How to Setup Wick Hydroponics System With 8 Easy Steps?
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Hydroponic is the future form of farming!
Hydroponic farming does not use soil but instead a growing medium in direct contact with nutrient-rich water. This method of farming is done both indoors and outdoors. It is perfect for small spaces, so indoor farming is not far more. There are many different hydroponic systems, but the Wick Hydroponic System is one of the simplest and most efficient passive hydroponic systems.
This blog post will give you all the information you need about Wick Hydroponic Systems.
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What Is a Wick Hydroponic System?
The Wick Hydroponic System is passive, meaning there is no electric pump to move the water and nutrients around because it only relies on the water supplied by gravity. It makes this Hydroponic system an ideal choice for beginners. This Hydroponic system is also straightforward to use for anyone, even kids, since it doesn’t require pumps or any fancy setups yet still allows you to grow Hydroponic Plants!
The hook-up for this Hydroponic system should include at least one 5-gallon bucket with an opening at the top. The wick should be cotton and porous enough to allow the capillary action.
How Wick Hydroponics Works?
This Hydroponics System allows water to be drawn up the wick by capillary action and absorbed throughout the Hydroponic plant’s root system.
Nutrients are drawn up into the plants’ roots by capillary action. This is caused by the water molecules attaching themselves to the growing medium. The higher the water content in the growing medium, the more these molecules are attracted to each other. The water molecules form a continuous network that can move through the growing medium, essentially creating a ‘mass movement of fluid.’
Also, read:
How Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic System Works?
How Does Hydroponic Automatic Dose System Works?
Wick Hydroponics System Setup Instructions.
Make sure that you have fully read through the instructions on how to set up your Hydroponics system so you can properly set it up where you want!
To set up this Hydroponics System, you need at least one 5-gallon bucket with an opening at the top.
With that, you will need the following:
- Hydroponic medium (such as soil, gravel, or vermiculite)
- Plant pots
- Wick material (cotton, hemp, wool, or jute)
- Water
- Nutrients
You can buy the above items through amazon using the following product links for your convenience. Hydroponic medium (such as soil, gravel, or vermiculite), Plant pots, Wick material (cotton, hemp, wool, or jute), Organic Nutrients
Here are the eight steps to build a wick hydroponic system.
- You will first need to find a location that has good exposure to sunlight and is roomy enough for your Hydroponics plants. Commercially available grow lights can also safely provide artificial lighting if needed.
- Drill four holes on the sides of your Hydroponics bucket close to its bottom. Ensure that you don’t drill too deep into the Hydroponic bucket, or the growing medium will mix with water, which can easily damage your Hydroponics system!
- For the wick, cotton should be selected so that it can absorb water while being porous enough to allow capillary action. Cut cotton string pieces so they are around 6 inches longer than your Hydroponic bucket’s height. Thread each piece through one of the drilled holes in a criss-cross manner, making it secure by knotting them tightly. After this step, if there’s any excess cotton string left over, simply cut it off or just leave them for aesthetics plus, it helps stabilize Hydroponics plants being placed within this Hydroponics system! Wicks can be made of strings, yarn, ropes, or fabric. The material can be anything from cotton, wool, polyurethane, hemp, wool, jute, and other synthetics.
- Suppose you are using Hydroponic plants that have been previously grown in soil. In that case, you can simply place these Hydroponic plants directly into the Hydroponics bucket without doing any additional steps. Get your Hydroponics plants ready by removing them from their Hydroponic pots and loosening the soil around the Hydroponics plant’s roots.
- Insert an air stone into the bottom of the Hydroponics reservoir and place it near the intake valve of your air pump. This will ensure that your Hydroponics plants are constantly being supplied with oxygen.
- After inserting the air stone, Hydroponic nutrients or water mixed with Hydroponic nutrients into the bottom of the Hydroponic bucket until it covers the holes that were drilled in Step 1 . This will ensure that the Wick Hydroponics system is constantly being fed with nutrients!
