Capillary Matting/Wicks for Self-Watering Containers

[New2Planters]

I had a pretty knowledgeable gardener explain how to set-up my own self-watering container. He said to take a capillary wick and push it part way into the container and have the other end sitting in water. The capillary action will supply all the need water to the plant.

So I've been trying to learn more about what to use for this capillary wick. He said to make strips out of capillary matting and use that. I've seen other websites discuss all kinds of thinks like yarn, strips of a felt comforter, nylons, etc.. It took a while but I've finally found some capillary matting on-line.

So my question is: If I don't want to have to go buy a capillary mat and make strips, what else do you recommend I use to make my own capillary wick?

A secondary question is whether you have access to or know of any good sources to read up on this for self-education purposes.

Thank you!

[Spotted]

I've never heard of this technich, but I'm also a newby to the gardening world. It sounds interesting.

I was wondering if you would would to try oil lamp wicks. I know that those are used to draw lapm oil up to a flame continuously so in theory they might work for what you are talking about, as long as they didn't have anything on them that would effect the plants.

This is just a thought, and like I said, I am also a newby. Personally I'm obsessive about knowing exactly how much water my plants are getting, So I'd still rather do the hand watering thing,but this seems like it would be good to know should I ever take a few weeks vacation. Thank you for introducing me to a new idea to research.