Mr. Leon, you should see my garden tubs. I have some gray mineral tubs, I have some 5 gal. kitty litter tubs, I have some of the 7 gal and 15 gal rubbermaid totes - and my plants are absolutely flourishing. I have everyone in my family saving plastic jugs and bottles for me so I can make more wicking tubs. I see these totes thrown away in the trash every week, most of them still very usable for the wicking garden. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. Thanks again.
such a generous and caring soul! i texted him one day about how much fertilizer do i put in the water, he replied the same day and helped me fix the method i was doing wrong. Thank you and God Bless you sir!
Leon, design your ideal bucket and sell them as “Leon’s Red Buckets”. Square or rectangular might make for better space usage. And 6 inch perf pipe with those black tubs is perfect! Time to mix up some Leon’s Blend potting soil.
👍👍. I was lucky to have inherited my grams old journals and many notes from my gramps who worked for JPL in Pasadena putting man into space. They had a farm way out but close to where he worked. By the barn gram would throw old large containers and more and gramps one day while tractoring had filled most with dirt. Had a huge garden nearby and after a time dropped seeds and etc started growing in them and even better than the garden itself. Finally she checked it out and there were other containers wedged inside just like with your plans. So she kept it going til side of barn was lined with this “mistake” gramps said. Proudly she wrote how he was the brains but cus of all her mistakes she was the better for her curiosity and passion. Never understood why it seemed like she’d be “crowing” and he’d be laughing that it’s all a “mistake” until I read what she wrote and then seeing you. Leon she may have outsmarted us all in the 50s and not know she was on to something. A simple mistake BUT she always said “you eat the garden eats too”. Thanks to her precious words and your videos of how to do things in garden I’ve got a whole lot of journals to go through to see just how many “mistakes” gram may have made just to outsmart my gramps in a life long game they had going. Lord have mercy......Going to be some fun reading I do believe. Thanks to you it all makes sense too. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
It was by chance that I came across Leon's gardening and I watched a few episodes and applied his techniques. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with the results! In fact I have never had such success with my vegetable garden. Thank you so very much.
Leon... another informative video. Thank you again And Thank you for getting the kids involved. Most kids these days don’t have any idea where their food comes from. (Teach them to fish and they’ll never go hungry)
Another informative video!! We have been using wicking tubs since last year, and liked them so much that we have tripled the number of wicking tubs we have in our gardens. We use them for both vegetables and flowers, as we need flowers to attract and help the pollinators!! Thank you so much Leon you are a fine gentleman and gardener for sharing your knowledge of gardening!!!
I needed to hear about the fertilizer, again! I use pieces of a hose instead of a pipe for my 5 gal buckets, cut the end on a 45°angle for the bottom end. It fits perfectly in the top of a pop bottle. Then I found a long funnel that fits just inside the exposed piece of hose making filling it up really easy (bought it at ACE Hardware). You use whatever is available.
I have also used the foam pipe insulation as my filler pipe, since I had ran out of PVC. Also I use my 2 quart planter pots, after I have planted the plant of course. I put the open sides together then cover then cover with the weed cloth. I do this since I don't have the drain pipe. Just use what you have.
I’ve gone to Tractor Supply Company and gotten muck tubs (just extra large heavy duty buckets with rope handles) and used them. Perfecto! You can even buy a muck tub dolly to move them around.
I got mine at home Depot. Using the 55-gallon tubs as wicking tubs. And these smaller ones I use is hydroponic tubs for lettuce because hydroponic lettuce is awesome. Lol. The tubs are inexpensive and you can use them for almost anything They're very durable.
Hey my Leon... my gf has cattle-- I now have 12 of the happiest bright Orange mineral tubs in the garden!!!!!!-- so far only 3 planted .. gonna be a busy day for Kimmer...( in Canada.. we can plant now usually June 1 for us-- we can catch a frost still)
Thank you so much for showing everybody these wicking pots. I am addicted to them already.I live in death valley and we got to water our plants sometimes three times a day out here to keep them healthy and alive and not thirsty and these wicking pots are perfect now out here and my 5-gallon wicking pots that I set up I have to probably put about a gallon of water a day and already the plants aren't very big yet. But it is hot enough we've already had at least five days of over a hundred degrees
Mr. Leon, I have a tub ( extra long) that one of my boys used to move to collage. The lid is cracked on the edges terribly. Since it is no longer a good storage unit ( and I need the space in the shed). I was contemplating using it as a tub garden. You have just made me feel, what I was thinking , was a good working solution. I grow more vegetables and get my limited space back. God Bless
Check out Mr.Leon’s older videos-he is a treasure trove of knowledge! He reminds me of my uncles (Caribbean banana farmers back in the day-same generation)
I live in northern Michigan you can ask some of your Restaurants l worked at a subway they got Pickles in Buckets. They just will give them to you for asking.
