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A wicking beu is a gaiuen that acts like a giant self-wateiing pot. Watei is toppeu up fiom below
anu the plants uiaw the watei up thiough theii ioots - hence theie is no evapoiative losses.
Although wicking beus aie the most watei-efficient means of giowing foou, theie aie a couple of
things to consiuei. A wicking beu is a closeu system. This means that iesiuues aie concentiateu
as watei is uiawn up by the ioots - foi this ieason - gieywatei is not iecommenueu foi a
wicking beu. Bowevei, being a closeu system means that nutiients anu watei aie not lost to the
suiiounuings anu maximises benefits to the plants.
So...how uiu I make my beu. Fiistly, I uiu some inteinet ieseaich to finu out what mateiials I
neeueu anu how to make it 'wicking' anu not simply a iaiseu beu gaiuen. I founu some sheets of
coiiugateu iion behinu the sheu (but theie aie plenty at the Tipshop too!). I then went to the
haiuwaie anu bought moie than enough conciete linei (builueis plastic), sciews, anu shaue
cloth. I founu some Summ pipe (a metie moie than the uiagonal length of the beu) anu a ioll of
1umm ieticulation hosing at the Tipshop. I founu a 1umm uiill-bit at a lawn sale, bought half a
metie of iivei iubble anu iivei sanu fiom lanuscaping supplies anu a tiailei of cow manuie. I
also bought an elbow joint foi the Summ pipe anu a plug foi it.
Constiucting the fiame involveu stiengthening the beu-fiame anu sawing the slats in half anu
sciewing them on the beu fiame anu the iion onto the timbei. I thickly lineu the gaiuen fiame
with olu newspapeis to minimise the thieat of punctuie. The plastic linei was laiu insiue the
beu. The iiiigation system iequiies an L-shape pipe that lies uiagonally along the beu length
with uiill-holes thioughout anu a plug in the enu, with the shoitei veitical length to fill up fiom.
The pipe was buiieu in a giavel sanuwich with the shaue-cloth laying on the plastic anu 1Scm of
iivei iubble folueu into it. This pievents the sanu fiom clogging up the giavel layei. Then 1Scm
of sanu was layeieu on top. A uiainage hole was uiilleu thiough the plastic, iion anu beu-enu
anu a shoit length of ieticulation was pusheu thiough. This pievents the beu fiom oveifilling
when it iains anu getting manky.
The soil layei neeus to be Sucm ueep. This was maue up by mixing in the manuie with local soil,
compost anu potting mix . Now it's ieauy to watei. When watei staits uiipping out of the
uiainage hole - it is full anu ieauy to plant. Seeulings will neeu suiface wateiing until they take
ioot anu the watei staits wicking up fiom the bottom. I woulu iecommenu setting up some
shaue cloth at this time of yeai to give the seeulings eveiy chance to thiive in this buining sun.
This is one way to make a wicking gaiuen beu. Next step.. aquaponics.