it is a miracle, but you need to be watchful and tend them. for me the biggest 'problem' is that i am absent a lot and sometimes long and sometimes just want to do other things (imagine that!??!). so tending seedlings is exceedingly difficult. but i love travelling and am not about to give it up - hence the necessity of some sort of passive automation (wicks, domes/tenting).
i figured out how to put my small aloes/hawortias on wicking mats! yep! no wicks, and they are in 4" clay. it wicks the water up the clay walls! i can stuff them in nooks impossible to reach for watering and forget about them!
there's a salt build up from hard water on clay, but i just washed it off and they are fine. just bloomed.
of, course that's just for 4-6-8 weeks tops. but that's a miracle too!
this conversation is getting very complicated....
i am not sure, but i think sometimes you're just talking about seedling trays and sometimes about other potted plants. these are two diff things in my view as far as soil mix goes. seeds need finer particle mix especially fine rooted ones - i never use bark in any form on those. bark by itself does not wick at all. besides it can harbor all kinds of spores and molds - that's just too risky. perlite is sterile and wicks great (oh, i don't rinse mine either!
). i root and sprout in pre-moistened perlite, when domed it needs very little watering.
- I "should" use a better-wicking mix if I try to bottom water.
have you read raybo's recommendations for self-watering sub-irrigation mixes? it's 3:2:1 peat moss/bark fines/perlite. that's only 34% bark! and half peat! and it's never medium or coarse bark. no wonder your mix does not wick. for my 'wicked tropicals' (pun intended) i use 'jungle mix' approx 5:5:3 peat/perlite/fine bark= 35%, 35%, 21% - it wicks fine but never too moist. most of my moisture lovers are on it permanently and loving it. most are top-watered from time to time, but without drenching and flushing (ok may be a light flush 2-3 times a year at most)
if you're growing in med/large mostly bark mix you'll just have to top-water! and feed and flush - that is just the nature of the mix. it's labor and water and fertilizer intensive.
are we talking like up to 4" pots for seedlings? or just lil'plugs?
i think once you get above 4" you can use some bark. and yes, i know about 'best to keep the mix the same thru the pot' ... but all the starts are done in peat... may be with some perlite - if you strip the mix you damage the roots! it's just counter productive. there's mix/procedure for woody perennials that are already with good tough roots and then there's one season annuals with fine roots. in my view that's a diff treatment . but that's just my view - i am strictly indoors. and i understand the virtues/convenience of bark for outdoor containers under the skies/sprinklers.
-I tried bulk coir
coir have changed dramatically in the last ten years. i've used inadvertently MG exand-n-gro (had some sort of soil mites in it! but otherwise was fine) and just now ordered coir-peat bricks from nature's footprint. just don't buy the cheapest stuff and try to find reviews. hydroponics people use it - so pays to read the forums.
the coir matting is pre-rinsed - it's the same stuff they use to make liners for wire baskets. google 'coco fiber liner' or 'bulk coco liner' - i can buy it by the foot at my nursery.
by the way - you can't remove reg peat from roots easily without damage, but coir peat just falls out magically! so if you do insist on bare-rooting and full repot into new mix - it is easily doable with coir peat. i did it, it's a breeze! coir peat does not compact even when wet, so aeration is much better then with reg peat. and it does not turn into mush in 1 season like peat either. i actually read that it could be reused - like it gets better as it ages ;), so long as it does not have pathogens and dead rotting roots in it. try shaking it off the roots - and you'll see it's possible. i reuse mine from succulents when i repot them into new mix. and by the way all cacti/succs come in coir peat now ;).
