Installation Guide
Feeding Requirements
Choosing a potting mix with nutrients ensures that anything planted will have sufcient
nutrients to support the plants through a couple of months of growth or through the season.
When additional nutrients are needed use a controlled release fertilizer to support the plants
for a long season. The secret is to apply a small amount to avoid a stream of waste water
coming out of the bottom of your Living Wall garden with most of the nutrients you applied
staying at the top.
Pest Control
Being suspended on the Living Wall, plants are out of reach of most pests, however snails
might be able to get to them. There are low toxic pellets available that can be sprinkled over
the soil to combat snails and their shell-less relatives, slugs.
Caterpillars are reasonably well adapted to attack the Living Wall vertical garden vegetable or
ower display as their eggs may have been deposited directly on the host plants by the ying
adult buttery. At the rst sign of damage use nontoxic spray control.
Drainage Options
If combining pots to make a wall of owers or vegetables, you may end up with a number of
drainage points. Overwatering can easily occur if you have a vertical installation of a number
of pots. This can happen when water drips down through the pots, each of which has its own
dripper. The top layer would receive the least amount of water, while the lower layers would
receive much more. One solution to this potential problem is to water so sparingly that water
does not drain. The second solution is to have a vertical arrangement so water can only drip
down one layer of the module at a time before the excess is drained away, and then collect
the water at the bottom (recommended for inside use).
If the Living Wall is in a position where rain can do the watering, it won’t be such an issue as
the top level will tend to get the most water and lower pots will be getting mostly drip.
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Checking the Watering System
It is critical to keep checking your watering system at regular intervals. Check the position of
the micro stakes to ensure that the wetted area adequately covers the plants; it may be that
additional outlets need to be added.
It is best to stop watering a few minutes before the water ows freely from the bottom of the
pots. Too much water owing through will leach nutrients and also waste water. Program the
timer run time to a period that will have the minimum amount of water drain but support
a good moisture level in the pot. Then the pots will be watered for a very small time on a
regular basis.
The amount of water the plants require will vary depending on the type of plant, the weather
conditions, type of potting mix you use, and the size of the pot. Check the moisture by
scratching the potting mix to a depth of one inch.