Property News · November 28, 2021

How to make a wicking bed: a veggie patch watering solution for hot Australian summers


You’ll need a hefty list of materials, but it’s worth it to keep veggie gardens happy and watered for up to 10 days – even in the heatHotter summers make for harder growing soil conditions, and the poor veggie garden beds can suffer the most. One way around this is to set yourself up with wicking beds.The basic theory behind wicking beds is that the water is stored in an airtight reservoir underneath the soil, and it “wicks” up through the soil to the roots above as the plants transpire moisture through their leaves.A raised garden bed that features a firm frameBrickies sand (very fine sand), enough to cover the base of your garden bed to a depth of 50mmFood-grade plastic sheeting, enough to line the entire garden bed, all the way to the topTwo lengths of 50mm slotted agricultural pipe, one long enough to reach one-third of the length of your garden bed; the other long enough to reach the entire length of the bed50mm poly pipe, enough to reach from the top to the bottom of your garden bed25mm poly pipe, enough to reach half the height of your garden bedA poly elbow, to join the shorter piece of 50mm slotted agricultural pipe to the 25mm poly pipeSealant, to seal the agricultural pipe in place14mm construction aggregate (blue metal gravel), enough to fill the bottom half of your garden bedGeotextile fabric, enough to cover the entire base of the garden bedHigh-quality topsoil, enough to fill the top half of your garden bedMulch (pea straw or lucerne straw), enough to cover the top of your garden bed to a depth of 50mm Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…How to make a wicking bed: a veggie patch watering solution for hot Australian summers

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