Wicking beds from Broccolli boxes

About a month ago I (finally) got around to making a couple of wicking beds from Broccoli boxes I picked up for free at one of the local supermarkets. The idea of a wicking bed is that water is stored at the bottom and is "wicked" upwards to where the plants need it in the root zone. I have seen on a few peoples blogs that the idea is begining to take off, in these times where we all struggle to keep water up to our plants (for more info have a look on this site)

I thought I would try two different methods and see which worked better.

The first I filled the bottom with some gravel I had around the place, then placed a 2L milk container upside down, in the corner, with the bottom cut out (for watering) and the lid off and then filled the rest of the box with potting mix. Into this I planted a coupe lof Everlasting Lettuce seedlings, a Spaghetti Squash seedling and a couple of Purple Pak Choy seedlings

The second I decided not to use the gravel but instead I used a juice container cut in half length ways, and placed along the bottom to create a tunnel to hold water, then I filled the box with potting mix and planted it out the same as the first one. I gave them the same amount of water each and left them to do their thing.


Almost a month later and the one on the left (no gravel) has definitely performed better than the one on the right (with gravel). In both of them the Pak Choy has not survived (on the right of the boxes), and in the gravel one the squash died, but the lettuces seem to like both.

Just look at them now, I was considering replacing the seedlings that died with some more of the Everlasting Lettuce since that seems to be going really well in both, or maybe something like some rocket. It really is nice to see things so green and lush without having to constantly water.

Making the most of Water

I just thought I would share what I do to save water. Since moving here I have noticed it is a lot drier than in Adelaide where I grew up. A once a week water of pot-plants in the middle of summer would be quite adequate, but here it is pushing it to go more than a couple of days. Although the weather is only a couple more degrees hotter, there is less rain and when we do get rain it seems to disappear from the ground in no time, plants seem to wilt very easily.

I am on mains water but I still like to conserve what water I can (especially seeing that I am paying for it, and it is about to go up)

So here is what I do...

Kitchen: I have got a square plastic basin which sits perfectly in the kitchen sink and when dishes or hands are rinsed, this water is collected. I have a normal garden type bucket sitting next to the fridge which the water gets tipped into (this is especially handy if I am feeling lazy and don't want to go all the way outside to empty the basin, I can keep adding to the bucket by the fridge and then make one trip) and this is then tipped into the garden each day.

Bathroom: We use the "if its yellow let it mellow" rule, reducing the amount of times we flush the toilet (using a dual flush). I have just started using the laundry "soaking bucket" in the shower, it is a 25L round tub which I put in the bottom of the shower and stand in it when showering, collecting the majority of the water, this then goes onto the garden aswell. I have also found that my showers are shorter because I can actually "see" how much water I am using.

Laundry: All the washing water (when I remember to connect the hose) gets pumped onto the back lawn, which is about 5mx5m under the clothes line and is the only bit of lawn I have.

Outside: I have an unwritten law for the non productive garden areas "if it cant survive on minimal water (mostly rain) it doesn't survive". All my plants in pots are grouped together, so that they can be watered together with the watering can.

What does everyone else do to make the most of their water?