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Originally Posted by SIP Gro-Tubs
Think about what you have done, the total square inches of the area of the cross sections of four 1/4" ropes, compare that to sq inches of surface area of a pond basket.
The crosss ectional area will be way less, so the wicking will be way far to less also.
Remember, the plants probably arn't very big now, wait till they are 3-4' high and just as round, with fruit. Do u think that those 4 tiny wicks will be able to keep up compared to wick capacity of a pondbasket??
Have some foresight. Yes, its ok for now, but what will the plants needs be in full production.
Its like a athlete that is going to run a marathon. Starting the marathon with a minimal amount of water in your system, What are his hydration needs during the run to win.
Terry
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Thank you for your input. It is just an experiment, and since they were just extra plants, I am ready to accept failure. As an engineer, it pains me to say that you never know till you try, but I have yet to find any data or equations for calculating wicking action based on type and size of wicking material, so I guess my only way to learn is to try. I am trying for a less-wet growing environment so I am hoping my polyester wicks will wick less water than the pond-life basket, although the very early results seem to show no difference at all. A lot of it probably has to do with the saturation point that you addressed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArthurDent004
Chucker - I'm using 9" by 14" by 15" 5 gallon buckets for my experiment. I have two bare root strawberry plants in each SWC. My plants are now large enough to start drawing water from the reservoir. It will be interesting to see if my four 3/16 inch wicks will be able to keep the plants happy.
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I will also be interested in how your plants do with four 3/16" wicks. Please keep us posted on the results, the more data the better.