Great video. Thanks for going over this subjuct again. I found that I had drilled my holes too high. I think in a previous video you used a 6 inch pipe, so you drilled the drain hole at 5 inches. In my excitement to get started, I didn't notice that those pipes were were 6 inches. So my pots were over saturated. Easy fix. I'll just drill a new hole a at 3 inches. Also. They have those black tubs at Home Depot, too. Again, thanks for doing this video again. God Bless!
🌻🍉🌱 thanks Leon! You are the best! We have all learned a great deal from you and I share your knowledge with my grandchildren and one day they will share too. Your experience and expertise will carry on throughout time ♥💫🍉🐝🌱
Leon my tubs are doing so great Thank You for sharing the information you have learned and I have left mine out side threw storms they will never fill with to much water because of the drain hole.....❤️❤️❤️
I have been using the home depot tub, and using 4 inch pipe..I'm feeding with my hydroponic nutrition. .just amazing, cauliflower had leaves the size of elephant ears..so much fun..now growing tomatoes, and watermelons..will have to see how they do...
Thanks. I have a couple of Costco yellow/black tubs. Cut the yellow top to form a platform that sits on 4inch pipe. There is a small 4-6” rectangle that exposes he dirt for wicking. All dirt is contained with a garden cloth. I have four rain cutter rails going as well. Do you think the master blend appropriate there?
Masterblend is a hydroponic nutrition. It's has 3 components to it..masterblend, Epson salt, and calcium nitrate. In that order I use to 1 gal of water, 1 tespoon masterblend, 1/2 tespoon of Epson salt, 1 tespoon calcium nitrate..now that is a little bit over recommend mix. So you could cut back at the beginning plant.
two might wicking pots are old hydroponic pots so they have a tube on the outside of them that is connected to the bottom and it actually shows me from the outside how much water is in there.and all you need is a little connector that sits in to the 5-gallon pot and a rubber-like fish hose air hose water hose the little clear one.stick that connector into the very bottom of the bucket and you can do this to after you've already planted because you might lose the water that's in there that you can refill it And re do everything else. But you put that connector into the very bottom you stick your hoes on there. and depending on how you set up the bottom or how high or low that actually is from coffee can to water bottles, Mark where you want the water level to be. That way if you just go by them you can visually see how much is in there.and you can also market to the gallon levels so that you know when you're giving it a gallon or when it's gone through a gallon or whatever other things you might want to market for.I like having the tubes because then I can pour a little bit of the water out into a cup and make sure that I'm not getting fertilizer poisoning either because that can happen out here with hydroponic painting with how hot it gets.
After watching your videos I made some wicking tubs and they r great I used some square tubs too used the cover and some pipe to make the water reservoir and a net pot for the wick it saves some pipe I have even used old shop vacs to make them I have a few videos if u r intrested
Leon, have you heard of the Mittleider Gardening Method. Long story short, your growing medium is sand/peat moss mixture, sand / sawdust methor or soil. If you think about it, the growing medium is really there to hold down the roots but anyway, the founder, Jacob Mittleider came up with a micronutrient mixture you can make yourself and it consists of a number of trace elements and you then add epsom salt, 16-16-16 fertilizer and peralite. Anyway, you normally add this to your garden beds each week and water it in but you can also dissolve this into water and use it as your weekly fertilizer. I've been using his method for about five years and it works but you have to stay on top of this but I think I'm going to try it with the self wicking bucks and the peatmoss / sand mixture and see what happens. Anyway you really gave me a great new way to grow food; thank you. BTW - there is a book on the Mittleider Gardening process and they outline the trace nutrient mixture but they also give you plans for making planting beds, seed houses and mini greenhouses that are really not that expensive to build. This isn't an ad; I'm not endorsed by them; I'm just passing along information on something I've learned five years ago that has been a very good method for growing a lot of food for me. My next project is to put up a hoop house..
