Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
cheyjohn_z5

What are you all doing to conserve water?

cheyjohn_z5
18 years ago

They are beginning to have water restrictions near here, and this made me wonder what I can do to make sure that my veggies get the water that they need.

Chey

Comments (18)

  • Peach_Fuzz
    18 years ago

    I set up a gutter that drains into a rain barrel last year. It catches the rain from our garden shed. It's incredible how much water I can collect from a good T-storm. I bought the barrel at a garage sale, installed a spigot at the bottem, and cover the top with screen.

  • karen_w
    18 years ago

    Not a problem for me, thank the Lord. I have lots of hydrangeas that droop like divas if they're dry.

  • murphyl
    18 years ago

    We're not restricted (yet), but we decided to head the problem off and put in water cones - we paid $8 for 6 cones from Gardener's Supply, and you can probably get them from Bordine's or any other garden center, too. Fill an empty 2-liter pop bottle with water, attach the cone, stick the assembly into the plant's root zone. Works like a charm, particularly for hydrangeas and other drooping divas. :)

  • karen_w
    18 years ago

    Great idea! I get sick of being their water slave.

  • cheyjohn_z5
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Do you really need these cones though? I have read where some use the 2 liter bottles or gallon jugs with a couple of small holes in the bottom. Then buried a bit into the ground.

    Chey

  • murphyl
    18 years ago

    I use the cones because we've got some rather nasty clay soil in our area and you need some way to get the water through the stuff. (If you try watering overhead, water just runs off and takes all the mulch and topsoil with it. Rain makes a Godawful mess in our gardens for this reason.)

    In more amenable soil conditions, you could just put down a 2L bottle with holes in the bottom, as you said.

  • ahughes798
    18 years ago

    I can't use rainwater because we haven't had any rain..I am so bummed. Some of the plants I grow will not take tap water, so, since we don't have any rainwater, this means I have to buy distilled water!

  • jroot
    18 years ago

    ahughes798, I have a fig tree that is bothered by chlorinated water. What I do is fill the watering can AFTER I use it, and then let it sit until the next day. That way, the chlorine will evaporate and the fig is not bothered. It sure seems happy as its first crop is just about ready to pick. Nothing like a breba fig from a happy tree! LOL.

    Seriously, try that with your watering can. Bottled water is too expensive.

  • earthern
    18 years ago

    murphyl, mixing sand, top soil, and peat moss into the soil by way of rototiller will save you a lot of water instead of allowing as much evaporation before it can absorb into the ground. i also water my garden in early evening during drought to lessen the amount of water evaporation throughout the day. it has a chance to soak in all night. and try burying a few ice cubes at the base of your divas ;) works like a charm for me

  • diggerb2
    18 years ago

    I conserve water by not watering. If the plant doesn't make it,it was the wrong plant for me. I do water my new plants until established-- but only by watering can-- about 1 gal
    every 3 days. and only for plants i really want to survive.
    diggerb

  • connie1946
    18 years ago

    Jroot has a good idea there. Leaving water sit overnight in a freshly set up fish aquarium is one recommended way to get the chlorine out of the tank bbefore adding new tropical fish. Along those lines you can buy declorinator products in the pet department to treat the water...by the gallon. Just read the label...so many drops per gallon...stir it in your watering can and away you go.

  • Peach_Fuzz
    18 years ago

    Diggerb, I subscribe to that same philosophy. I have three garden beds of flowers, and they don't get watered unless it rains. I baby new plants until they're established, but that's it.
    The vegetable garden, on the other hand, benefits greatly from my rain barrel collection system.

  • gardenberry
    18 years ago

    I use a tupperware tub to do my dishes in and then throw the dishwater (once it has cooled) onto my planters on my deck. Unfortunately, I'm not set up to recycle my laundry water but my parents are - the water that washed the blue jeans tends to leave blue stains on the plants but at least they are getting some water!

  • Heather__Michigan
    18 years ago

    What great ideas!

    I have a pot that sits on my deck with no hole in the bottom, of course it collects rainwater. Do you all think it's O.K. to use this water after 3 or 4 days to water my veggies and annuals?

  • fish_legs419
    18 years ago

    Fuzzy Peach - Where did you get your spigot for the bottom of your rain barrel? I've got a barrel with a narrow opening at the top. A spigot would work better than a little dipper!

  • cheyjohn_z5
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Fuzzy Peach, I believe you can get a spigot at any hardware store. I don't have a rainbarrel yet, but plan to have one. I read that you buy the parts at the hardware store and put them through a hole in your barrel.

    Does anyone use any kind of wick system (bucket of water, wick of some kind) on their container plants? The 2 liter bottle thing didn't work for me. No matter how small I made the hole, it just ran right through the soil.

    Chey

  • Peach_Fuzz
    18 years ago

    Fish Legs,
    I bought a spigot from Home Depot, but I'm sure you could get one anywhere. I just looked for something that was a 2-piece design; one half screwed into the other, with the rain barrel in between. I sealed it with a rubber washer and caulk. I have a hose attached to it. It works best if you have your rain barrel up on blocks or something; the water will only flow out of the hose if the water level in the barrel is higher than the end of the hose.

  • clemmybug
    18 years ago

    We dug a separate well just for watering flowers and grass etc. It works great. I have DH to thank for that otherwise my flowers and veggies would be on a restricted diet.