The hydroponics wick system is a simple, mostly hands off type of hydroponics gardening system. It is simply a pot with some wicks hanging out of it into a reservoir. The reservoir is filled with a nutrient solution and wicked up into the pot to feed the roots of your plant.
One simple way to set this up is to take two buckets of equal size, some soil or other planting medium, some nylon rope, or other fibrous material, and water or nutrients. There are many different ways to do this and some include complicated feeding techniques along with specific lighting regimens, but this is just a simple explanation of how to set up a basic hydroponics wick system.
The first thing you will need to do is cut some holes in the bottom of one of the buckets. The holes need to be just big enough to fit the wick through. Four holes should be plenty, for four wicks. The wicks need to be long enough to fit the entire height of the bucket and to hang down long enough to reach the bottom of the second bucket when they are stacked on top of one another.
This step is the transplanting step. Make sure to use the proper technique specific to your chosen plant. You will need to take each rope and string it along the inside of the bucket that has the holes in it. The rope needs to go through the holes and to the top. It can be held in place by the grow medium you chose for your plant.
The last step is to fill the other bucket with water to a point that allows for the wicks to be dipped into it when you stack the buckets but not so full that it will touch the bottom of the bucket with the holes in it. This will allow the wicks to draw water up into the first bucket and keep the soil moist but it will not be too full as to keep the roots soaked.
To avoid root rot, or simply drowning your plants, and to avoid a flood you must fill the bucket with the proper amount of water. If the water level is too high the soil will remain soaked and if it is too low you will end up with inefficient water supply to the roots.
This is a simplified version of the hydroponics wick system that can be easily modified to fit your specific situation. Some people like to use a grow medium that has no nutritional value and add nutrients to the reservoir to feed their plants. Others use a fertilized soil and plain water. Some experienced growers use a combination of fertilizers and nutrient solutions.
As you can see the idea is the same, use a wick to keep the plants root system fed. The techniques are just adjusted based on the facts mentioned earlier, space, experience level, and available supplies. Get out there and try a few things out, and remember to be patient. Happy Gardening!
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