Thanks ya'll! Ive enjoyed learning from Leon. He has been a huge highlight to my weeks! Soil is my question topic. Ive watched over 30 videos but I have not seen my issue addressed. . Im in Arizona and I cant find good soil. All anyone seems to have are various grades of mulch and too much clay is in the ground here to take if from the terrain. Have you tried to wick with mulch? If you've already made a video addressing this, please let me know. Love to you all and God bless and preserve you !
Stick an 1/8” dowel rod through the styrofoam and mark it where the level is correct and leave it in the pvc tube for constantly monitoring water level.
Oh, Leon... I had to throw out my yellow Brandywine today because of root rot. I filled it like you said in the 5 gal bucket video. The roots went all around the plastic containers to the bottom. Broke my heart because I never got the first tomato. I snipped two branches that looked ok and I'm rooting them in water, now. I know it's not supposed to dry out so what could I have done wrong? Are we supposed to drain it periodically, or leach it? Just until this week it looked so lush and thriving, then suddenly it began to yellow. As a precaution, I just drained and flushed the other ones until clear. That was some nasty smelling water!
Hey Leon, I am planning on putting raised beds in my back yard. I have a medium drainage problem most springs in that area. Do you think the raised beds with make this worse, better or no difference?My better half is think about putting in drainage pipe but I am hoping this would help. Luv all you videos!!!Bobbie
Leon sir, is there a video of yours that discusses the making of the wicking soil itself ? We've got a good many tubs going and growing that I feel could be better.. I suspect I did not add enough peat moss and because of the pandemic I did not purchase any foam peanuts or perlite. Thank you sir ..
Leon, I hope you see this question. How do you fix the top layer of soil from caking and crusting up, from the sun? I have to massage and water the soil to make the soil softer. When it cakes the soil doesn't absorb the water and just runs off. Thank you.
Leon, I always enjoy your videos. All the self wicking container stuff i have really got a kick out of doing. I have one question. I use the two five gallon bucket method with 11 inch spacing between them so my bottom bucket holds more water. I also have a water fill tube going to my bottom bucket and a three inch perferated drain pipe in the center full of potting soil as the wick. Should i still water the soil from the top until the roots finally reach this reservoir in the bottom. How will i know? My tomatoes are really growing great but they are now getting leaf roll as the hot days come in. I think it's due to the dry soil top several inches. Thanks again for your wonderful videos.
I tried this last year. The plant done great but the mosquitoes loved the standing water. It got so bad that the plants went left untouched half way through deet did not sway them from biting. Please let me know any solution to this problem. These was placed on front porch. Will not make this mistake again.
I can see you are a really nice guy. However on this video you didn’t get to add the water. Do you pour buckets of water on the top? Or start watering through the watering pipe which it will take some time to soak all the planting soil? Thanks
Hello Leon, I was thinking about using a Stock Tank for tomatoes. The tank I’m looking at is 2’ w x 6’Lx 1’deep.im thinking it is not deep enough, or should I get the 2’ deep tank. Best Regards Al Wagner
Hi Leo, help me please, this is the first year I treat the wicking tubs , at first the tomatoes and cucumber no problem, but now that we are already in July are they turning yellow as if it were already autumn. the flowers are not growing the withered I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, please I need help, thanks.
Please Help!! In building our tubs We made several mistakes which we have finally corrected. After buying new plants , all fertilizer’s Leon uses , and the exact potting mix our newly lush cherry tomatoes plants once again turn yellow/ white at the center of the crown leaves with in 3-5 days . After 6 weeks the few leaves that have survived look deformed. Has this happened to anyone else ? Any suggestions? Rhonda from Arkansas
jerry covington Hi Rhonda, I’m in Arkansas also(southern). I thought I’d put my two cents in....Maybe someone with more knowledge will have an answer....I just did my plants 2 weeks ago, no problems, plants doing great(they are on my deck). Did you follow his other video’s? Did you put holes in the bottles or have something in bottom to create the water reservoir? Also did you put the drainage hole in the side to allow air gap(and get rid of excess water). I have actually forgot to ‘feed’ the plants, have only watered and they’re still doing great. Sounds like they could be drowning maybe or too much fertilizer....not sure what size you made for how much to add....good luck!
