Water good idea...!

[Holly]

Hello!

There's such a large pool of knowledge on this site, and I'd love to print some of our forum's best advice on saving water in the garden over the coming summer months. It would be great to collect some really clever ways to help UK gardeners water carefully.

Do you have any ingenious techniques to make the most of every drop? What do you find is the biggest drain on your water supply? How do you keep an eye how much you're using?

Do you simply make sure the tap is turned off properly?



Your comments may be edited and printed in the July edition of GYO

[Nicos]

You're on form today Holly with you titles!!!!!

[Holly]

Haha thanks Nicos. I was pretty proud of this one!

[VirginVegGrower]

We harvest water from both the roof of the greenhouse at home and also by having water butts dotted around the allotment with only mesh for their top cover. I prefer the softness of rainwater for all plants using tap water only for seedlings.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I'm a bad lad as far as water is concerned. Being an exhibition vegetable grower, I can't do without the stuff. It's not a huge problem in our area as there is no shortage of water fed from the mountain ranges not too far away. I used to have to carry water to my allotment for the onions in my polytunnel. Sometimes over 30 gallons a day depending on the weather. Water supply installed at plots now which makes things easier.

[Shadylane]

We have butts(and now a bath) on the plot but not at home. Nowhere to put one really. We do have a bendy bucket outside the kitchen door. When I'm washing muddy veg, the water gets emptied into there. When it's full I empty it into a jerry can and transfer it to the butts on the plot. We have no supply on our site, just the skies so we never have enough. I'm planning on using more sink holes this year, so the water goes where it's needed.

[Two_Sheds]

I pump my bath water out onto the back garden using this: Buy WaterGreen Bath Siphon from Wiggly Wigglers It's brilliant

I also have 4 water butts at home, all linked together

On the lotty I have 5 water butts linked together too, but that soon goes - they're nearly empty now despite my frugality. I water drills when I'm sowing and planting, and I mulch as many crops as possible with wet newspapers held down with soil. I then water into empty Morrisons buckets, but only if it's really dry

[Poddington Pea]

We have a water butt (not attached to anything as we can't locate it in a practical position) it collects a bit of water on it's lid which as holes to allow water to run in, but we fill it using tub-trugs dotted around the garden. I also empty my son's beakers into a watering can on the back door step and use his bath water for flowers.
Water used for boiling/steaming is also poured into the can for the flowers and lawn.

I'd be interested to hear if people use 'grey water' for veg?

[fruitylou]

I grow alot of squashes which take up a large space so rather than watering the whole area in an effort to get to the roots I place an upturned soft drinks bottle with the bottom cut off in the ground next the the plant when I plant it out, so later in the year when the plant is massive I can water into the bottle directly to the roots using less water and stopping my squashes from getting soggy bottoms

[JamesM]

using the above method means you can water directly to the roots rather than watse it over a larger area. If i can find one cheap enough i'd love to get a waterbutt although i haven't had a chance the check whether i'd be able to locate it suitably (only been in this house for a couple of months and hasn't been top of the list!).

Other than that i'll be using the water i use to clean out my fish tanks on the veg rather than tipping it down the drain

[Queen bee]

Hi shady
so what are sink holes?
qb

[binley100]

I was chatting to a fella this morning who used to have an allotment with no water supply. He dug down and made himself a well, by taking the bottoms off water butts and using them one on top of each other to line it. Took quite a bit of digging but he could draw off plenty of water to fill his butts up on the surface....

[CaroltheCarrot]

In Scotland the tap is never switched off properly!!
I have two water butts at the plot and one at home and they are never empty, I think I only had to water the plot once last year

[Newton]

I pump my bath water out onto the back garden using this: Buy WaterGreen Bath Siphon from Wiggly Wigglers It's brilliant

What about soap and shampoo residue. Does it not harm the plants?

[Shadylane]

Hi shady
so what are sink holes?
qb

Sink holes? They're like what fruitylou, James and Two_sheds described. You sink a plant pot, bottomless pop bottle/bucket or whatever into the ground, next to the plant and water into it. The water goes straight to the roots and you don't waste any on the surface or through evaporation. Works a treat with courgies and squashes but I plan to use it with more this year. Last year I mulched the cheapo poly with straw but this only encouraged slugs and snails. This year I plan to leave the surface a baren no mans land for slugs and water into a sink hole.