Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: jclo on January 31, 2007, 14:07:02
-
Hi all
I have been spending some time thinking about what it is going to be like to water all of the plants on my allotment this summer. Now last year it was ok because I only had my garden to water and with watering cans that took around 1 hour. Now the allotment is loads bigger and will need much more water. I don't fancy the idea of spending 3 hours every evening just watering. So Has anoyone got any DIY watering system ideas?
The best I can come up with so far is one of those 20L chemical sprayers that goes on your back. At least if I go round with that I will be halving my trips to the water tap. The thing is though I wonder if the water will come out too fine and therfore wont really get into the ground.
-
try a seep hose, run a 'leaky' pipe around the plants that need lots of water, attach to a water butt, then, when you sit with your cuppa, turn on the tap, ;D
also, anything like toms, squash, bury a 2 litre bottle, upturned with the bottom cut off, fill and that waters the plant, also, mulch, like supersprout, less watering needed
don't panic, not everything needs watering all the time :)
-
try a seep hose, run a 'leaky' pipe around the plants that need lots of water, attach to a water butt, then, when you sit with your cuppa, turn on the tap, ;D
also, anything like toms, squash, bury a 2 litre bottle, upturned with the bottom cut off, fill and that waters the plant, also, mulch, like supersprout, less watering needed
don't panic, not everything needs watering all the time :)
ok I see where your going. I like it! What about during ahose pipe ban, would that effect that at all? I like the upside down bottle idea too! How far down would you bury it?
-
Hi jclo
Once I saw a system that looked really easy to make. It is a combination of the waterbottle and the seep hose manicscousers mentions.
It consisted of lengths of waterhose with small holes in them, a cork on one end and a big waterbottle on the other side. The man had several of these lying around on his plot. All he had to do was to fill the bottles every three days or so. The water would seep slowely into the ground.
Good luck and just hope the weather will not be as extreme as last year.
-
During the ban in London it was confirmed that so long as the waterbutt is filled solely by rainwater you can use a hose from it, leaky or otherwise.
What about putting a battery operated timer valve in line?
e.g. http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/Water_Timers.html (http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/Water_Timers.html)
NB Not necessariy the cheapest just the first one I found on google
-
Hi jclo
Once I saw a system that looked really easy to make. It is a combination of the waterbottle and the seep hose manicscousers mentions.
It consisted of lengths of waterhose with small holes in them, a cork on one end and a big waterbottle on the other side. The man had several of these lying around on his plot. All he had to do was to fill the bottles every three days or so. The water would seep slowely into the ground.
Good luck and just hope the weather will not be as extreme as last year.
That sounds a good plan. Certianly some food for thought here
-
During the ban in London it was confirmed that so long as the waterbutt is filled solely by rainwater you can use a hose from it, leaky or otherwise.
What about putting a battery operated timer valve in line?
e.g. http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/Water_Timers.html (http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/Water_Timers.html)
NB Not necessariy the cheapest just the first one I found on google
Thanks. Not sure that s the way I want to go though. For some reason it feels like cheating just buying something. I want to make something and have it not work ;D
-
I've tried quite a variety of home-made systems. I found I had clogging problems with seeping and drilled hose pipe if I used water from the butt. I tried micro system from water butt into greenhouse, again clogging up.
I have tried a big wheely bin which filled from the shed roof and had a hose pipe fitted low down. That worked quite well for plants in reach of the pipe. When the bin was half empty I wheeled it down the plot and watered the lower part.
For my small tommy house I rigged up a wheely bin with a tap at the top and another at the bottom. The bottom one I used to water outside the tommy house but when it rained, the overflow would go via the top hose and into the tommy house. Good for when I wasn't there. Got a pic someplace...
-
You could also try laying plasic guttering on top of Y shaped wood brackets. Drill very small holes along it. Run your butt hose into it. It will fill up and slowly drip around the base of your plants. You just have to make sure the gutter is level to get an even drip. This works well and can be moved to the next row quite easily. A bit better than struggling with gallons of water on your back.