Lisa Giarratana Thanks Lisa, we followed the videos and made everything as directed. Just can’t pinpoint what the problem is. My guess is it’s the soil mixture but we followed his directions.
jerry covington fyi..I made my ‘soil’ last year. I used Atwoods brand potting soil. I mixed in perlite & coconut coir(found both at walmart) and from the local garden center Garden Magic brand of compost and manure. This year I mixed in more of the Garden Magic blend to what I made last year. I’ve read people have called Leon, perhaps try that? Good luck!
Leon I'm in Ghana, West Africa practicing wick tubs and tell you what, it's working perfectly. Thanks to you Leon and, God bless you
Mr. Leon, you should see my garden tubs. I have some gray mineral tubs, I have some 5 gal. kitty litter tubs, I have some of the 7 gal and 15 gal rubbermaid totes - and my plants are absolutely flourishing. I have everyone in my family saving plastic jugs and bottles for me so I can make more wicking tubs. I see these totes thrown away in the trash every week, most of them still very usable for the wicking garden. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. Thanks again.
Leon You're a real stand up guy! Thank you for everything you do!
such a generous and caring soul! i texted him one day about how much fertilizer do i put in the water, he replied the same day and helped me fix the method i was doing wrong. Thank you and God Bless you sir!
th-cam.com/video/P2o4AiFHo4w/w-d-xo.html
Leon, design your ideal bucket and sell them as “Leon’s Red Buckets”. Square or rectangular might make for better space usage. And 6 inch perf pipe with those black tubs is perfect! Time to mix up some Leon’s Blend potting soil.
Just love watching you Leon.
👍👍. I was lucky to have inherited my grams old journals and many notes from my gramps who worked for JPL in Pasadena putting man into space. They had a farm way out but close to where he worked. By the barn gram would throw old large containers and more and gramps one day while tractoring had filled most with dirt. Had a huge garden nearby and after a time dropped seeds and etc started growing in them and even better than the garden itself. Finally she checked it out and there were other containers wedged inside just like with your plans. So she kept it going til side of barn was lined with this “mistake” gramps said. Proudly she wrote how he was the brains but cus of all her mistakes she was the better for her curiosity and passion. Never understood why it seemed like she’d be “crowing” and he’d be laughing that it’s all a “mistake” until I read what she wrote and then seeing you. Leon she may have outsmarted us all in the 50s and not know she was on to something. A simple mistake BUT she always said “you eat the garden eats too”. Thanks to her precious words and your videos of how to do things in garden I’ve got a whole lot of journals to go through to see just how many “mistakes” gram may have made just to outsmart my gramps in a life long game they had going. Lord have mercy......Going to be some fun reading I do believe. Thanks to you it all makes sense too. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for caring enough to take the time out of your busy day to make these video's.. Blessings
I buy the big 50 gal ones at Home Depot to reclaim container soil in. They work great!
It was by chance that I came across Leon's gardening and I watched a few episodes and applied his techniques. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with the results! In fact I have never had such success with my vegetable garden. Thank you so very much.
Leon, this is Susan from Az. We used the totes for our wicking tubs. Now, after three years of trying, we got tomatoes growing!!
We love you Leon! Bless you sir.
Leon... another informative video. Thank you again And Thank you for getting the kids involved. Most kids these days don’t have any idea where their food comes from. (Teach them to fish and they’ll never go hungry)
Another informative video!! We have been using wicking tubs since last year, and liked them so much that we have tripled the number of wicking tubs we have in our gardens. We use them for both vegetables and flowers, as we need flowers to attract and help the pollinators!! Thank you so much Leon you are a fine gentleman and gardener for sharing your knowledge of gardening!!!
I needed to hear about the fertilizer, again! I use pieces of a hose instead of a pipe for my 5 gal buckets, cut the end on a 45°angle for the bottom end. It fits perfectly in the top of a pop bottle. Then I found a long funnel that fits just inside the exposed piece of hose making filling it up really easy (bought it at ACE Hardware). You use whatever is available.
I have also used the foam pipe insulation as my filler pipe, since I had ran out of PVC. Also I use my 2 quart planter pots, after I have planted the plant of course. I put the open sides together then cover then cover with the weed cloth. I do this since I don't have the drain pipe. Just use what you have.
Funnel for adding transmission fluid
I’ve gone to Tractor Supply Company and gotten muck tubs (just extra large heavy duty buckets with rope handles) and used them. Perfecto! You can even buy a muck tub dolly to move them around.
