Compost Tea with Wicking Beds

Hey all,

I'm brand new to here -- I will be starting a garden in the Spring, and after doing quite a bit of research, I've decided to do the Square Foot Gardening method using Wicking Beds that I've constructed from Pallet Beds and other materials.

I am using Wicking Beds for a few reasons:

My work hours are crazy and I cannot be home all the time to monitor soil moisture levels / water the plants from above; the Wicking Bed concept will make it so all I have to do is fill the reservoir (below the soil) every week or two, and the plants will "drink" as they feel "thirsty." Also, I won't have to worry about over-watering/under-watering.

I've been looking into the soil preparation, and I will do the 1/3Vermiculite 1/3PeatMoss 1/3Compost method. My 1/3 of Compost will most likely consist of Worm Castings, Rock Dust, Mushroom/Woodchip Compost, Humus, and other Trace Minerals.

I've really been turned onto the idea of the Compost Tea. I like the idea of a concentrated product being delivered directly to the plants and/or roots via H2O, sort of like how us Humans can benefit greatly from the Juicing of vegetables by getting a concentrated dose of nutrients. I am wondering what opinions you all have of introducing Compost Tea into a Wicking Bed environment.

I was wondering what would happen if I filled the reservoir with Compost Tea, rather than pure H2O. Will I end up clogging the feeder tube? Will I end up creating anaerobic bacteria in the reservoir? Would it be overkill (nutrient-wise) to feed Compost Tea to my plants additionally above and beyond the 1/3Compost from my Mel's Mix? If I want to involve Compost Tea feeding from above the soil, will I drown my plants with watering from both above and below the soil (I'm thinking not, considering the overflow tube is there for a reason, and the overflow tube takes care of excess water for situations like when it rains)?

For some reason I just really like the idea of the Compost Tea, and have found other people who have achieved amazing results using this concentration form of nutrient delivery, but I have not found much on the incorporation of this Tea in a "Wicking Bed" environment and don't want to make a mistake on my first go-around!

Any help would be greatly appreciated  

Tumtum
I would not use compost tea in a wicking bed. The tea needs a lot of oxygen to keep the microbes alive, if they die off in mass the water will go anaerobic and stink the place up. 
If you use 1/6 vermicompost and 1/6 compost in your soil mix you should be in good shape. You could add another cup or so of VC per square half way into the gardening season as a fertilizer.

 tumtumsback!  We look forward to hearing and seeing (hint, hint) how thing s go with your wicking SFG beds.  I have not done much with compost tea, but my only concern with you using ONLY compost tea is that if you end up too nitrogen-rich, you could end up with all foliage and little fruitage.  A little tea added occasionally to your water may be enough.  Whatever you decide, we would love to see pictures and hear updates! 

GG

Welcome to the forum.

A reservoir of compost tea is an idea that I haven't heard before.  Thanks for that.

The SFG wicking boxes that I'm familiar with use a 'basket' to hold the MM.  The basket sits in the reservoir, soaks up the water, and the MM above the basket wicks the water from the basket.  In a sense, isn't compost tea being created as the basket MM is soaking in the reservoir water?  

I'm not familiar with the 'feeder tube' that you mentioned.  How does that method work?

I'll second what Boz mentioned.  From everything that I've read, the tea would quickly go anaerobic without agitation, and you would lose a lot of the benefits.  Personally, I would  use water in the reservoir and apply compost tea from the topside.  That will give more control over the variables.  

Please keep us posted with your progress.

Hello TUM TUM ,
Welcome to the amazing world of the  " All NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING "  ( ANSFG )

I was wondering what would happen if I filled the reservoir with Compost Tea, rather than pure H2O. Will I end up clogging the feeder tube? Will I end up creating anaerobic bacteria in the reservoir? Would it be overkill (nutrient-wise) to feed Compost Tea to my plants additionally above and beyond the 1/3Compost from my Mel's Mix? If I want to involve Compost Tea feeding from above the soil, will I drown my plants with watering from both above and below the soil (I'm thinking not, considering the overflow tube is there for a reason, and the overflow tube takes care of excess water for situations like when it rains)?


Regarding the above which I've copied and pasted.
I firmly believe that using the tea as you mention will cause you problems  for the following reason .
If you continuously make a consistent  high value plant food available to plants they will grow long and lanky as most of the plant " TEA's "  contain a fair dose of concentrated nitrogen  .

