STORY
Anne, the local Landcare leader invited Ms Gorman and the Junior Landcare group to meet at their local community garden one day after school. Beth, Hayley and Eliza noticed that there were plenty of garden beds similar to what they recently installed at school, but there were also lots of different items that have been repurposed to grow plants including old milk bottles, gum boots and a refrigerator! Curiously, Eliza asked about the polystyrene boxes as her family used them in their farm.
Anne told the Junior Landcare group that they were small wicking beds, made to grow plants using very little water. Anne described how the wicking beds had a water reservoir which allowed the plants to draw up water as they need, meaning that she didn’t need to water the plants all the time! Anne had captured the groups’ curiosity, and proceeded to demonstrate the process. It really was not difficult!
Making and planting a small wicking bed is a fulfilling activity. It upcycles materials, building awareness of waste and reuse. The completed wicking bed can suit small spaces – such as a balcony – demonstrating that even small spaces can be used to produce food. Its small size allows children to take ownership of its maintenance. The design of the wicking bed provides opportunities to investigate scientific ideas, such as evaporation, transpiration, capillary action and plant life cycles.
For children to:
- undertake a practical, hands-on activity
- value water conservation in food production
- appreciate how to use appropriate plants for a small wicking bed
- follow the steps needed to plan, prepare, make, plant and care for the wicking bed
- investigate the science of a wicking bed and the capillary action in soil.
Choosing the right plants for your small wicking bed is important to ensure success. You will need to select plants appropriate to the season and the size of your bed. You can talk to your local garden centre or download the Gardenate app or use the Gardenate website to help determine the timing, spacing, and other compatible plants required for your climate zone.
Did you know?
Polystyrene boxes can’t be recycled in your normal kerbside recycling. Some retailers, such as fruit and vegetable shops, may return their boxes for reuse. Others send their boxes to landfill or they take the boxes to dedicated collection-points to be recycled.
Did you know?
Using a polystyrene box to make the wicking bed is known as upcycling. Upcycling means to transform unwanted materials or waste into new products of better quality and environmental value.
Did you know?
Expanded polystyrene foam is made up of solid beads of polystyrene that are fused together with heat and pressure during its manufacture. This type of foam is an excellent insulator and it may help keep the plants’ roots at a more constant temperature.
Did you know?
Using a polystyrene box to make the wicking bed is known as upcycling. Upcycling means to transform unwanted materials or waste into new products of better quality and environmental value.
Introduction
Making a small wicking bed out of a polystyrene box is a great way to upcycle materials to produce a functional planter-box, providing participants with a great sense of satisfaction. This activity does involve a few key steps, and requires adult supervision to ensure that the sequence is successfully followed. The water saving features of wicking make this small garden bed ideal for food plants such as herbs, vegetables and berry plants.
The small wicking bed is a great team-building activity, and more than one bed can be produced by older students working in small groups. This activity involves many roles to maximise student-participation and introduces scientific ideas that can be further investigated. When completed, the wicking bed may be deceptively heavy (a standard polystyrene box filled with soil could weigh around 20kg)and awkward to move, so it is best to build the bed in its final location.
*The time allocation includes preparation details included in the Educator Notes. Sourcing and preparing the materials prior to commencing the activity is essential to successful completion of this activity within the allotted time.
Checklist
Instructions
STEP 1
Plan
Go through your checklist to ensure you have all the materials you need.
Introduce the activity sheet and demonstrate the cross-section so the students understand this means a vertical slice through the wicking bed box. Explain that the children will be illustrating each part of the wicking bed as it is built on the activity sheet.
Run through the plan with the children and outline the safety steps involved.
A small wicking bed can be used all year round, but plant selection is a key to success.
Plant and seed labels are your friend. They will guide you on how, where and how far apart to plant your seedlings. You can use a measuring tape, a stick, or hand widths to help guide you.
Refer to a planting guide like the Gardenate app to help plan what you intend to grow and when. Are you planting something that people like to eat?
Space out the polystyrene boxes onto your site and discuss where they may go.
Consider how much space your plant needs when it is fully grown. Will it shade other plants?
STEP 2
Build (Part 1)
Follow the steps in Costa’s video to make and plant-out your wicking bed. Ensure that all of your materials are available and ready.
Cut 40mm PVC pipe to the appropriate length. Cut it to fit the depth of your box plus a length of at least 3cm above. This is so that it rises above the height of the box and can be used to deliver water to your bed.