- Place your Hydroponic plants gently into the holes drilled in Step 1, making sure that the Hydroponic plant’s roots are in direct contact with the cotton strings. Make sure to have a suitable hydroponic medium in that bucket. Depending on the type of hydroponic plants you are growing, you can either place one Hydroponic plant per hole or two Hydroponic plants per hole, depending on the type of Hydroponic plants you are growing! Or You can set the plants in the hydroponic medium in the bucket. In this case, it’s critical to grow in a medium that drains and retains moisture since this is where the plants get all of their water and nutrients. The most popular growing media for wick systems are coco coir chips, Pro-Mix, Coconut Fiber, perlite, and vermiculite, which wick water well and keep the root zone wet while also giving roots enough oxygen. Growstones are good for plants. They can help with water and air. Plants need plenty of water and air to grow well. With most wick systems, the plants are placed directly within an absorbent substance like perlite or vermiculite.
- After all your Hydroponic plants have been placed into the Wick Hydroponics system, take a look at the Hydroponic bucket. If the cotton strings have become dry, add more Hydroponic nutrients or water mixed with Hydroponic nutrients until it covers the holes drilled in Step 1.
That’s it! You’ve successfully set up your very own Wick Hydroponics System!
Also, learn:
How to Set Up a Nutrient Film Technique – NFT Hydroponics?
How to Set Up a Hydroponic Drip System
How to Set Up DIY Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic System?
For What Plants Wick Hydroponic System Is Suitable?
The Wick Hydroponics System is suitable for Hydroponic plants that don’t require a large root system. This is suitable for fruits such as strawberries or tomatoes or vegetables such as lettuce, cucumbers, or peas and herbs. Basically, for all small-sized Hydroponic plants, you can grow in a wick hydroponics system that is suitable!
Benefits of Wick Hydroponic System
- It’s very simple for Hydroponic beginners.
- You can grow Hydroponics plants anywhere because the system only requires water already within the environment.
- Since this Hydroponics System uses no electricity, it is reliable even during power outages.
- Hydroponics plants in wick systems grow faster and healthier than in other Hydroponic Systems due to the larger spaces available for roots to grow.
- This Hydroponics System uses natural resources such as sunlight which means you don’t need to use any extra resources like electricity.
- If you are growing small root plants and don’t have enough space, you can try Mini Wick Hydroponic System.
Drawbacks of Wick Hydroponic System:
- The system might not be suitable if you are growing Hydroponic fruits or vegetables that require larger root systems because this Hydroponics System contains Hydroponics space within just one 5-gallon bucket! If you want, you can increase the number of buckets used, but this will increase costs too.
- It’s not suitable for Hydroponic plants that require larger root systems.
- Hydroponics fruits or Hydroponically grown Hydroponic vegetables will wilt faster than other Hydroponics Systems!
- Since Hydroponics is a type of agriculture, you’ll need to take care of the plant’s roots by removing the Hydroponic Plants from this system during harvest time! This can be tiresome for Hydroponic growers because Hydroponically grown Hydroponic plants require consistent maintenance regarding their roots!
- You might also end up consuming too much space since all pots containing different types of plant species are placed into one bucket, which might result in overcrowding and, as a result, decreased yields.
Related:
The Pros and Cons of Wick Hydroponic Systems
Pros and Cons of Drip Hydroponic System
In Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, Wick Hydroponics is passive, which means it only relies on gravity for the hydration of Hydroponic Plants! This system is notable for not using aerators, pumps, or electricity. In fact, it’s the only hydroponic system that doesn’t require the use of electricity. But remember, Hydroponically grown Hydroponic Plants will thrive more when placed within open-air than other types of Hydroponic Systems!
As you can see, growing Hydroponic plants using a Wick Hydroponics System is relatively simple! The only unfortunate thing about this Hydroponic System is that its roots are constantly exposed to oxygen, which means that if Hydroponically grown Hydroponic plants aren’t placed within their proper environment, they may quickly wilt away! Other than that, the Wick Hydroponics System is a great Hydroponic system for those who are just starting out in Hydroponic gardening!
This Hydroponics System is also very easy to use by kids since it’s passive and doesn’t require pumps or any fancy setups. It still allows Hydroponically grown Hydroponic Plants!
Thank you for reading!
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