God Bless you Mr. Leon. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge to all of us that want to grow our own food.
I got mine at home Depot. Using the 55-gallon tubs as wicking tubs. And these smaller ones I use is hydroponic tubs for lettuce because hydroponic lettuce is awesome. Lol. The tubs are inexpensive and you can use them for almost anything They're very durable.
Hey my Leon... my gf has cattle-- I now have 12 of the happiest bright Orange mineral tubs in the garden!!!!!!-- so far only 3 planted .. gonna be a busy day for Kimmer...( in Canada.. we can plant now usually June 1 for us-- we can catch a frost still)
Leon, you are the one that Daniel speaks of most often from Arms Family. This was interesting and helpful. Thank you. God bless you. 💛👍🙏
Thank you so much for showing everybody these wicking pots. I am addicted to them already.I live in death valley and we got to water our plants sometimes three times a day out here to keep them healthy and alive and not thirsty and these wicking pots are perfect now out here and my 5-gallon wicking pots that I set up I have to probably put about a gallon of water a day and already the plants aren't very big yet. But it is hot enough we've already had at least five days of over a hundred degrees
Dip stick. Just that simple. Go Leon! 💪🏿
Could use a round styrofoam ball and an 1/8” dowel rod Make a mark where the level is correct and leave it in the pvc tube.
You are just too stinkin' cute! I just love watching your videos! Thanks so much for all of the wonderful knowledge you share!!!
Thank you for sharing an alternative "bucket" for those of us who can't locate the red round feed ones.
Mr. Leon, I have a tub ( extra long) that one of my boys used to move to collage. The lid is cracked on the edges terribly. Since it is no longer a good storage unit ( and I need the space in the shed). I was contemplating using it as a tub garden. You have just made me feel, what I was thinking , was a good working solution. I grow more vegetables and get my limited space back. God Bless
Check out Mr.Leon’s older videos-he is a treasure trove of knowledge! He reminds me of my uncles (Caribbean banana farmers back in the day-same generation)
@@randydeskins9359 sorry sir I think you meant to send this to someone else😀
@@weazzye
You are correct.
Sorry
I live in northern Michigan you can ask some of your Restaurants l worked at a subway they got Pickles in Buckets. They just will give them to you for asking.
Hi Leon love your videos. That's the same ones that I'm using. They work great with your system. Going on 4 months and everything is growing amazing.
Great video. Thanks for going over this subjuct again. I found that I had drilled my holes too high. I think in a previous video you used a 6 inch pipe, so you drilled the drain hole at 5 inches. In my excitement to get started, I didn't notice that those pipes were were 6 inches. So my pots were over saturated. Easy fix. I'll just drill a new hole a at 3 inches. Also. They have those black tubs at Home Depot, too. Again, thanks for doing this video again. God Bless!
Made my day! You are so loved by all of us 😁
Thank you dear🙏🏿🙏🏿
🌻🍉🌱 thanks Leon! You are the best! We have all learned a great deal from you and I share your knowledge with my grandchildren and one day they will share too. Your experience and expertise will carry on throughout time ♥💫🍉🐝🌱
This is awesome I have 20 of these totes from moving now I am going to use these yeay thank you
Leon my tubs are doing so great Thank You for sharing the information you have learned and I have left mine out side threw storms they will never fill with to much water because of the drain hole.....❤️❤️❤️
I have been using the home depot tub, and using 4 inch pipe..I'm feeding with my hydroponic nutrition. .just amazing, cauliflower had leaves the size of elephant ears..so much fun..now growing tomatoes, and watermelons..will have to see how they do...
Could you post specific’s on your hydroponic nutrients your using? Brand/dilution etc,
Masterblend mix
Thanks. I have a couple of Costco yellow/black tubs. Cut the yellow top to form a platform that sits on 4inch pipe. There is a small 4-6” rectangle that exposes he dirt for wicking. All dirt is contained with a garden cloth.
I have four rain cutter rails going as well. Do you think the master blend appropriate there?
Masterblend is a hydroponic nutrition. It's has 3 components to it..masterblend, Epson salt, and calcium nitrate. In that order I use to 1 gal of water, 1 tespoon masterblend, 1/2 tespoon of Epson salt, 1 tespoon calcium nitrate..now that is a little bit over recommend mix. So you could cut back at the beginning plant.
