My trial involves a few simple concepts. First, I’m using containers. This allows me to sit in an outside chair and tend my plants. But this might change.

I’m conducting my trial system on our deck because I like the view while I work.

It gets really hot on the deck and the plants need to self-water.

Capillary action draws water up the rope. I decided to focus my trial efforts using a water supply in adjacent reservoirs (in this case, used plastic containers).

Capillary action pumps the water.

Do not be concerned about the height of the water. The wick will enable the water to travel upwards and down wards. Heights do not matter. It is drawn by capillary action, not a siphon or gravity.

I have also learned to soak the wick in a little detergent water first. The detergent acts as a wetting agent and increases capillary action.

Nutrients can travel to the plant up the cord. I have yet to learn if this will block the cord later on. Tell me if you know.

I fill the reservoir through the large top hole. I’m experimenting with a small side hole close to the top for the wick to see if this will make filling easier.

I learned more here.

Measure your rope.

It must reach the bottom of the bottle, exit the top of the bottle then be long enough to reach deep into the potting mix around your plant.

Cut a small slit in one end of the flute-board. This is to hold the rope near the bottom of the bottle.

Use a craft knife.

Drill a hole through the bottle.

The hole goes through the flute-board too (not your finger).

The holes size is the same size as the nail. The nail fits into this hole. I selected a hole size so the nail has a tight fit so the nail would not shake out.

Dismantle it. Pull out the nail. Remove the flute-board.

Next you want the above configuration with two wicks (rope lengths) in the slit. As follows:

Push the flute=board into the bottle, slot end first.

Push it right down.

Re-insert the lock-nail.

Now both wicks reach the bottom of the bottle. They cannot curl upwards.

The water will travel. I am concerned about loss to evaporation, especially with low pots. Exposed rope must be minimized.

Fill each reservoir (bottle). I will trial using liquid fertilizer.

I will be trialing this over the next weeks. It seems good and works so far.

3 days later…
This was unexpected. I thought the flow would be too small. However, it flowed out at 300 ml over 2 days. That’s 150 ml per plant per day. This is too much water for the little seedlings. They require about 80 ml per day. So I have to throttle back the flow somehow.

Next day …
This is how I will try to reduce the flow. I could use a thinner woven cord which would be more constant in resultant flow. This is really cheap rope from The Clearance Shed at The Base.

I chose to bind the wick with something to reduce the flow a little. Results to plants may vary. Perhaps it will stop it altogether. Not the best of ideas. Still, I’ll see how this goes.

A day later…
I accidentally pushed one nail too low. Instead of exiting the bottle the point entered into the handle cavity. This is much improved as there is no sharp protruding nail to scratch myself on.

I will do this from now on!

One week later …
Overwatering. My plants are getting too much water.
I am going to change the system so it waters from below.
The wick needs to enter from the base.

Tweak

Water flow height control

I am trying to control where the water enters the potting mix. This not flow. It is about entry point height. Too high and the top half of the potting mix is too wet. I want water to rise from the bottom of the pot, not from the top. So I added a short length of old hose. The wick is inside the hose.

I pushed the hose into the potting mix, making sure that some of the wick extends beyond the end of the hose. Water enters the pot lower down, only where the rope is in direct contact with the potting mix. I hope this will mean the top half of the pot will be drier.

To have water enter even lower in the potting mix, I will push the hose deeper in to the pot. This means water flow by capillary action will not occur near the top of the pot. The depth of hose controls the place where water will enter the pot. For a higher entry point I will pull the hose up high, thus exposing more wick. This is a trial. I hope this works. We will see what happens.