What it is
An irrigation system with no pump or electricity: a rope (cotton, nylon or acrylic) runs from a water tank to the soil in the pot. Water climbs up the rope on its own, like in a candle or a paper touching a puddle: this is called capillary action.
What it's for
So the plant has water when you can't water: a night, a weekend, a short vacation. The soil slowly takes up what dries out, and stays damp without getting soaked.
How to set it up
- The jerrycan goes lower than the pot or next to it, covered (so it doesn't evaporate or grow algae).
- The end of the rope goes deep into the soil, to the middle of the pot or more.
- The rope is wetted before starting, so it starts to carry water.
- It works best with light soil (with perlite): heavy soil stays too wet.
What you need to know
With always-damp soil, the root breathes a little less. That is why many people use it only when they are away and water by hand during the day. If you add fertilizer to the tank, it feeds the plant too, but you have to use it more diluted: salts can build up.
▲ Pros
- Several days without watering
- Put on and take off for free
- The kit is reusable: it goes back to your inventory when you harvest
🎮 Practice it in UnderGrow
The tank is 10 l and lasts more than 10 real h. Water rises slowly (from dry, about half a real h to reach half the pot): putting it on and taking it off right away doesn't water. With fertilizer it also feeds (a night without fertilizer leaves the nutrient bar at 0 % during flowering). Each night on the wick subtracts a little from the harvest; the kit is put on and taken off for free: when you take it off, the tank is kept with whatever is left, and putting it back continues with it. The kit is reusable: when you harvest or remove the plant, it goes back to your inventory for the next one. Only refilling it with fertilizer uses a dose. Until you sell your first harvest, if you forget, the old man sets it up for you.
▶ Play free