This is what I have noticed so far. Originally I put the 4 cubic feet of a complete and fertilized medium on the island and heaped it up towards the middle somewhat and left it dry for two days while floating in the water. Then I checked if the ropes were wicking and there was moist medium of the bottom quarter, so it was working. I planted on the third day while in chest waders so I could stand up, bad back. I splashed water onto the medium and planted, then splash lots more water on it. We have not had any rain for a couple of weeks and the wind has been blowing but I noticed from shore that the medium was staying dark from moisture. I waded out to see if the ropes could be adding that much moisture and noticed that the middle of the bottom 1 1/2 inch foam was just under water so that would allow water to seep into the medium and make the medium really heavy. The flowers look really good so far and I don't see any yellowing of the leaves from too much moisture but I am checking closely every day. If there should be too much moisture I can do an easy fix by slipping a 1 1/2" x 12" x 4 feet piece of foam under the middle of the island to lift it some and then push some wires through the structure to hole it in place. But I got to thinking, maybe simple islands made this way to sink the middle just enough to allow water to soak the medium would make good growing float for salad foods. Just a thought. But so far all the plants look good including the plant with it's roots in water alone and the plant that has it's root in water and soil. I'll keep you informed guys and add a picture now and then as the flowers grow. And I wanted turtles to sun themselves on the island and I do have one turtle on the island everyday.
