If you guys are talking about the soil beds like Soma's, they have great drainage. I bought his book and it clearly lays out how it works. I personally am going to add a drain to the bottom, but keep the hydrocoals. Soma uses 75% soil to 25% perlite, that and that all the water drains through to the hydrocoals, where they can still get oxygen thanks to the PVC pipes leading from fresh air into the hydrocoals. Water drains out of soil, plants can breathe fresh air through the pipes.

I'm considering using this with a Hydroponic system using maybe a dripper for every plant. Plants absorb all the water as it drains through the soil, then through the hydrocoals, finally back down the drain back into the main resevoir, so it can be pumped through the drippers (2-3/day something like that?). I'd be using plain distilled water (and some kelp seaweed, and Super Thrive for young plants, fox farm big bloom, guano tea) Other than that I'd mist daily to get some water/light nutes through the leaves.

Think that would solve the flower bed's percieved drainage problem (As well as saving me the trouble of watering all the fucking time)?