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I've been doing this all over the garden:
I knew all of those lemonade bottles I horded would come in handy.
I figure it's a semi-efficient way to keep dribbling some water into the roots while It's hot and/or I'm out and you can fill those lemonade bottles from water butts, used washing up water or whatever source you happen to have available. time will tell if it works, cheaper/less wasteful than sprinklers at least.
Using water to create food that involves zero packaging and virtually no food miles is not a waste. Can't believe how out of touch some people are. This hose pipe ban is just what the covid police curtain twitchers have been waiting for since the last lockdown!
Instead I defecate into a dog poo bag and tie it in a tree in the local park.
Bravo Sir! Doing your bit for the environment, tremendous work.
😉
Instead I defecate into a dog poo bag and tie it in a tree in the local park.
That works best in Autumn when its wet and rainy. A few holes in the bottom of the bag so you can sprinkle diluted fertilizer.
I plan to let myself into next doors back garden to borrow their hose to water my lawn when they’re out. Suckers, wait till they get their fine through.
Let's hope they're on a meter
Our 2 x 1000 litre IBCs are still more than half full after a good top-up from the rain a couple of weeks back – that’s with daily watering anything in pots.
I've been debating this, trouble is I already have about 400l of water butt's and they've been empty for getting on 3 months now so I'm not sure how long even IBC's would actually last?
Back of a fag packet maths, my veg planters plants get through 500l/week* at their peak (i.e. now), and that's near enough 100% efficient via those hoselock growbag waterers, there's no drainage/evaporation going on. So even 2x IBC's would only last a month.
But there's a bit of dead space in the back corner that I might measure up. And I've got a water butt pump so could just rig up the biggest butt to take all the flow and leave that running on it's float switch upto some IBC's at the top of the garden.
*yep, that seems mental, but 3 plants will drain the 15l reservoir in 24h.
Using water to create food that involves zero packaging and virtually no food miles is not a waste.
depends on the food. BRussel sprouts for instance 100% waste. Tomatoes 100% efficient
3 plants will drain the 15l reservoir in 24h.
Hmmm.. I feel like there is something going on there. If I had three tomato plants in pots I wouldn't be giving them three watering cans a day, I don't think.
Hmmm.. I feel like there is something going on there. If I had three tomato plants in pots I wouldn’t be giving them three watering cans a day, I don’t think.
You probably would, they generally need watering twice a day if grown outdoors, a greenhouse would increase humidity and lower transpiration, but we don't have a greenhouse.
And each plant is about 6ft high and 3 ft wide at the moment due to the weather!
Look for 1500ltr orange juice transport tanks.
Will need a valve fitting to the base or low down but they are accessable internaly if your a 32in waist
5ft tall 4ft across. Screw down lid.
And each plant is about 6ft high and 3 ft wide at the moment due to the weather!
this might be your problem. Tomato plants should be pruned once they're set a certain amount of vines so that they concentrate on the tomatoes not just endlessly growing more leaves. Mine go at least 3-4 days in this heat with no adverse effect, even the one in a big pot. I also wonder whether the grow bag system means the soil is too shallow to avoid evaporation
I’m using my hose to water all my potted plants, including my apple tree, and a Rowan tree I bought a couple of years ago. Most have enormous sentimental value, as they were bought by my late partner, or in the case of the Apple it’s many years old, and the Rowan I bought with her to remind her of her daughter.
I could use a watering can, but I have a trigger spray gun attached, so I can control how much each pot get - some are seedlings and get a quick squirt to keep them moist, others a bit more, but essentially it works out no different to endlessly refilling the watering can, which needs a short length of hose attached to the tap anyway, because the tap is mounted quite high up the wall.
Most of the garden I’m trying to make it semi-wild, so it can be left to fend for itself, I’m collecting wildflower seeds, and I want to encourage wild native grasses on what passes for a lawn - my living room carpet is bigger!
As it happens, Wessex Water have no plans to introduce a hosepipe ban anyway, but I’m keeping usage as low as possible, the car only gets cleaned every few months, and it’s so dry and dusty it’s pointless to keep doing it - the only thing I’ll wash off is bird crap, especially gull shit, it badly damages the finish if it’s left for any time. 🤬
Hmmm.. I feel like there is something going on there. If I had three tomato plants in pots I wouldn’t be giving them three watering cans a day, I don’t think.
I was just going to say the same i have lots of tomatoes, aubergines and chillies in pots/grow bags and the largest only take about a litre a day on the hottest days. I use a small watering can on those as they are up on shelves and the veg patch gets a brief squirt with the hose after dark each day. They don't need to be constantly damp just keep them on the edge of wilting. They are producing abundantly just now so I'm making tomato and chilli jam.
I also wonder whether the grow bag system means the soil is too shallow to avoid evaporation
Essentially it's sealed, the growbag sits on top of the trough and is fed moisture via the spikes covered in capillary cloth. There's nowhere (apart from the small openings where the plants are planted) for water to evaporate from. It's just blinking hot and they're sat on a south facing patio with a wall behind them reflecting even more warmth onto them.
They're fruiting very well too.
Am I missing something?
Possible hosepipe ban in some areas = Aldi limiting bottled water purchases...
Is there something wrong with UK tap water now?
I honestly despair of this country.
No doubt people rushing to panic buy in their 4x4's etc etc too all while daddy pig sits in the car idling with the Aircon on max!
The day that supermarkets started selling ice cubes was the beginning of the end.
Something that should be nationalised in the UK - water collection + distribution network.
I work for the place you can fix things with screws.
In the water depraved south of Englandshire
The amount of sprinklers we have been selling, despite the calls for minimal water usage, is quite amazing.
There’s nowhere (apart from the small openings where the plants are planted) for water to evaporate from. It’s just blinking hot
I'm not sure of the biology but perhaps the plants are respiring more because you've given them more water to work with?
Yorkshire Water hosepipe ban incoming at the end of the month. I rarely use it to be honest, but in order to thwart them I’m keeping it running into the drain 24/7 until then.
I’m not sure of the biology but perhaps the plants are respiring more because you’ve given them more water to work with?
This. If they have an unlimited supply of water available then obviously they will use more. I'm sure they are fruiting well and it's a good labour free and holiday proof system but it seems it's not actually more water saving than careful manual watering.
If you want the stats on giant leaky pipes, click here:
https://discoverwater.co.uk/leaking-pipes
I truly ****ing despair....
Picked my sister and her family up from the airport. Fields in Essex are burning.
First thing the BiL does is get the hose out and starts watering the grass and flower beds.
"There's a lot of money invested in this garden"
FFS. How much more middle England suburban can you get? Wouldn't be surprised if he goes out and buys a portable air conditioning unit tomorrow.
We're so ****ed.
Also why do we use treated drinking water to wash cars, water veg beds, flush the toilet?
You drink from the toilet? Eww 🙁
Am I missing something?
Possible hosepipe ban in some areas = Aldi limiting bottled water purchases…
Is there something wrong with UK tap water now?
I honestly despair of this country.
Could it be people worried about the reliability of supply rather than hosepipes? Our water has been intermittent all week (Oxon). We have a few big bottles of water in the fridge just in case. We'll top them up from the tap when we can though rather than keep buying them.