DIY Hybrid Wicking Beds

Post Christmas workout, 💪💪, well I need something to help me get rid of the Christmas excess. 😁

So, what the plan?

Because I have sandy loam soil, I am finding with my semi-arid climate, the uncertainty of regular rainfall, plus the fact that we are on strict watering restrictions, that I need to do something different with some of my inground veggie beds.

Plus, the fact that I am finding that the ground seems to be getting further away and getting up is harder than it used to be. With this in mind I have decided to change two small in-ground veggie beds in to raised hybrid wicking beds. Now I have to admit I have been procrastinating on this project for a while now, I knew it would be big and as I have mentioned in previous posts, I sometimes have problems getting started, but start I did with a friend to help.

I had already sourced some 1,000L shuttles (totes, pods, IBCs) from a local farmer which had had liquid fertiliser in them and were happy to let me have ten (10), which of course I have had for a while now. So, with my willing (honest) helper in tow, we set too.

How to build a Hybrid Wicking bed

The first job was to dismantle the shuttles and separate the inserts form their metal frames. This done we then need to cut the frames and inserts in half, this meant they would be 500mm high. The inserted then need to be painted with an exterior paint. You do not have to do this part, but if you don't the plastic insert will degrade under UV light and become brittle and crack, also because they are semi-opaque you can get algae growing on the inside on your inserts, in your growing medium, also any weed seeds in you growing medium can germinate. Hence my decision to paints them.

 

Next step was to place them where I wanted. I had already cleared the ground ready to receive them, leveling out the soil and removing any weeds. I then hammered 💪💪 into the ground my star pickets and cut my 2-inch Greenline poly-pipe, to form shade hoops. We have found that you need to use the 2-inch Greenline poly-pipe, rather than to Blueline 50mm pipe, as this will not go over the star pickets. Once the hard structures were in place, I could now backfill the inserts with my growing medium. The reason why I call these a hybrid wicking bed is because I do not have a separate water reservoir at the bottom, as I have described previously in other wicking container posts. The reason for this is that I want the advantage of a raised bed and the advantage of a wicking bed, whilst mitigating hopefully some of the cons for both types of beds.

See notes below for further explanation of reasoning.

 

The growing medium I decided to make was based on the same principle I had used in building my in-ground lasagna beds, namely using layers. I started with straw in the bottom, then composted manure from the chook house (method will be in another post), then the soil from my in-ground veggie beds that I was dismantling. I repeated this 3 times filling the inserts.

The next step was to set up the irrigation system and plant out.

 

Then I put up some shade. I used two layers of veggie netting, because that is what I had available. This resulted is about 20% shade. It may not be enough in our summers, but 50% shade cloth is too much for our winters, so I am hoping this 20% shade will suffice, which I can then leave up come summer or winter. Shade is great in my climate because it not only stops the plants getting scorched (and me), but it also drops the temperature by a few degrees, reduces evaporation and increase humidity. It also helps with frost protection too. You will note- I have left the sides open. The reason for this is that I need insectivorous birds and insects to access my plants as part of my pest management plan.

 

Finally, I needed to put in my overflow holes to stop by beds drowning when we do get a down pour. I put three holes in, but put bungs into two of the holes. I will only take the bungs out if we have torrential rain, otherwise just the one hole will suffice. I put these overflow hole in about a 100mm from the base. This means I will have some water retained in the base that can wick back up into my growing medium. This way I hope to minimise any water loss and I can use my water carefully.

Notes:

As promised my explanation as to why I decided to use this hybrid method to offset some of the cons associated with raised and wicking beds.

Raised Beds - Cons: In my climate, sometimes these beds can be too dry if they are free draining, becoming hydrophobic.  These beds are watered from the top.

Wicking Beds - Cons: Some plants do not like growing in wicking beds as the growing medium does not breath like a raised bed does, and the roots rot. These beds are watered from below, from a water reservoir.

With the hybrid wicking beds, I am hoping I can have the benefit of watering from the top (like a raised bed), which then drains down through the growing medium drawing air in air after it, allowing the medium to breath and providing air to the plant roots.  This should hopefully reduce the chance of the roots rotting off.  

However the water being retained in the bottom will hopefully allow some moisture to remain and to stop the medium becoming hydrophobic.  I am hoping this will also draw the roots of the plants down into the medium.  

Not sure if my reasoning is correct, but I am sure time will tell and I will let you know how I go. 🤞🤞🤞