A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Does water need to stay at full depth for wicking action to work?

Hi all,

I am looking to build a wicking bed this year. (Once I get it going successfully I plan to tie it into an aquaponic system.) I have seen many different designs on the web - some put net pots or down into the reservoir, some don't. I am wondering if anyone has experience with whether the water will wick up when it is not actually touching the plant medium. In other words, does the reservoir need to be full at all times? This would be difficult if it is being filled manually.

Thank you,

Lida

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul Smith on February 3, 2016 at 3:08pm

Hi Lida,
I use wicking beds, actually they are wicking boxes, exclusively in my aquaponic system. Plus I use wicking baskets floating on my fish pond.
The bottom 10% of each box is the filter for my pond water. (See Pictures.) I pump water slowly into the box at one end and drain water back into the pond at the other.

Permalink Reply by Jeff S on February 3, 2016 at 6:55pm

There's a group here called "Wicking Bed Growers". There should be a lot of info there. Also one of my contacts, Jim Fisk, has a nice wicking bed setup that he has explained well in the IBC group I think.

Permalink Reply by Jim Fisk on February 4, 2016 at 8:47am

Hey Jeff, actually I have quite a few photos here on this very group just one post down on our general discussion HERE.

Lida, I just run the system water into the wicking bed for an overnight about once a week or two. I do a finger moisture test (very high tech) and when it gets a bit dry(er) I simply turn on the water and I have a bell siphon in the center that trips at about 3.5" and just kisses the bottom of the soil/compost/red worm media. That wets the media, feeds the media and introduces worm casting/compost tea into the rest of the system. The pics are pretty self explanatory. Here is another pic:

Permalink Reply by Paul Smith on February 4, 2016 at 9:30am

Thanks for Your great replies. I Love the ingenuity in each system.

Permalink Reply by Lida Soileau on February 4, 2016 at 11:05am

Thank you for the info.

Paul Smith said:

Hi Lida,
I use wicking beds, actually they are wicking boxes, exclusively in my aquaponic system. Plus I use wicking baskets floating on my fish pond.
The bottom 10% of each box is the filter for my pond water. (See Pictures.) I pump water slowly into the box at one end and drain water back into the pond at the other.

Permalink Reply by Lida Soileau on February 4, 2016 at 11:08am

Beautiful photos Jim. What medium are you using for the reservoir? It looks like gravel, but I wasn't sure.

Jim Fisk said:

Hey Jeff, actually I have quite a few photos here on this very group just one post down on our general discussion HERE.

Lida, I just run the system water into the wicking bed for an overnight about once a week or two. I do a finger moisture test (very high tech) and when it gets a bit dry(er) I simply turn on the water and I have a bell siphon in the center that trips at about 3.5" and just kisses the bottom of the soil/compost/red worm media. That wets the media, feeds the media and introduces worm casting/compost tea into the rest of the system. The pics are pretty self explanatory. Here is another pic: