I always wondered why people use soil mix as the wick in eBuckets.
Why not cotton flannel or rayon batting or some toweling? Leave more room for water in the bottom, more AERATED soil near the bottom.
A good wick could even draw water up several inches ABOVE water level before relying on the soil mix to wick it the rest of the way. (I think you'd get more even watering that way, even if you let the reservoir go completely empty some of the time.)
You could even pull a thick wick out through a hole in the side of the eBucket, run it into a pail or trough alongside or above the hole, and let the whole eBucket suck water into itself. Even uphill a little!
I was amazed at how fast a little 1 inch wide wick of thin rayon batting pulled water UP out of a yogurt tub and then down the side. More then one fat drop per second.
That's almost 1/2 tsp per minute.
1/2 cup per hour
1 1/2 gallons per day from one tiny wick UPhill!
What would some rolled up cotton flannel do, or a piece of terrycloth toweling?
Corey
