Why I have partnered with WaterUps®

Using WaterUps wicking bed systems can help people have success growing their own edibles and ornamental plants at home. Vegie gardeners can reduce their food miles, turning them to footsteps, which helps the environment on many different levels. Supermarket fruit and vegetables usually have a lot of single use plastic packaging. By growing edibles at home, you are negating the need for plastic wrapped super market produce. And fresh is best.

WaterUps wicking bed systems use 100% recycled plastic. They are saving these plastics ending up in landfill and using them to make a product that can save water and help gardeners have great success with their plants. If you are going to put plastic underground after a single use, turn it into a useful product that is going under garden ground!

With water now being a valuable commodity, any method that helps us to use it efficiently is a good thing. The science behind wicking beds is well proven as a good method of water delivery to plants, going directly to the root zone.

What is wicking?

Wicking is the movement of water by capillary action without the assistance of gravity. In a gardening or horticultural context, it is the upward movement of water through soil, giving plants the ability to absorb water from below. Water wicking beds eliminate the problem of deciding when and how much to water. They can last up to 4 weeks without watering, in contrast to surface watering, which needs frequent watering at intervals, as often as daily depending on climatic conditions.  Apart from the frequency of watering, there is a substantial saving of water itself in using the wicking method.

Why use wicking?

  • Wicking saves up to 80% of the water normally used in the garden.
  • Once you fill the reservoir, your garden bed is self sufficient and waters itself for up to a month.
  • By watering from below, your plants develop stronger roots and grow better.

WaterUps Versus Traditional Scoria

The main method of constructing wicking beds is to use river sand or scoria at the base where the water is held. WaterUps® cells can be used instead of either of these, and can work out to be cheaper. They are lighter as well, which can be good on balconies and decks where weight is an issue.

WaterUps wicking beds can hold around 50% more water than scoria or river sand reservoirs, which gives a WaterUps bed a much longer time between waterings. This also means you do not have to fill your reservoir as often.

Would you like to watch a video on setting up a WaterUps wicking bed?

Click on the video below-

 

Clink on this link to WaterUps® Website to learn more about setting up a wicking bed using WaterUps reservoirs and buy WaterUps® products. They are an Australian owned company, and the wicking cells are made in Australia using recycled plastic.