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Can I collect rain water in a barrell without a lid or should I put some mesh over it to stop leaves etc falling in? Also can I water my greenhouse tomato plant with rain water or should I use tap? Thankyou!
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I would put some mess or a lid covering it. Not only will it stop things falling into the water it will also help stop bugs living/dying it in as we as reducing algae growth.
Rain water is better for pretty much any plant, tropical house plants are the only ones I know require anything different.
No added rubbish and free. -
A lid has two advantages:
- it stops stuff falling in, like leaves, small animals, birds, children etc
- it stops the mosquitos breeding in there.
So it's a lid for me.
You can water most stuff with rain water, after all it's what they would get out in the wild. Including tomatoes. But I would avoid soaking the foliage in case it contains any blight spores.
The only thing I don't use rainwater for is seeds and tiny seedlings, for the same reason: tap water is sterile and doesnt contain any nasties like spores of the damping-off fungus.Comment
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You should ideally put some sort of cover over it whether it be a lid or mesh purely from a safety aspect. I once had to fish a dead squirrel out of one at work, judging by the scratches on the inside of the barrel he didn't die well!
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Please put a secure lid on it. My neighbour's cat drowned in mine last year as it had a loose lid and she slipped it. It was a horrible situation.Comment
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Okay thanks for all the advice. I got this one from my dad's greenhouse and there's no lid with it. I hadn't thought about animals drowning so I think I'll just buy a proper water butt to be on the safe side.Comment
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You could still use the barrel but make your own lid - I found an old dustbin lid for mine.Originally posted by GinaD View PostGardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoesComment
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