merrittgene

Oh, and I've never had a significant amount of soil enter the corrugated pipe, so the porous sock has not been necessary.

I add water to the reservoir which is in contact with the soil, so the wet soil at the bottom wicks water up to the unwatered soil at the top. The roots grow down to the bottom of the container, but the entire container does not fill with water (due to the overflow hole), so most of the plant does not have wet soil all the time.I made this when I didn't have an in-ground option, and the boxes are portable. I also like that the water stays with the plant and doesn't flow away to the entire lawn so it's water-efficient. And, the height of the box keeps (most) of the rodents away.

Thanks for the feedback. I dump out and rebuild every bucket every fall, and keeping soil out of the corrugated pipe has never been an issue. The pipe doesn't fill with mud. I suppose the black pipe might not be as healthy as the white pipe, but it is designed to be in the soil for decades without breaking down, so I doubt it's leaching much. Plus, any leaching would have to pass through the soil, and roots, and plant before reaching the fruit or vegetable.

Yes, I read Square Foot Gardening years ago, but I didn't follow it exactly. In the Fall, I dumped out all the containers, picked out the roots/plant matter, then reassembled the containers. I added a bag of manure to the existing soil mixture, mixed it thoroughly, and refilled the containers.