Hi I’m making several wicking garden bed and need some advice please. I have 4 poly tanks that I have cut in half which gives me a height of 1metre each. I’m hoping to utilise this height to stop the predators (Chooks, Possums, Bandicoots, Hare’s, and Shrub Turkeys etc.) from eating the veggies. The cut off tanks are now 600mm wide and 2.4meter long and as said 1 meter high. I have done a fair amount of research on the different designs and understand for the absorption or capillary action to work it is suggested to have the reservoir no more than 300mm deep and the soil about from 200 to 400mm deep pending what I’m growing. If I was to have the bottom water reservoir 500mm deep and the soil between 200mm to 400mm would it work?? Would it help if I put say 3 of 90mm PVC pipes drilled a lot of 3mm holes in them and stand them vertical in each tank and filled them with a good absorption material like old Tee Shirts to help the capillary action? What is the best size gravel or aggregate to use in a wicked garden bed? my research tells me that a fine gave like 5 to 7mm give more absorption or capillary action but a 20mm gravel displaces less water, give more water storage? I’m in a warm humid climate i.e. Sub-tropical (Gold Coast Queensland Australia)
You dont need gravel you can use milk crates or any other crate covered in geo textile or shade cloth this guy is a bit of a wicking bed guru gives lots of info in this thread https://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=529864