">Posted on 03/09/2009 11:53:35 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
On another note, the stock market was down ‘only’ about 80 today, nothing like a trend... let us keep up with the gardening plans, that may be the ONLY thing we will have to eat!
I use a smaller version of that for my houseplants. Take a 20 oz water bottle, cut the bottom off and put a tiny hole in the lid, the bury next to the plant (or at least put it deep enough it won’t tip over). If it drains faster than you’d like, drop a bit of dirt right in the funnel to slow the flow. The plants get a slow, steady drink, and I only have to water about once a week.
I also made a homemade Earthbox out of a plastic storage bin, the tomatoes there are doing ok although they really need more light. I think if I put a couple more growlights in they’ll really take off.
ME TOO!
But my plants all die anyway.
Must be all my Emo/Bad Karma.
We are living in a topsy turvy world these days. That upside down tomato planter may fit in nicely!
Thank you for posting this! I have been thinking of a DIY drip system for a tiny little patch in my backyard for the kids to learn about planting foods and flowers etc! This is just what I needed!
Thanks!
Plants die, that’s what they do. Mrs. Slim is the one with the green thumb. It’s a hard environment up here.
Yeah ... but cactii??
I’ve found I can “force” cacti to grow like crazy in the greenhouse. There’s no humidity so you can water almost every day, but they dryout before the roots rot.
But yes, I’ve killed them too.
">I’m in gardening hell, so I grow what grows.
Along these lines, but requiring more work — at the local gardening store I saw little gizmos which screw onto (for example) milk bottles and then stick into the soil near the plant to drip water. There were also purpose-built bottles that did the same thing. Your PVC system is probably cheaper though. :’)
“Saving water isn’t an issue for most of us here in Michigan. I am considering tomato plants over the drainfield though.”
It will be when they start stealing the water from the Great Lakes for everywhere else. Also, we have salty well water and can’t use it on the garden. We either save rain water and gravity feed it to the garden in back or water with pails. It is SUCH a pain, but tomatoes are worth it.
Then I could put an upturned bottle at each plant and water them that way. Thanks :)
I know just kidding here. But I think a drip system however it is constructed (cheaper the better)is the way to go.
Homegrown tomatoes are worth their weight in gold and taste and safety wise, especially when you have caned a bunch and have big ol’ jars of them ready to dump in a sauce.
We switched to drip last year for our 1/4 Acre garden. Our flood irrigation from the ditch was removed due to subdivision being built upstream. (what a waste, like those lots are ever going to sell.)
Anyway, it works quite well. I just miss all the water flooding the garden and yard.
Oh well.
The Israelis have used trickle irrigation for decades. A few (ten?) years back I read about an Israeli researcher who had clipped some kind of sensor to leaves on several different parts of the same peach tree (or maybe it was apricot or nectarine, I don’t know) which permitted the tree itself (so to speak) to tell the system when it needed water. Water use dropped by nearly half and yield increased. :’)
“Also, we have salty well water and can’t use it on the garden.”
Salty salt? As in, table salt? If so you may have a trade item there. After studying survival for years I’ve figured out how to grow or make just about anything except salt. When things get rough you could be sitting on a gold mine.
Thanks for the link! I think that was the same place I got the instructions from, but I lost the bookmark.
I did make a couple of changes to the design.
First, I used a translucent tub, which allowed me to see the water and eliminated the need for the leak hole.
Second, instead of using one basket I used 5 smaller ones. (They were actually 4-inch tall flower pots that some plants I ordered had been shipped in. They were too sturdy not to be reused for something.)
The top for the reservoir sat on these, with a little hole for each one, which allowed me to use the lid for the tub to build the reservoir, instead of cutting apart a second tub. The lid was going to be unnecessary, because I was growing inside.
Wish now I’d taken pictures of the process.
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