium. To my knowledge! I could be a big ole dummy but really working good for me
me.
