How Do You Water Capillary Mats?

There are lots of answers to the question 'How Do You Water Capillary Mats?' and here we aim to show you all the different ways you can do this, so that you can choose the best method to suit you, your plants and their location.

First, let’s take a look at what capillary mats are.

Capillary mats can be used in your home, greenhouse or polytunnel to help you easily and automatically water your plants. Although capillary mats look like thick pieces of felt, they have been specially manufactured for use by gardeners – in fact they were originally developed for commercial growers and were later adopted by amateur gardeners – to make watering of seedlings and potted plants easy and efficient.

Capillary mats are formed from matting which is flexible and easy to cut with scissors or a sharp knife, so can be cut and shaped to suit many different locations – from long benches to narrow shelves, to watertight trays, even to saucers or hanging baskets.

The capillary matting we sell is available to purchase per metre, allowing you to buy as little or as much as you need and cut it to size. Our capillary matting is made from recycled fabrics and contains a mixture of polyester, polypropylene, cellulose and viscose. It is non-toxic, rot proof and mould proof which makes it ideal for use with plants.

It is approx. 3mm thick and has a water holding capacity of 5 pints per square yard. It has a dark and a light side – although it can be used either side up we tend to use it with the darker surface uppermost as this helps to hide soil marks and will discourage algae growth. If you are growing plants which are light sensitive then we would use the lighter surface to the top.

Whilst we look at capillary matting, let’s also take a look at water matting – which is another type of matting that gardeners can use to keep their seed trays and pots of plants hydrated.

Our water matting is thicker than our capillary matting, being approx. 10mm thick and has a higher water holding capacity then capillary matting of approx. 12 pints per square yard. It is the same colour all the way through – so dark on either side. Although 3 times as thick as capillary matting it is still easy to cut by hand using scissors or a sharp knife.

At this point you might be wondering why some gardeners choose to use capillary matting – which is thinner and holds less water than water matting? The answer lies in the capillary effect – something capillary matting has, and water matting does not.

The Capillary Effect And How It Affects How We Water Capillary Mats 
The ‘capillary effect’ is basically the ability capillary matting has to evenly suck up, hold and distribute water to your plants.

The capillary matting we stock can lift water to a height of approx. 4 inches / 10cm. This means that if you have a pot of water, it can be 4 inches lower than the surface of your bench – simply using a strip of capillary matting (sometimes referred to as a ‘capillary wick’) to go into the pot of water and onto the capillary matting on the surface of your bench, the water will travel from the pot to your matting covered bench and ultimately to your plants.

Whereas, water matting, which has no capillary effect, can hold lots of water but the water needs to be put directly onto the matting – it cannot be fed from a reservoir / pot of water.

This capillary effect therefore affects how you water capillary mats – in fact it increases the options available to you. We will describe some of the ways in which you could water your capillary mats below – in each case we will also state whether you could use the same method with water matting.

How Do You Water Capillary Mats? Soak The Matting  
The simplest way to water capillary mats is to soak them in water before standing your potted plants or seed trays on top of the matting. The matting will hold lots of water and this will ensure your plants remain hydrated until the matting becomes dry. So for occasional watering of plants – for example if you are going to be away from home for a weekend – this should be sufficient.

You could also use more than one layer of capillary matting to increase the amount of water you can provide, so increasing the length of time your plants can be watered from it – gardeners sometimes use 2 or 3 layers of matting.

However, to use capillary mats on a long term basis to keep your plants watered you need a way of keeping the matting wet. Some of the ways you can do this are shown below.

Water Matting
If you are using water mats not capillary mats then you could also soak those with water in the same way and then stand your plants on them.

How Do You Water Capillary Mats? Use A Water Reservoir 
When we talk about using a water ‘reservoir’ to supply capillary mats with water we are simply meaning to use a container to hold water which the capillary mats can access.

For example, when using capillary mats in your home to water your houseplants when you are on holiday, the reservoir could simply be your sink – with one end of the matting in the water and the rest of the matting on your draining board with your houseplants on.

Another method which gardeners use to care for their houseplants whilst they are away on holiday is to place a large capillary mat in the base of the bath. Make sure the plug is out in the bath and that the matting is soaked when it is first put in the bath. You can then place all your potted plants on the matting. Whilst you are away leave the cold tap slightly on, so that it drips slowly onto the matting, the matting will have a constant supply of water and your plants therefore have a constant source of water when they need it.

In your greenhouse or polytunnel you could use a bucket, bowl or any other watertight container to act as the reservoir for your capillary matting. All you need to consider is the capillary lift of the matting – for our matting this is approx. 4 inches / 10cm. This means the reservoir should be no lower than 4 inches below the surface of the capillary mat it is supplying with water.

If you don’t want to have to create your own water reservoir, then we have designed a few options to make it easy for you.

