Yes, self-wicking is real and it works! A friend of mine was working on a bucket to create a self-wicking device. I started to do some research. Hmm, I thought, “I can do this.” I went to my local hardware store and purchased my items. I am pretty sure I looked funny. Here I am a 5’1 woman buying the following items. First, it was the garden area then off to the plumbing department. French pipe, 1 inch PVC pipe, 4-5 gallon buckets, landscape fabric, and potting soil I am walking around trying to figure out how to cut the PVC pipe because it needs to be at a slant on one end. Yay!! I found someone. He was confused about what and why I was asking him. I explained it was for my garden. I get home and start to create my buckets. I had to drill a hole 3 inches from the bottom. This creates air at the bottom. The plants need air and water. You can learn so much on YouTube. Pictures to follow.