Its the million dollar question for a lot of us swc gardeners. Raybo is trailing several combination mixes this year as well as myself. My newest combination includes 5 parts fir bark fines that are 1/4" or smalller and I would say most of it is well under 1/4", 2 parts peat and 1 part perlite. You need an ingredient that is pretty fine for wicking, some use turface. I'm using 18 gallon totes made by Rubbermaid for my swc's. I've gone from a 6 inch diameter wicking basket to a 4 inch square basket to now a 3 inch diameter wicking basket. I've tried using a more gritter mix and for me it didn't work. If you get to gritty in your mix with swc's I think you start breaking that water bond which is important in swc's. I'm now using a crf this year that is 18-6-12 at half strength. I hope to get a 'seasons' use per swc out of this crf, but just in case I dont I've got some FP in my back pocket. damon

Hello R_A_B_I_D, I have done quite fine using 4 inch tubing myself, using it as a flood and drain. I forget the exact plant spacing, but I had 12 spots evenly spaced, for 3 inch baskets, in a 9 foot long, 4 inch wide tube. Using it as a flood and drain system, I didn't need to worry about blocking the water flow as the plants got bigger using the round tubing. Once or twice I had to take off the hose from the pump, and stick a screwdriver in because roots were trying to grow throw the opening. But that only took about 30 seconds. Slotting the tube and filling it with growing media, VS making holes for baskets is really a personal choice. A slotted tube filled with growing media will take a lot more growing media than using baskets, so the cost of the growing medium is a concern to me (thus, the less needed the better for me). Also the growing media takes up space the roots could be occupying, so the more growing media, the less room for the roots. With my system, I grew 8 large pea plants (4 on each side of the tube), the 4 spots in the middle were meant for some green beans that never made it into the system. One variety of peas were about 4 feet tall and wide, the other was about 6 feet tall and over 4 feet wide. The root mass inside the tube took over 50% of the space inside the tube. Just make sure you design it in a way you can get at least one end of the tube off, or you will never get the roots out. I had to cut the tube in half, then glue a coupler between both haves with 100% silicone to be able to reuse the tube (witch I now have some peppers in). As for the choice NFT or flood and drain in a continues bed, both have their advantages and disadvantages. Either way just make sure the growing medium doesn't get too saturated, or the roots wont get enough oxygen. In a tube with baskets hanging in a tube used as an NFT, oxygen to the roots wont be so much of an issue, but water flow might. That's why I like it as a flood and drain. Though with small plants like leafy greens with a much smaller root mass, that may not wind up being a problem even using round tube, and set up as an NFT system.. My personal thought is just dive in. But don't build large setups for full scale, all out production right off the bat. No matter how much you you think about it now, there is no doubt that you will want to redesign your systems later for better efficiency. In my experience, build your systems with easy maintenance (while the plants are growing, and after) in mind. As well as make them easy to duplicate and expand on. That makes them flexible, and easy to scale up and/or down, however you wish in the future (without needing to rebuild the entire thing). Even split larger setups into multiple systems reusing the same parts (and vice versa).

Actually, after futher review of what happened, it was maintenance that possibly (kinda sorta) contributed to the water leak. The day before the leak, I was doing maintenance on my washer and dryer. I was cleaning the lint from the dryer vent. Also, I was cleaning out the washer tub. I think I must have moved the utility sink a bit and caused the pex supply line that goes to the sink to move a bit, maybe causing it to loosen and then the heat and water pressure built up and popped the hot water supply line out of the bottom of the faucet connection. Either that or the rubber o-ring just gave out from the heat and water pressure. So, I changed both lines to the steel braided type that I have on my washing machine supply lines. This should hopefully prevent any further issues. And, yes, live wire oak, although you seem to assume I do not do maintenance around my house, I do indeed regularly perform maintenance around my house, to include: flushing the water heater twice a year, cleaning the dryer vent, cleaning the gutters, cleaning and servicing my water softener, changing the carbon and sediment filters for my well water, prepping and staining my deck, lawn/landscaping maintenace, maintenance of lawn equipment (riding mower, trimmer, blower), maintaining and cleaning of pellet stove, maintenance on two automobiles....etc...etc...etc... I guess I have to add inspecting supply lines to that list. And, yes, brickeye, I could not agree with you more. Maintenance is less work than paranoia......that is why I try to do as much as I can around my house to avoid the catastrophes..... thanks. mm

OK, i take it back. 1st. Before the copper pipe in the house, you may have galvanized pipe outdoors. The municipality has to replace it. ( "... i think its more a problem from the street as neighbors complain as well..." ) If the entire house was a low-flow (or low pressure) problem, this is the cause. It will be felt as a low pressure problem because of the restricted flow. This is called dynamic pressure. But before you turn on the tap, the pressure might be (static pressure). A pressure mater is inexpensive, easy to get at a hardware store, and easy to install. It will help you identify your problem more clearly. Or, you could just ask the city to change the supply pipes, since you and several neighbors all have the same problem. You have to let a fairly large quantity of water flow, in any case, to get really hot water to the sink "for cleaning pots and pans" The need is to get Hot Water to the kitchen. This does not depend on the 1st thing above. If the flow and pressure are low, it will increase the time you have to wait. But nothing will change this for the better. Except one thing: new city supply pipes (outside). The Distance between the kitchen and the hot water source is what determines the amount of wasted water before you get hot water. That, and whether the pipe is 1/2" or 3/4". Where is your tank? It is normal for the first several seconds to feel warm water, not hot. This is because the heat is being lost to the pipe at first. Once the pipe itself gets warmed up, the water temperature at the faucet is much higher. Hope this helps. Here is a link that might be useful: pressure versus volume, in 3/4in. or 1/2in. pipe