Water is one of the most crucial components to a plant’s health and vitality. If plants don’t receive a proper amount of moisture, they will begin to wilt or die off. A wick system is one way gardeners can distribute water to plants.

A wick system works by “sucking” or wicking up water like a sponge and feeding it up to the plant. This process of “sucking” or wicking up water is a scientific principle known as capillary action.

There are several different benefits to watering plants with a wick system. First, wick systems are considered to be one of the easier forms of hydroponic watering, and are thought to be a good tool for gardeners who may be interested in watering their plants with a hydroponic technique. Additionally, wicks allow plants to “soak up” water or nutrients at a slow place.

However, there are a few downsides with using a wick system. The biggest downside to using a wick system is that they generally do not work well with larger plants, and therefore should only be used with much smaller plants or cuttings. In addition, plants that use a wick system need to be flushed out with plain, fresh water once a week to prevent a buildup of mineral salts that may be present in the growing medium.