Perhaps think of it this way ....  would you put artificial fertilizer on a plant every day ??
You can easily over fertilize plants and you can also over water them.
If you do go for the  reservoir system do make sure you have some sort of float indicator so that you never put too much water in the reservoir .  Some plants like their tap roots swiming in water but most garden crops don't ..

I ended up with two seven foot tall potato plants from over doing the watering and  over fertilizing once a day with 1/4 pint of "  tea " made from well rotted dung based composts & some brown sugar ( to get the natural yeasts going like crazy )  . The plants only produced a few golf ball sized potatoes between them .

However that said there was a distinct advantage in giving the brassica and other leaf crops a weekly feed on to the soil around them. Again you can over do it with feed & water , the plants develop very spongy cells which pest insects just love because of the very sugary juices with the leaves .

It's all about balance and experimenting .. keep written records of what you do, for the neck too computer & data banks are not as good as most people think they are.
Come this time next year you'll be thankful you did keep  records.

Have fun
Plantoid

PS.
If you want the details of the book " ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING "  BY:-  MEL BARTHOLOMEW , that we run with,,,  they are in my strap lines . That book ISBN is for the latest book and supersedes all others .

Tum Tum,  Welcome to the Forum!    

This is a slow time of the year on the Forum so it may take a few days for folks to check in and read your new post.  You already have some replies from experienced gardeners regarding adding compost tea to your reservoir.  If your compost is composed of 5 different organic sources then you you shouldn't have to feed your plants anything extra, with a few exceptions.  The secret to success, as I have gathered from my first year of SFG, is proper Mel's Mix and a couple inches of mulch during the warm weather.  Proper MM will provide food to the plants as they need it and the mulch really, really cuts down on watering.

With that said, it seems your compost is very heavy on wood products[Mushroom/Woodchip Compost, Humus] and non-organic sources of minerals [Rock Dust and other Trace Minerals].  I've read advice on making sure the worm castings are NOT more than 1/5 of the compost mix.  Most folks add herbivore manure to their compost piles or original mixing of MM .  My advice is to re-read ANSFG section on compost to see how you can build a good 5-part compost.  In fact, if you don't own a copy of the most recent book, I strongly urge you to buy it.  Newbies refer to it all the time.  There is also a drop-down menu in the upper left of the Home page that contains information on the heart of SFG.

Please post photos.  We LOVE photos of other gardens and ideas.  Photos are also great when you have a question.

Wow,

Thank you all SO very much for the awesome feedback; I'm starting to like this forum a lot already!

Boz: Thank you for the tips on avoiding an anaerobic catastrophe. I too was thinking that the stagnant Compost Tea in the reservoir wouldn't be a good idea, so thank you for supporting this idea. I'll also look into the addition of fertilizer halfway through the gardening season   .

Goosegirl:   Hehehe    don't you worry, I will definitely keep you all posted on my adventures. I think I am going to abandon the Compost Tea idea, at least in terms of filling the Tea into my Wicking Beds through the feeder tube, that is. Also, good call on the foliage vs. fruitage concept; "plantoid" seems to agree with you on this one.

boffer: You definitely understand the general concept of a Wicking Bed. The "feeder tube" in my case is the PVC pipe which extends from above the soil level, down into the reservoir (below the soil and below the weed-mat/burlap/bedsheet/etc., and into the void of pebbles/recycled glass/etc. ) ... Here is a link to a video which shows one how to build the particular style of a Wicking Bed which my beds will look like.

(New members are not allowed to post external links or emails for 7 days. Please contact the forum administrator for more information.) Here is my attempt to circumvent -->

h t t p : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = T E g n K - v e V 4 Q

I guess you could say "Compost Tea is being created" as the Wicking occurs, as well as when it rains. I'm starting to think Compost Tea would be more useful for a larger garden that isn't designed with beds, but rather a plot of land (hopefully that is at least tilled with compost) where the existing soil isn't exactly fertile; pouring/infusing Compost Tea over the entire plot could enrich the soil and would even things out/make up for any existing soil that is still lacking full nutrition after the tilling, as I could imagine that even after a good tilling, the nutrition in the soil might still be patchy... I may do a control group bed/experimental group bed where I'll add some Compost Tea here and there from above the soil to the experimental group and see what results I get   .

