Hey dude, absolutely, the way to do it is create a wicking bed underneath the pot. You can use pretty much anything that's a few inches deep. I did a quick search for "wicking smart pot" and came up with the link below (it's for growing weed) but applies to veggies and more -- you set the smart pot on top of a wicking substrate like perlite, pumice or a capillary mat and the water will be pulled up towards the plant. The pot doesn't sit in the water, rather there's a inch or so of air between the water level and the pot, allowing water to be pulled up by the plant as needed. You can also create a float valve system tied to a hose so that when the water level goes down below a certain point, it triggers the valve and lets more water in. These are used all the time in rain gutter grows. I'm going to do it with my veggies in Root Pouches and $1 oil drip trays from the dollar store. Finally, wicking systems (like Earthtainers and Earth Boxes) only really work for one grow season. And they only work with normal soil mix, not 5-1-1 or gritty. For growing veggies in one season, self wicking is fantastic. For trees and perennials, go with a drip system, otherwise you run into all kinds of issues such as decomposing mix, severe salt buildup and more. Hope that helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Self Wicking Smart Pots

I've never grown them in an orchid mix, or seen them grown in such, but that doesn't mean it won't work. They can easily be grown in either the gritty mix or the 5:1:1 mix. It's easy to overlook the fact that plants in containers may very well not prefer the same type of root medium in which they grow in situ. As long as you provide a medium that holds little or no perched water, you water/fertilize appropriately, and give the plant the light/temperature it prefers, you'll be fine. The key to providing a healthy root medium lies not so much in what materials the soil is made of; rather, in the size and uniformity of the particles that make up the medium. The potential for your plant to prosper is much greater in a soil that has a favorable structure and no organic fraction than it is in a soil with a significant organic fraction but with an unfavorable structure. Al

I found a 4'x4'x2' wooden box on a pallet, lined it with plastic and then used a square point shovel to mix with. Sort of like mixing mortar without a mortar mixer. Hard work, but I had everything.

I am thoroughly disgusted with peat. It breaks down, compresses, rapidly decomposes into a solid rock like substance unless large amounts of vermiculite and perlite are added, and that makes it extremely difficult to maintain moisture in the pots. I am watering everyday and sometimes need to water twice a day. Wick watering is not an option because of how I display my plants and also because of rapid evaporation. I need a heavier soil that does not retain moisture like peat does. Peat also is devoid of any nutrients, does not retain nutrients so fertilizing is more the art of hydroponics rather than soil based science. I don't have garden loam this being Arizona rock and sand desert soil. Any suggestions? I can get well rotted manure, blood meal, bone meal. Anything else necessary?