Capillary matting for tomatoes

redser7

Hi - I just set up a capillary bench in the tunnel for modules/plants in small pots and it is working nicely. I was wondering though if capillary matting could be used to water things in larger pots, especially tomatoes. Have you done it or heard of it being done? I know toms don't like standing in water but the hope would be that the matting would just give them what they need and there would be no adverse affects on the plant. So it would be a resevoir feeding into a tray on which the tom plant sits. What do you think?

And taking it a step further, do you think it would be possible to water a large raised bed in a tunnel from a large resevoir using several lengths of capillary matting. I did a trial using a butter container and a foot long piece of matting which went about 6 inches into the bed soil. The bed sucked it up in no time. I have access to 10" diameter wavin pipe . I'm thinking I could plug the ends and use lengths of it as the resevoir.

I'm thinking this way because the tunnel is on an allotment and I want to make watering as hastle free and infrequent as possible.

Thanks, please shoot holes in these ideas

Macy0161

If you can get your hands on Dave Hamilton's "Grow Your Own Food For Free (well almost)", he has a method of irrigating using empty plastic bottles. I can't remember the details - I think it's you form a pipe with them, with holes at the top, buried, with a right angle bottle to the surface to fill it up. Then the plants/ soil draw the moisture out. I guess you could do the same with the wavin pipe, as you have it already.

On other forums I've also read of people building automatic gavity fed watering systems (header tank, with a tap and a battery powered automatic watering connector). I kinda have it my head a plan to try and do something similar - just not sure I can justify the time, effort and money as we're on a well anyway, although obviously the well uses electricty and usuage means maintenance.

redser7

Thanks Macy. Yeah I considered a gravity fed system but the cost of a butt, timer and tubing and spikes etc adds up a bit. Got some cheap capillary matting in Aldi last year and hoping they do it again this year so trying to come up with solutions based on that. In other words, very cheaply :-)
That looks like a great book, thanks!

Macy0161

redser7 wrote: »

Thanks Macy. Yeah I considered a gravity fed system but the cost of a butt, timer and tubing and spikes etc adds up a bit.

Yeah, it's the costs that are putting me off too. I'm think of getting the gutters/ butt/ ibc in place for collecting water off the polytunnel first, and then worry about developing it from there later.

redser7

ibc tank would be nice. I have a wish list and regularly check the second hand sites for that once in blue moon bargain :-)