Add the pipe vertically into a corner. The pipe delivers the water to the gravel reservoir.
Leave some pipe sticking out above the height of the box. This pipe is like a snorkel, it allows air to go in all the time but you can use it to top up the water reservoir so the water is always in there.
Add gravel to a depth of 5cm. The gravel is used to fill the gaps around the pipe so that the soil layer can sit nice and evenly on the top of the pipe and get wet. You will need to use scoria, less than 7mm or ¼ minus gravel for effective capillary action.
STEP 3
Build (Part 2)
Pierce a hole in the smallest side of the box using a screwdriver just above the top of the gravel layer. This is the overflow. Poke a short length of garden hose through the hole, to create the overflow pipe.
Add the fabric. This is a layer that separates the soil from the water but it is porous, so when it is wet, it will allow the water to wick or move through and then wet the soil.
Dampen down any potting mix/soil to minimise risk of airborne microorganisms.
Add the soil. The soil is where we grow the plants. Now it’s time to put the soil in just like filling a pot. Ensure the soil doesn’t fall in underneath the fabric.
Now you plant your wicking bed with your selected seeds or plants.
STEP 4
Monitor and care
Check to see that the soil is wicking and keep the water topped up, especially as the plants get established.
You will know when to stop filling when water comes out the overflow pipe.
Cap your pipe with the PVC capping or flymesh tied on with a rubber band, this will help reduce evaporation and the breeding of mosquitoes.
Like with all gardens, you will need to replenish the water in hotter, drier and windier weather – just a lot less often.
Extension Activity
Now that you have created your wicking bed, how could you monitor how much water your wicking bed needs? Could you create a research process that measures how much water is needed per day? Or could you measure the mass of the wicking bed at the beginning of each day to find out how much water use has occurred?
Research ‘capillary action’ experiments and conduct your own capillary action trial. Can you explain how water can move upwards against gravity?
Curriculum and Framework Links
SCIENCE
Year 2: ACSSU030, ACSHE035
Year 3: ACSSU044, ACSIS054
Year 4: ACSHE062, ACSIS064
Year 5: ACSHE083
Year 6: ACSSU094, ACSHE100
Year 7: ACSHE120
Year 8: ACSHE135
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Year 2: ACHASSI042
Year 3: ACHASSI052, ACHASSI059, ACHASSI060
Year 4: ACHASSI080, ACHASSK088, ACHASSK090
Year 5: ACHASSI102, ACHASSK120
Year 6: ACHASSI122, ACHASSI130
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES
Year 2: ACTDEK003
Year 3 & 4: ACTDEP017
Year 5 & 6: ACTDEP019
Year 7 & 8: ACTDEK032
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Year 2: ACPPS018, ACPPS022, ACPPS023
Year 3 & 4: ACPPS036, ACPPS040, ACPPS041
Year 5 & 6: ACPPS054, ACPPS059
Year 7 & 8: ACPPS073, ACPPS078
ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING
Exploring values, rights and responsibilities
PERSONAL AND SOCIAL CAPABILITY
Social awareness
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Outdoor Learning
CROSS CURRICULUM PRIORITY
Sustainability
MY TIME, OUR PLACE: FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOL AGE CARE
Outcome 2 and 4
Reference List
Look at this Junior Landcare story for inspiration on using wicking beds in a school food garden setting.
Download the Gardenate app or use the Gardenate website to help determine the timing, spacing, and other comptible plants required for your climate zone.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Find out more about wicking beds their advantages on the Gardening Australia website.
WATCH
ABC Gardening Australia has another wicking bed video, where they also discuss capillary action in the soil.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This learning activity has been developed in partnership with the Victorian Government Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/
IMAGE ATTRIBUTION
Photo by X Y on Unsplash
Photo by Josh Howard on Unsplash
All other photos by Landcare Australia and Adobe Stock
We value your feedback
When you have finished this learning activity, please tell us what you think with our survey.
Your feedback will help Landcare Australia improve the activities in the Junior Landcare Learning Centre.
Why not try one of our other Junior Landcare learning activities?
Love Letters to the Land
Biodiversity|First Nations Perspectives|Food Production|Waste Management
Creating a food garden: vision
Food Production
Creating a food garden: planting
Food Production
Creating a food garden: installing a no dig garden bed
Food Production