Capillary mat?
19 years ago
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Comments (13)
- 19 years ago
- 19 years ago
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capillary matting
Comments (8)Donna - depending how humid is the air where you live - if the humidity is high - acrilic blanket is OK, if it is low - the eggcrate sitting above the water and your blankie touching the water on the sides would be better - otherwise it dries too fast. Be sure that you soil is light - the recommended 1:1:1 mix or can be even a bit lighter. If you stick wicks in as well - it will help. You move your plant - disrupt the contact - and your plant will dry.Or if your mat dries, the soil shrinks from the bottom. - it will be hard to rewet it. They do not use wicks at the Violet Barn - but they ask visitors not to pick the plants - because of that. I use the acrilic blankets or leftover fleece from Walmart too. Be sure to wet and rinse - or even run it through the laundry before using, sometimes it just refuses to soak water otherwise. It shrinks with time - so when you cut it - add some. It is a nice place for growing algae - so be prepared to soak it with Clorax and rewash it at least every 2 months. But your violets will be happy and grateful. Irina...See MoreWhere to buy Capillary Matting/Spreader Mat?
Comments (11)Gardener's Supply now carries what they call "English Capillary Matting" that might be just the right size for an apartment-sized project (3-yard roll @ $15 - follow link below). It doesn't say what it's made of, so don't know whether it's the same recycled polyamide fiber cloth that Patrick Blanc uses, but I'll bet it's good enough and affordable enough for the purposes of experimentation. I've also heard Blanc's irrigation cloth referred to as "synthetic felt", but again it is important to know what the actual materials are that make it. If you purchase this or some other capillary matting, it could also serve a dual function as indoor seed propagation mats for growing the plants selected for the living wall, particularly if one has budgetary concerns and can't afford to purchase all the plants from a nursery. There are also Accelerated Propagation Systems (APS)available for easy indoor propagation, as discussed here: http://www.conngardener.com/samples/propgate.html Sounds like a fun project. If you or anyone comes up with a supplier with larger quantities and sizes of the appropriate polyamide fiber matting materials (perhaps used for green roof installations or roof gardens as well?) then I hope you will share it with us all. Here is a link that might be useful: Gardener's Supply Capillary Matting...See MoreCapillary Mats watering under grow lights
Comments (11)What kind of 6 packs do you have? Are they the kind with the small drainage holes cut into the bottom edges? If so, it will be slightly challenging, though not impossible to convert. Probably well worth trying in any case. The capillary mat works only by direct contact with the growing medium. If the holes in the cell packs are too small, there is little or no contact with the growing medium, so the cells don't take up water. For best results, you should carefully cut out the bottoms so that there is direct contact. When you set the plants onto the capillary mat, gently compress each cell down to ensure good contact. I think that will be easier than creating a small wick for each cell. Besedes that, I think it'll work fine and that you'll be very pleased. Just remember to lift the cell packs periodically or the roots will start to grow into the capillary matting. -Kris, proud owner of a 100' roll of Capmat II...See Moreroots in capillary mat?
Comments (2)Yeah, just tear the roots from the mat. This is very common. You will eventually need to replace the matting but I can easily get several cycles from any one piece of matting if I don't let the seedlings get really rootbound....See More- 19 years ago
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