OPINION: Saving water nature’s way ... wicking beds

Wicking beds are like a candle that draws the wax up to the wick, to keep the flame burning. That is what a wicking bed does with water to the plant. That is what nature does in the forest. The rains come and the water seeps down into the water table, which is a level of water that is underground and always has been, from the beginning. Wicking beds emulate that. I have written about these before, and now here are Paul Blackwell’s efforts. The wicking tubs Paul has shown here, and described to me, are large, about 60L, containers set up to wick a water supply from beneath to plants growing in them as described. Paul said in the set-up depicted, there were four plastic rubbish bins connected to each other, and at the back, all were connected to an old pool chlorine bucket to control the free water level to about 300mm below the soil surface in the tubs. He said the tubs were constructed in 2017 and filled with charcoal for the saturated lower zone, about 150mm of river sand and then topsoil and compost above. The water supply in Paul’s arrangement comes from a reticulation system to surface sprays, which turn on three times a day for two minutes. He said the excess water flowed to the bottom of the tub through the soil, and if there was too much, there was an overflow in the old chlorine bucket at the back. “The charcoal probably helps to supply potassium to the plants.” Paul said. “Since installation, they have grown many crops of beans and tomatoes, with annual renewal of nutrition with compost and chicken manure pellets. “Currently, two of them are growing flowers and two are fallow, to be sown to veggies this autumn.” Paul’s dog is a Jack Russell called Lily. Making wicking beds can be an interesting thing to do while in isolation. Well-constructed and maintained wicking beds can produce great amounts of fresh vegies for the table or flowers for the bees, while only using minimal amounts of water. Stay home and stay safe.