Hi, Jen - I've seen that watering method described, but I usually just scratch my head and wonder, "Why go through all that?". I've grown in several SB pots using the gritty mix (ask if you're unfamiliar, or do a search of this forum), and all the plants get all the water they need (as long as I don't forget to water) by simply watering from the top in normal fashion. There is no layer of saturated soil anywhere in the container when the gritty mix is made properly ..... and even if it isn't, there are very often easy 'fixes'.

Al

Just to be clear, I am NOT an expert.
I experimented with some strawberry towers this year. Among other things, I tried different potting mixes. For the more dense mixes, I inserted an empty pvc watering pipe with holes down the center. That included one tower filled with Miracle Grow potting mix. I put more holes near the top, and fewer near the bottom. And I sealed the bottom of the tube with duct tape. This worked fine for me. For more porous mixes like Al's gritty mix, I did not use a center watering tube and that worked fine.