what sort of material did you use for failing wicks?
you prolly know that already , but just in case a few points:
no cotton or any natural material for wicks: only synthetic. has to be thick enough for pot size (pots larger then 6" might need 2 wicks or even 3 for like 8-10" pots).
if the mix dries up or does not have enough 'wicking material' (like peat, coir peat) the wicks stop working. bark is the most 'non-wicking' material. especially large bark or bark that dried up not completely but enough: the only way to rewet bark is to bucket plunge the whole pot in water for like 15-20 min.
so if water runs out and the mix dries up it is necessary to top-water to rewet it.
P.S. with my amount of plants , if they were not on wicks i'd be doing watering constantly and kill half of them prolly from under or overwatering ;).