plantoid: Thanks for the heads up on the lanky concept, you seem to concur with Goosegirl (foliage vs fruitage). As for the float indicator, I'll have overflow pvc pipes which sit horizontally right at the weed-mat/burlap level (which is the porous partition between the water and the soil) and extends out the side of the bed, so when water gets to that level, it won't keep rising into the soil, but will rather flow (via gravity) right out the side, keeping my water from raising above the desired level. I will do my best to have fun with trial and error! I expect to mess up some things here and there, and so I will most definitely keep some written records, and will also look into buying the book; thanks for the heads up   !

sanderson:    ... And wow, for being a slow time of year, I definitely feel enough attention; I can't imagine what sort of activity will be flowing through this place come spring! Also, correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure that the Rock Dust (h t t p : / / w w w . g a i a g r e e n . c o m / r o c k d u s t . h t m l ) and other Trace Minerals (h t t p : / / s e a a g r i . c o m / ) which I will be using are considered organic. I was really looking to create a well balanced 5 part organic compost mixture, and hope that these components will still qualify?! I do have a friend who has goats, and do plan on adding some goat manure into the mix. If you could recommend a good compost mix, what 5 main ingredients would you combine, and at what ratios?

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Once again, thank you all for the feedback, GREATLY APPRECIATED! We've got snow on the ground here in Maryland and so I don't have many pics for you all at the moment. What I've been up to so far is building the general framework of the individual beds themselves; deconstructing pallets and reconstructing pallets... Sawzalls and Circular Saws and Drills and Screws and yeah, my arms hurt...

I will be ordering some seeds very soon. I have 3 bed frameworks built at the moment, and will have another 3 built very soon. I have the tarps, the pea gravel, the pvc, and the weed-mats on standby. Now I just need some SOIL on standby and I'll be set!

Here are some pics of my frameworks so far:

h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / a 5 9 w w d 1 t f /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / w t b 4 x o 4 4 z /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / d 2 w 1 x c s e v /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / q m w w n 9 2 7 n /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / 6 q 0 j q 1 b k 7 /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / 6 9 p p v 6 d o 7 /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / s p l n l l r z 5 /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / 3 r 0 3 x q e 7 x /
h t t p : / / p o s t i m g . o r g / i m a g e / c r c 0 s p s 5 9 /

tumtumsback wrote:Wow,

sanderson:    ... And wow, for being a slow time of year, I definitely feel enough attention; I can't imagine what sort of activity will be flowing through this place come spring! Also, correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure that the Rock Dust (h t t p : / / w w w . g a i a g r e e n . c o m / r o c k d u s t . h t m l ) and other Trace Minerals (h t t p : / / s e a a g r i . c o m / ) which I will be using are considered organic. I was really looking to create a well balanced 5 part organic compost mixture, and hope that these components will still qualify?! I do have a friend who has goats, and do plan on adding some goat manure into the mix. If you could recommend a good compost mix, what 5 main ingredients would you combine, and at what ratios?

Tum Tum, I should have used a different word than "organic." Organic has too many meanings, depending on the circumstances. What I meant is that the 1/3 compost part of MM is composted "once-alive" materials. The vermiculite is the 1/3 "never-lived-before" part and peat moss is the "once alive but now doesn't contribute any nutrients" part, providing fluffiness and helping with water holding. You have 3 [or 4] of the 5 parts of the 1/3 compost: decomposed woodies and worm castings and goat manure. Only 2 [or 1] to go. Please go to the Home page and read the drop-down topic Composting 101. And read the book at least once, if not twice! If you are like most Newbies, okay, like me, the light bulb will suddenly come on and it all makes sense.

Here's the video URL to how to build a wicking box using re-purposed materials that tumtumsback posted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEgnK-veV4Q

Tumtumsback, although you can't post links for a week, you can post pictures using the forum's host server.  Great instructions here:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t16654-video-tutorial-how-to-post-a-picture-located-on-your-computer

I would make the feeder tube large enough in diameter to insert a garden hose for filling purposes.  If the tube is that big, you shouldn't have problems with it clogging.  I made a water level gauge for my wicking box by sticking a wire into a chunk of cork that floats in the feeding tube.  The wire sticks out the top of the feeder tube.  I marked the wire with a piece of tape to show the empty and full levels so I would know when it was getting near time to refill the reservoir.

This is the wicking box that I experimented with for a couple years.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3068-sfg-wicking-boxes

This is how Walshevek and family made their wicking boxes.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t5716-experiment-to-deal-with-pure-sand-and-high-water-bills

boffer, that thread is a couple years old. Do you still use that bed? as is or modified? lessons learned/opinion on whether it was worth it?