Thanks Leon great post.
two might wicking pots are old hydroponic pots so they have a tube on the outside of them that is connected to the bottom and it actually shows me from the outside how much water is in there.and all you need is a little connector that sits in to the 5-gallon pot and a rubber-like fish hose air hose water hose the little clear one.stick that connector into the very bottom of the bucket and you can do this to after you've already planted because you might lose the water that's in there that you can refill it And re do everything else. But you put that connector into the very bottom you stick your hoes on there. and depending on how you set up the bottom or how high or low that actually is from coffee can to water bottles, Mark where you want the water level to be. That way if you just go by them you can visually see how much is in there.and you can also market to the gallon levels so that you know when you're giving it a gallon or when it's gone through a gallon or whatever other things you might want to market for.I like having the tubes because then I can pour a little bit of the water out into a cup and make sure that I'm not getting fertilizer poisoning either because that can happen out here with hydroponic painting with how hot it gets.
After watching your videos I made some wicking tubs and they r great I used some square tubs too used the cover and some pipe to make the water reservoir and a net pot for the wick it saves some pipe I have even used old shop vacs to make them I have a few videos if u r intrested
This is how I build mine, works great so far! First year so I don't have final results yet.
Leon, have you heard of the Mittleider Gardening Method. Long story short, your growing medium is sand/peat moss mixture, sand / sawdust methor or soil. If you think about it, the growing medium is really there to hold down the roots but anyway, the founder, Jacob Mittleider came up with a micronutrient mixture you can make yourself and it consists of a number of trace elements and you then add epsom salt, 16-16-16 fertilizer and peralite. Anyway, you normally add this to your garden beds each week and water it in but you can also dissolve this into water and use it as your weekly fertilizer. I've been using his method for about five years and it works but you have to stay on top of this but I think I'm going to try it with the self wicking bucks and the peatmoss / sand mixture and see what happens. Anyway you really gave me a great new way to grow food; thank you. BTW - there is a book on the Mittleider Gardening process and they outline the trace nutrient mixture but they also give you plans for making planting beds, seed houses and mini greenhouses that are really not that expensive to build. This isn't an ad; I'm not endorsed by them; I'm just passing along information on something I've learned five years ago that has been a very good method for growing a lot of food for me. My next project is to put up a hoop house..
Thanks ya'll! Ive enjoyed learning from Leon. He has been a huge highlight to my weeks! Soil is my question topic. Ive watched over 30 videos but I have not seen my issue addressed. . Im in Arizona and I cant find good soil. All anyone seems to have are various grades of mulch and too much clay is in the ground here to take if from the terrain. Have you tried to wick with mulch? If you've already made a video addressing this, please let me know. Love to you all and God bless and preserve you !
I loke the floating Styrofoam tip
Stick an 1/8” dowel rod through the styrofoam and mark it where the level is correct and leave it in the pvc tube for constantly monitoring water level.
Please show the plants that you are picking tomatoes from right now.
Thank you for sharing Leon!
Awesome! Thank you for these options
Oh, Leon... I had to throw out my yellow Brandywine today because of root rot. I filled it like you said in the 5 gal bucket video. The roots went all around the plastic containers to the bottom. Broke my heart because I never got the first tomato. I snipped two branches that looked ok and I'm rooting them in water, now.
I know it's not supposed to dry out so what could I have done wrong? Are we supposed to drain it periodically, or leach it? Just until this week it looked so lush and thriving, then suddenly it began to yellow.
As a precaution, I just drained and flushed the other ones until clear. That was some nasty smelling water!
Love that extra info on how to telll how much water left and also when and how to feed cause that was not in the other videos
Hey Leon, I am planning on putting raised beds in my back yard. I have a medium drainage problem most springs in that area. Do you think the raised beds with make this worse, better or no difference?My better half is think about putting in drainage pipe but I am hoping this would help. Luv all you videos!!!Bobbie
We use the same or similar ones from Home Depot. They’ve worked well for us.
Leon sir, is there a video of yours that discusses the making of the wicking soil itself ? We've got a good many tubs going and growing that I feel could be better.. I suspect I did not add enough peat moss and because of the pandemic I did not purchase any foam peanuts or perlite. Thank you sir ..
I love the subtitles for this guy lol
I've got mosquitoes all over my tubs and bins. Help please!!