PS: Drill holes from the inside to out so the water flows even and doesn't catch on the burr.
-
ok I see where your going. I like it! What about during ahose pipe ban, would that effect that at all? I like the upside down bottle idea too! How far down would you bury it? by jclo
we bury the bottle half way, someone on here said to mark it with a cane, so's you know where it is in the undergrowth, also makes feeding easier :)
-
You could also try laying plasic guttering on top of Y shaped wood brackets. Drill very small holes along it. Run your butt hose into it. It will fill up and slowly drip around the base of your plants. You just have to make sure the gutter is level to get an even drip. This works well and can be moved to the next row quite easily. A bit better than struggling with gallons of water on your back.
More good ideas! Thanks!
-
Ok, how about a lavatory cistern from the waterbutt (add or remove bricks to adjust quantity of water) and a water clock that triggers the emptying of cistern into the watering sytem? :)
-
I am wondering if a hose pipe ban applies to allotments does anyone know or can tell us what happened in their area previously.
-
A hosepipe ban in an area includes allotments in the same way it covers gardens.
(Water from rainfilled butts belongs to you.....do what you want with it...you could even have a lottie bath time)
-
Our local authority sent out a directive last year.
It wasn't permitted to use sprinklers
It was permitted to fill a watering can or water butt with a hose
Soaker hoses weren't mentioned
::)
-
You could also fill a garden swimming pool with a hose but not use it to water your plant pots.!
-
I am wondering if a hose pipe ban applies to allotments does anyone know or can tell us what happened in their area previously.
Usually it does apply to them too. The only exception is if you have live-stock - then you are entitled to water, only sufficiebt for you animals.
-
I've been doing a bit of googling and came across this on the South East water site http://www.southeastwater.co.uk/water_resources.asp
The hosepipe ban prohibits the use of hosepipes for watering private gardens and washing private vehicles. It also prohibits the use of garden sprinklers, which use as much water in an hour as a family of six does in one day.
I will have to ask some of the members down on allotments what has happened in previous years.
-
Surely even in the summer you don't need to spend 3 hours watering your plot.We never did anything like that last summer and none of our plants suffered.The toms and runner beans had a soaking but nothing like 3 hours worth.And ours is quite a large plot.
-
I am wondering if a hose pipe ban applies to allotments does anyone know or can tell us what happened in their area previously.
In live in Harrow Middlesex and our water company is three Valleys Water. Last year's hosepipe ban applied to watering private gardens and car washing. Using a hose on the allotment was allowed, as was filling a paddling pool in the garden using a hose. No real logic in this, as these days you can get some very big paddling pools! I filled our kids' pool and after a few days, when the water went green, I emptied it onto my flower borders.
-
I water on average 2/3 times a week and nothing like 3 hours worth. Some bits of 2006 were exceptional but the UK has enough moisture in the soil not to water at all unless you have very sandy soil.
Mulching is the better option.
-
Ok, how about a lavatory cistern from the waterbutt (add or remove bricks to adjust quantity of water) and a water clock that triggers the emptying of cistern into the watering sytem? :)
Sounds like a version of that 'mouse trap' game...showing me age here.....! ;)
-
In live in Harrow Middlesex and our water company is three Valleys Water. Last year's hosepipe ban applied to watering private gardens and car washing. Using a hose on the allotment was allowed, as was filling a paddling pool in the garden using a hose. No real logic in this, as these days you can get some very big paddling pools! I filled our kids' pool and after a few days, when the water went green, I emptied it onto my flower borders.
Thanks for that, i did some more googling and their seems to be a difference of opinion, the Gaurdian web site says it is not allowed but the Daily Mail says the opposite ???
-
Allotments are definitely free from hose pipe bans except in the Thames Water area. I looked into this very thoroughly last summer when I took on a second allotment with a water supply (none at first allotment) and the websites of the water companies specifically said allotments were exempted from the hose ban. We are Southern Water, and their website was unambiguous. Very unfair on those who grow vegetables in a "garden"...