Marc, it started out as a one year experiment that lasted two years.  I've disassembled it since, and converted it into  two 4x4 regular SFG boxes.  The primary advantages are water conservation and watering convenience for the absentee gardener.  (Neither are issues for me.)   If a gardener is trying to address those two issues, a SFG wicking box does a very good job.  Mulching  probably would have conserved even more water.

I can't say one way or another if the plants did better because of the consistent moisture, as I had no controls.  I refilled the reservoir every two weeks or so.

Suggestion: Don't go cheap when waterproofing the reservoir box  like I did.  It will leak sooner  rather than later.  Do it right the first time.

One caution: If direct seeding, the MM needs watered daily to keep the seeds damp in the top layer of MM.  The wicking action doesn't keep the top inch or so damp enough to prevent the seeds from drying out.  Once germinated, they can be on their own.  

I used 9 wicking baskets, and I'm satisfied with the results.  The MM stayed a little drier around the perimeter, but wasn't an issue.  I would guess that the baskets could be a little smaller, but I wouldn't use fewer.

Our wicking bed are still in use but one had to be remade due to a tear in the pond lining. It was the first one built and we also added extra wicking cups. We had bumper crop in the spring but the summer heat just doesn't play well with some crops. Shade cover helped.

I did find that the nutrients in these beds seems to last longer than in the open bottom tabletop beds I have at my house. I suspect the nutrients were washed into the reservoirs by the rain and stayed available longer. Of course, during heavy rain periods the overflow of the reservoirs probably washed a lot of that out. One nursery employee advised me to flush the reservoirs to prevent over accumulation of fertilizer salts. I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't use chemical fertilizers. Although I assume that the manures in my compost also produce salts.

Kay

Thanks for all the great feedback guys! Anyone have any tips on ways to make sure you are not creating an anaerobic environment with these Wicking Beds?

Otherwise, I am up to 4 beds built, lined with tarp, waiting for good weather and pea gravel + soil

Looking good!

Just a thought: in your climate, will freezing be an issue? If the tub froze solid, it could pop the whole thing apart.

boffer wrote:Looking good!

Just a thought: in your climate, will freezing be an issue?  If the tub froze solid, it could pop the whole thing apart.  

Good thinking Boffer. Maybe a draining spigot is a good idea.  

Have I been living under a rock? This is the first time I've heard of wicking beds!

Boffer,

Thank you for the concern! I don't plan on moving these beds outside until a week or so after the "last frost"

City: Baltimore
State: MD
Growing Season: 200 Days
Last Spring Frost Dates -- Apr. 11
First Fall Frost Dates -- Oct. 29

Unfortunately here in Baltimore, the growing season is quite short... Fortunately, I've got a nice guide with this link -- Baltimore Planting Calendar -- what I'll do is start some of these vegetables indoors, in seed trays or in cups, and do some transplanting to make the most of my growing season.

Camprn,

Thank you for your concern as well! The state of the beds which you see from the pictures right now are incomplete in their full setup. These beds are 15" tall... Soon, I will order Pea Gravel -- the Pea Gravel will fill up the bottom 9" of the bed, with 6" of Soil sitting on top of the Pea Gravel (I am still battling with ideas of proportions... maybe I'll do 6" of Pea Gravel and 9" of Soil -- HELP ANYONE?!). In between, separating the Pea Gravel and Soil, will be a divider (weed mat, or bedsheet, or burlap -- something that lets water/moisture through, but keeps the soil from mixing/dropping down into the reservoir). Tucked in between the top of the Pea Gravel and below this divider will be a 3/4" pvc pipe that lays horizontally and will extend out of the side of the bed(s). As I fill the reservoir (which gets fed by a 1" pvc pipe that is placed in one of the corners of the bed(s) and extends vertically down to the Pea Gravel layer), the water will rise up until it reaches the level where the horizontal pvc pipe lives and will begin to flow out the side. This will also help for when it rains, where if the water/moisture coming through the top starts to meet with the reservoir below, the horizontal pvc pipe should act as drainage, hopefully preventing root rot and/or an anaerobic environment.

