Watermate’s 4 Top Tips for Watering your Allotment

Using a watering can or hosepipe to water the veg and fruit on your allotment can be very therapeutic, but only when you have the available time and there are no other pressing jobs to complete.

There are moments when we all struggle to find spare time, as there are too many things to do before we have to move onto the next phase of the day. However, setting up a simple irrigation system from your water butt will save you hours of labour and allow you to get on with the jobs that cannot be completed by automated systems, such as weeding or harvesting.

To set up your own irrigation system you can follow the below steps:

1) Take a length of 13mm id irrigation supply hose around 3m long, then fit a click connector to one end and a stop at the other.
2) Connect six lengths of 4mm soaker dripline, approximately 5m long, every 30cm along the length of the supply hose.
3) Arrange the hose in the beds that will require self-sufficient watering, then take a length of garden hose from your water butt and connect it.
4) Turn on the tap and automatically the system will irrigate your plants – leaving you free to get on with other important gardening tasks, such as weeding.

When the crops are well-established you can move the dripline to another area or set up extra systems around the allotment.

This type of watering can also be very useful in the greenhouse or polytunnel, and if it is safe to do so you can attach a gravity timer to the water butt tap or to the hose inside – then you can remotely switch it on and off when you are not able to get to your allotment.

For more information, visit watermateirrigation.co.uk/allotment-watering

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