I would give it a try with a couple, to see how you like it. They grow differently when wicked, it seems. At least mine do. The leaves tend to stick up more, and the new growth tighter. But, it grows at a more consistent rate, and I don't get the setbacks that not being able to water soon enough causes. So, the plants get to just keep on growing, rather than growing, stress out from lack of water, lose some leaves, and then recover. That whole cycle also delays flowering, for my plants. I got tired of it. But it's nice to test out wicking for yourself before converting them all. For instance, it shows you you've got your potting mix in the right proportion.

I tried a few different types of fertilizers in the containers, but I also gave them a weakly-weekly dose of Foliage Pro (and some Pro TekT) in the reservoirs, and I think that had a great impact. I wasn't focusing too much on fertilizer, this year was more about mix, varieties, and wick configuration. I still have to look at my records to figure out what worked best as far as wick and mix configurations with the 18 gallon SWCs, but we had an abnormally hot and dry season so it'll be tough to sort out what works best in a more average year. My prototype SWCs with valves worked fine, but it was so hot I've yet to shut off the reservoirs. It may well be that a proper mix and wick setup negates any benefit to reservoir shutoff, but I need more cool temps to draw a final conclusion. I had some really good results with my bucket SWCs using rayon mop wicks. I think the design is a real winner for peppers, eggplant, and smaller sized tomatoes (cherry and saladette size. I'm working on a detailed set of instructions. My cucurbits didn't do well at all this year, either in ground or in SWCs (most locals I talked to had a bad cucurbit year). I grew some Cukes in SWC buckets and found that once established, they needed at least twice as many wicks as the tomatoes. I lost most plants to wilt from cucumber beetles. My current thinking is that they may do better in straight potting mix, and I'll also need to test a few different wick setups. One practice I think makes a big difference in SWC gardening is to top water until the plants are well established, then add the fertilizer and mulch cover before adding water to the reservoir. Here's some of my bucket SWCs from the end of July: One thing I'm certain of; No matter what the setup is, 40 tomato plants is way too many (for me). Next year, far fewer tomatoes and a lot more other stuff.

OK, I renamed the best pics of each of the three wood species I chose and took pics by my file cabinet by the window, by my credenza that is in back of my desk and by the front of my desk which is by the front windows. I also took pics of the room that is a little messy right now since I am working on a major project and do not have time to clean if I am working as well as obsessing about which wood floor for my office. I was going to wait until the end of the year to change the carpet but then when my air conditoner/heating/compressor unit died on me and caused a flood in the foyer area between the two rooms that are part of that big room, I had to decide what to replace the engineered warped and darkened oak wood with. Pieces of the veneer have come up and it is bumpy and was smelling a muscky smell until I had carpet cleaners deodorize it and steam it lightly to get rid of the musky smell. I either have to replace it with wood or maybe I should put tile there and wood floors in the rest of the office? The 80 pics are now about 23 or 24 pics labeled. Tomorrow I will reduce the number of pics and insert them into my picture program to share with you. I may start a new thread.

Beautiful close-up Joan. Linda...when I was 12 I was jumping on an old mattress in the storage shed and stirred up a nest of yellowjackets....they got me 17 times before my Grandpa threw me on the ground, ripped off my shirt and took his chewing tobacco out of his mouth and started putting it on the stings. The Dr. said thats what helped to keep the stings and swelling from being so bad. I just thought Grandpa was being mean to me...LOL. ~Kathy~