Martha,

Here are some great links, progressing from the simple concept of wicking beds in general, to a very simple example of a wicking bed (which utilizes a clear container so you can see the concept of what is going on inside of a wicking bed that is more opaque), to the wicking bed design (using repurposed materials) which I plan to adopt. I am a 100% newbie so I cannot provide any say on whether or not this design is worthy -- I am just eager to begin growing my own vegetables, and as I know I am not going to be home all of the time to monitor soil moisture levels/feed my garden from above, or could go on vacation for a few days here and there in the summer, this way I can fill the reservoir and let the vegetables drink at their leisure?!

The simple concept of a wicking bed

Simple example of a wicking bed

How to build a wicking bed from repurposed materials

Thank you for the links!

Give my regards to Baltimore - my father lived in downtown Baltimore for about 10 years, then moved to Linthicum, where he lived for about 20 years. I lived in Columbia for 7.  Massachusetts is well and truly home, but I do feel nostalgic for Maryland every now and then.

tumtumsback wrote:Boffer,
Thank you for the concern! I don't plan on moving these beds outside until a week or so after the "last frost"...Unfortunately here in Baltimore, the growing season is quite short...

What about next winter? Or is freezing not a concern?

All of your 'cool' crops can be planted outdoors weeks before your last frost.  That gives them a chance to mature before the serious heat of summer.  It also gives you space and time to do a fall planting of cool crops.

tumtumsback wrote:...I am still battling with ideas of proportions... maybe I'll do 6" of Pea Gravel and 9" of Soil -- HELP ANYONE?!

I would reverse the numbers.  SFG only needs 6 inches of MM for nearly all veggies.

Secondly, the  gravel is going to displace a lot of water, and that will shorten the time period between re-fills quite a bit.

In rough numbers, an empty 4x4x6 inch tub is 64 gallons.  A 4x4x9 inch tub is 96 gallons.   I'm curious how much water the gravel will displace?

Martha: Not a problem -- and hey, that is awesome! Smaltimore, hon ... If you're ever in town and need some veggies, I've got your back   

Boffer: As for the winter, and with the "last frost date," I was thinking hopefully I'd start them indoors in a window and wait until the weather warmed up enough before transplanting them into the beds outside. As for the "first frost date," I was wondering what types of veggies would actually make it outside below 32 degrees. And if I was able to grow veggies outside below 32, I could start watering from above. Thank you for mentioning these ideas though, definitely things I need to start thinking about?!

And I am definitely going to do the 9 inches of pea gravel, 6 inches of soil... Also, I was looking into other methods that would give me more water in my reservoir, such as laying down corrugated black pipe at the bottom, right above the tarp, and then pouring pea gravel on top. The hollow areas of the corrugated black pipe would make it so a lot more water could be held down there (not as much displacement), and allow more time between re-filling the reservoir. What do you think?

If you look at the Regional Forums that are listed farther down on the homepage of this forum, you'll see one called Mid-Atlantic.  The host of that forum is sfg4uKim, and she lives just a short drive from you.  You'll  find lots of topical info there that is pertinent to your environment.  She provides lots of info regarding planting timing that is applicable to you.

Cool crops include plants like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, radishes, lettuce, spinach, chard, kale.  Page 253 of the ANSFG, 2006 edition, has a chart listing when to start those seeds indoors, and when to transplant them.  Some of the plants can be seed started indoors in January and transplanted in March in your area.

I hope you keep us posted on your progress throughout the year with your wicking box experiment.  I'm real curious about how a wicking box tub full of gravel compares with a wicking box full of water.  It appears that folks are having success with the gravel, and I can see an advantage or two with it, but I'm having a hard time envisioning how the capillary action will work. When there is 3-4 inches between the cloth and the top of the water, that is filled with only rocks and air,  I just can't envision the water being pulled up the rocks.  Anyhow, keep posting so we all can learn through your experiment.

I understand your idea of using a pipe to hold more water.  I wonder if several pipes would be even better?

Well, shucks, now you've got me thinking that I should try a mini-experiment using gravel!  Hmmm... 

Boffer,

Thank you VERY much, you keep on coming at me with these awesome resources ;)I've been going through a lot of the past topics on that forum which I'm finding very helpful

Looks like you've gone ahead and started your mini experiment as well: https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t17000-small-wicking-box-experiment#182101

Fingers Crossed!!!

Six beds ready to go!


Started my Calabrese and Romanesco under some cool fluorescent lighting!


And just finally got the first sprout of my existence -- SO STOKED!

  Excited for you!   

Cool, I love wicking beds. Most I've ever done is a wicking 5-gallon bucket, but it seems like a great thing to do lots of experimenting with.