For more light that doesn't offend customers, how about a 500-Watt spotlight that sits on the floor? Set it out on an extension cord after the last customer leaves and put it away the next morning before any arrive. Have a timer that turns it on just a few hours each morning and night so the plants do get some dark. Run it for 14 hours on Saturday and Sunday.
>> each plant pot has wicks that suck water from a central channel. If it's left until the channel is completely dry, then the plants start wilting. Watering any more often, and the pots get too wet and the plants start rotting off.
Hmm, $33 per day? $250 per week? For that much, I would add a measured amount of water 2, 3 or 5 times per week! Let it run dry briefly a few times per week.
A short length of clear plastic tubing silicon-glued into a hole in the bottom of the trough and then bent upwards would reveal at a glance the depth remaining in the trough. I guess it would have to be invisible to customers if appearance is more important than thriving plants!
It sounds like the wicks are too big (wick too fast) for the pots. If they don't clog up on their own and slow down their water delivery, you might replace a few to see what delivers a slower rate. Or use bigger pots or put a fan on them to speed evaporation.
Are the wicks visible and soft? you might tie a few threads around one wick near the top, to throttle down (choke off) some of the flow rate. Figure out what it takes, from a slight constriction to a paper clip or binder clamp.
if the trough is ABOVE the pots, is it possible to lower the trough?
Or you could lay down absorbent pads that run the length of the trough, under each pot (assuming the pots have some bottom holes). Then arrange some hidden "downcomer" wicks that conduct excess water out of each trough to a concealed pot at ground level.
I assume that you are not watering with "softened" water. Usually that means that the "hard" minerals have been replaced with sodium chloride.
using wicks to reduce water-logging
http://garden.org/ideas/view/R...