Water is transferred from the reservoir to your capillary mat by the use of a capillary wick (supplied with the water reservoir) which has one end fitted into the water in the reservoir and the other end fitted under your capillary mat.

If you don’t want to have to manually top up the water reservoir with water then the alternative would be to use our Automatic Water Reservoir.  

Similar to the water reservoir described above, but this model comes complete with a torbeck valve to enable automatic filling. Fittings are included with the reservoir to enable you to connect it to a ½inch hose which could allow you to top up the reservoir from a water butt or from your mains water. It also comes with fittings to enable you to connect the reservoir to ¼inch tube, using this you could then connect it to an overhead tank or a water bag.

Water Matting
If you are using water mats not capillary mats then you could not use these reservoirs as the water matting can not transfer the water from the reservoir as it has no capillary action. 

How Do You Water Capillary Mats? Use Drip Nozzles 
If you are covering long greenhouse benching with capillary matting, rather than using water reservoirs to supply the water, you could set up a drip system to keep the matting topped up with water.

There are lots of different drip systems available which you could use to supply water so consider how you are going to be providing water to the nozzles to choose the most suitable system. The simplest drip system is one where water is supplied from a bag – as shown below.  

However, if you use the nozzles to drip water onto capillary matting then you can water more than just six pots with six drip nozzles. This is because no matter where you apply water to capillary matting, it will spread evenly across all the capillary matting.

Ideally you would attach the reservoir bag to the wall of your greenhouse above your bench and then position the ¼inch tube along the length of your greenhouse benching, with the drip nozzles spaced evenly along the tubing.  

Water Matting
You can use the same method above if you are using water matting instead of capillary matting. With either type of matting we would recommend covering your bench with polythene before laying the matting on top. This will help to maintain the strength of your benching (as it will not be constantly in contact with a wet surface) and it will prevent water dripping through to below the benching.  

How Do You Water Capillary Mats? Use A Watering Can  
Another simple way to water your capillary mats is to use a watering can.  

Although this still requires some work from you because water will spread evenly along capillary matting it does mean you can stand and water in just one spot at your greenhouse bench. So even though you are using a watering can it is quicker than watering your plants individually. You should also remember that supplying water from below – as you do when you use capillary matting – will encourage healthy plant growth as well as all it’s other associated benefits.

Water Matting
Using a watering can to supply water to water matting will also work just as well, so still provides the advantage of quicker watering and watering from below.  

How Do You Water Capillary Mats? Top Tips When Using Capillary Mats For The First Time
Capillary mats will only work successfully to keep your plants evenly watered if they are being used correctly. So, if this is the first time you are using capillary matting, here are some of our recommendations so you succeed first time:

• Decide which way up to use the capillary matting – the capillary matting we stock has a light side and a dark side, either side can be used to place your potted plants on. We would suggest you use the dark side as the top as this will help to hide marks from dirt or soil spillage and will also discourage algae growth.
• Thoroughly wet the matting before use – capillary mats must be wet first before placing your potted plants or seed trays on top of them. You should also thoroughly water your potted plants and plants in seed trays before putting them on the matting. If either of these things is missed then the capillary matting will not work correctly to keep your plants hydrated.
• Do not let the capillary mats dry out entirely – if you are watering the mats from a reservoir, always make sure you keep this topped up with water. If the matting dries out, you will need to thoroughly wet it again before it will start working again and pass water to your plants.
• Do not add fertiliser to the water feeding your capillary mats – when you want to provide extra nutrients to your plants we recommend adding fertiliser to water that this is given to your plants by watering the individual pots from above, rather than adding the fertiliser to the water in a reservoir supplying your capillary matting.

How Do You Water Capillary Mats? How Long Does Capillary Matting Last?
We are often asked how long capillary matting will last and it will all depend on how well you look after the capillary matting and how often it is being used.

We have discussed with the manufacturers of the capillary matting how long they would expect it to last, and they explained that they were still using some matting in their kitchen after two years and it is still going strong, albeit looking a little dirty.

How Do You Water Capillary Mats? Washing Capillary Mats
When you plan to reuse your capillary mats we recommend cleaning the mats so that it continues to work efficiently and that any plant disease does not get passed from one set of plants to another.

We don’t recommend adding capillary mats to your washing machine to get them clean – the vigorous washing action could damage the matting. The best practice is to wash them by hand – so in a bucket of clean tap water wish should wash away any spilled compost etc. You could also add a natural disinfectant, such as Citrox, to the water to make sure it is completely clean.

Our guide to How Do You Water Capillary Mats has been created from our personal knowledge, information gathered by speaking to other gardeners or manufacturers in the gardening industry, by reading gardening magazines and devouring information from books and the internet. We aim to be as accurate as we can, so if you find a mistake, please remember, we’re only human. if you have any queries you can contact us today!