In Wick hydroponic system which is a passive type, plants are placed in a separate container from the nutrient reservoir and a wick is used to draw nutrient solution from the reservoir feeding the roots. It provides a continuous stream of nutrient solution in which contributes to the growth medium of the plant. In order to know what is a wick Hydroponic system, below is some of the information that may be useful to you.
What you need:
- A 2-gallon plastic buckets medium
- Drill
- ¾-inch drill bit
- 1-20 gallon reservoir
- Air tubing/stone
- 2-3ft cloth wick (rope) 1-inch thick
- Air pump
- Vermiculite
- Perlite
Method:
- First thing that you have to do is to drill ¾-inch hole in the center of the 2gallons bucket.
- Next, insert at least 1feet of cloth wick. You need to measure and cut enough wick to enable it to reach the bottom of the reservoir for example around 1 to 2feet.
- Then, you have to unravel the section of wick (rope) inside the bucket before filling in up to 2/3 of the bucket with an absorbant soilless mix.
- You must ensure that the surface of the soil is always moist (not wet) to enable the wick system to work properly. If you notice that the moisture does not move away from the wicks into the soil, you need to add vermiculite for increasing its absorption. If it becomes too wet and soggy, perlite can be used for reducing absorption.
- After that, you can place the chosen plant into the bucket and also fill in the remaining area inside the container with clay or diatomite rocks.
- Next, connect the air stone to the air pump and place the air stone in to the reservoir. Meanwhile, if the plant that you are growing is more than two, you have to aerate your nutrient solution using the aquarium air pump along with air stone.
- You have to fill the reservoir with nutrient solution (half full pitcher) and plug in the air pump. In order to make this system work efficiently, you have to make sure that the plants receive enough nutrient solution.
- And then, insert the opposite end of the wick into the reservoir and in three to four weeks, you will be watching your plants grow.
Additional Reading:
http://www.jasons-indoor-guide-to-organic-and-hydroponics-gardening.com/hydroponics-growing-systems.html
http://www.homemadehydroponicsreview.com/wicksystems/intro-wb/
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hackaday/133031719/
