water butt husbandry

[hils]

This is my first year as a water butt owner and I need a bit of help now that winter has reared its ugly head.
My two butts are now full, but of course, sods law decrees that it has been raining recently thus the contents are not required for immediate use.
Is it ok to leave the accumulated water inside the butts over the winter or should I be thinking of draining them?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[nick the grief]

As you say Hils,

You don't need the water now so I always drain mine away about the end of the month & leave them empty till about Feb time.

You can get a build up of nasties that can cause all sorts of problems for your seedlings & cuttings.

I usually take a bucket of fresh tap water dow to the greenhouse with me & leave it to stand in there overnight so it has chance to equalize the temperature.

[CarolineSonning]

I usually take a bucket of fresh tap water dow to the greenhouse with me & leave it to stand in there overnight so it has chance to equalize the temperature.

Sorry Nick I don't understand this, why do you do that?

[Alison]

So as not to shock the plants in the greenhouse with very cold tap water, if left in the greenhouse it'll be at "room" temperature. Much kinder, straight out the tap would be like us having a cold shower in the morning.

[CarolineSonning]

So as not to shock the plants in the greenhouse with very cold tap water, if left in the greenhouse it'll be at "room" temperature. Much kinder, straight out the tap would be like us having a cold shower in the morning.

Thanks. I thought Nick was leaving the bucket in the water butt no wonder it made no sense to me .

[Skipper]

Hello Hils

I have six water butts and like nick I drain mine over winter, also as I have the room I store mine under cover.

Skipper.

[hils]

Many thanks folks, I'm grateful for your words of wisdom.
It does go against the grain to just let the water drain away especially since the memory of the water shortage and dilligent conservation methods during the summer drought is still heavily imprinted on the little grey cells.