Hi Leon. What do you do to protect your tomatoes from pests? Flying and crawling? Thank you for your time.
Leon,
I hope you see this question. How do you fix the top layer of soil from caking and crusting up, from the sun? I have to massage and water the soil to make the soil softer. When it cakes the soil doesn't absorb the water and just runs off. Thank you.
Leon I live here in San juaquin valley california will the heat affect this method of growing plants it warms up to 108
You probably will have to use some shadecloth for the hottest part of the day if it's that hot.
Leon,
I always enjoy your videos. All the self wicking container stuff i have really got a kick out of doing.
I have one question. I use the two five gallon bucket method with 11 inch spacing between them so my bottom bucket holds more water. I also have a water fill tube going to my bottom bucket and a three inch perferated drain pipe in the center full of potting soil as the wick. Should i still water the soil from the top until the roots finally reach this reservoir in the bottom. How will i know? My tomatoes are really growing great but they are now getting leaf roll as the hot days come in. I think it's due to the dry soil top several inches. Thanks again for your wonderful videos.
Water from a above until...
I tried this last year. The plant done great but the mosquitoes loved the standing water. It got so bad that the plants went left untouched half way through deet did not sway them from biting. Please let me know any solution to this problem. These was placed on front porch. Will not make this mistake again.
👍😁💗
You should make one so we can see what it would look like
I can see you are a really nice guy. However on this video you didn’t get to add the water. Do you pour buckets of water on the top? Or start watering through the watering pipe which it will take some time to soak all the planting soil?
Thanks
Start at the top. Personally I water from the top until the plants start blooming
Would you put holes in the jugs or bottles 9f what ever you use to fill and keep the airspace?
Yes, top and bottom. See Leon’s older videos
Sometimes SAms has them on sale for 4.88 each.
Hello Leon, I was thinking about using a Stock Tank for tomatoes. The tank I’m looking at is 2’ w x 6’Lx 1’deep.im thinking it is not deep enough, or should I get the 2’ deep tank. Best Regards Al Wagner
Hi Leo, help me please, this is the first year I treat the wicking tubs
, at first the tomatoes and cucumber no problem, but now that we are already in July are they turning yellow as if it were already autumn. the flowers are not growing the withered I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, please I need help, thanks.
Learn, If I missed this in other videos, please forgive me. Is anyone ever worried about the type of plastic they are growing in for vegetables?
cant they just fill and if water starts to come out hole , its full enough
Thanks Leon my question is can I use thin walled sewer and Drain Pipe it's pvc thank you
Lee Godfrey yes can use sewage pipe used in all of mine working
@@phillipmannschreck7828 thanks I gots lots left over
How important are those slits in corugated pipe? The stuff I bought yesterday dosen't have slits in them
Use pencil type soldering iron or drill to make holes
Please Help!! In building our tubs We made several mistakes which we have finally corrected. After buying new plants , all fertilizer’s Leon uses , and the exact potting mix our newly lush cherry tomatoes plants once again turn yellow/ white at the center of the crown leaves with in 3-5 days . After 6 weeks the few leaves that have survived look deformed. Has this happened to anyone else ? Any suggestions?
Rhonda from Arkansas
jerry covington Hi Rhonda, I’m in Arkansas also(southern). I thought I’d put my two cents in....Maybe someone with more knowledge will have an answer....I just did my plants 2 weeks ago, no problems, plants doing great(they are on my deck). Did you follow his other video’s? Did you put holes in the bottles or have something in bottom to create the water reservoir? Also did you put the drainage hole in the side to allow air gap(and get rid of excess water). I have actually forgot to ‘feed’ the plants, have only watered and they’re still doing great. Sounds like they could be drowning maybe or too much fertilizer....not sure what size you made for how much to add....good luck!
Lisa Giarratana Thanks Lisa, we followed the videos and made everything as directed. Just can’t pinpoint what the problem is. My guess is it’s the soil mixture but we followed his directions.
jerry covington fyi..I made my ‘soil’ last year. I used Atwoods brand potting soil. I mixed in perlite & coconut coir(found both at walmart) and from the local garden center Garden Magic brand of compost and manure. This year I mixed in more of the Garden Magic blend to what I made last year. I’ve read people have called Leon, perhaps try that? Good luck!
Leon likes Berger BM 7 potting mix, too.