-
Hi all,
I think too much carrying water is drudgery and will quickly take the fun out of growing veg, but every body on my site waters a lot as we are growing in very free draining sandy soil on a slope. We also water neighbouring plots. We are lucky to not have had a hosepipe ban since I started on my allotments, but I don`t waste water (in my terms) and collect and use rainwater whenever I can and mulch and improve the soil continuosly.
In common with other plot holders on my site I have buried hose pipes running from the standpipes to the ends and middles of my plots. From these connection points I have four way valves that I can connect to a hand-held hose or most commonly seep hoses (a poundland bargain) that snake between the rows.
Having the hose buried in the ground means I don`t have to wind it in and out every time I need it and that nobody will steal it. I just connect it to the tap when I want to water.
My fruit cage has seep hose suspended from the roof which is always interesting as it rains upwards. I also have four water butts that collect from my shed rooves that I also use to fill watering cans.
So I try to find a balance between meeting the needs of the plants through the growing season, saving myself hard work and time, and long-term water management concerns. I have the materials collected (scavenged) to be able to build a second tomato house and covered store attached to the original shed, that will create a run of rooves for water collection and storage on my second plot in time for spring.
I have looked at hand and battery pumps that empty your water butts into hose systems but that would be a whole new project that I`m not yet ready for.
Col
-
Am I right in thinking that of all the plants on the allotment it is the fruits that require the most water?
i.e. if I can only organise one watering system I should aim it at the fruit cage?
-
Hi barnowl
I don`t really know. My fruit cage is a very productive environment all of its own. Its very heavily mulched, weed free, and I make a point of giving it lots of water when the bushes are in fruit. I don`t know where those ideas came from, probably this forum and it seems to work.
I get lots of good fruit for relatively little labour.
Col
-
Very interesting topic.
Just had a thought: using the 2 litre pop/water bottles start off with the cap plugged into the hose and the bottom cut off, then build upwards with further bottles with cut off tops AND bottoms, slotted together vertically and taped together to make very tall bottle reservoirs. Obviously it would have to be taped to something strong and sturdy to carry the weight when full.
I shall be trying it out on the runner beans!
-
Honestly do people go to such lengths to water their allotments.
Now you see why I don't bother watering, I only water at planting out/sowing time and until the plants get going then it is up to them and nature to do the rest.
A friend of mine who is a national dahlia champion has a very good system and it is this.
His plot is split into many beds (roughly 15ftx4ft each) what he has done is laid a sunken water main with ¾" copper pipe ( plastic would do) down the centre of the plot.
The original system was;
At the end of each bed he has fitted a valved tee, to this tee he has fitted a seeping hose which goes down the centre of each bed, now he can water beds individually if he wants (some varieties need more water than others).
Just a few years ago he upgraded his sytem by adding a 'feeding system', this is based loosely on the hose end feeders you can buy.
What he has done is; he disconnected the seeping hose and fitted containers with lids to the tee pieces so that he can add the fertiliser. Then he fitted an outlet to the container and refitted the seeping hose to the container.
Now at the turn of a tap he can treat each bed in turn with anything it requires e.g. plain water, fertiliser/s
-
I over watered last year, I flooded my toms and spuds and various other veg.Other lotties never seem to be there at watering times but I never took anywhere near three hours but was I always last off site. This year I think I will be doing less watering and let the roots find their own supply they are like children if you spoil them every day then they will expect more of the same. Our site has self filling water tanks so its dip your watering cans in and away you go, no hosepipes are allowed but I like the seeping hosepipe idea I think I'll give it a go it saves all the walking up and down, I tried the upside down bottles but it barely let the water out, or poured out, I think they charge us £3 a year on top for water, and I asked about water bans and the guy in charge said they have never had one on the allotment but we still have a hosepipe ban here in Enfield.
-
We have "self-filling water tanks" and a new arrival has noticed that if you lift off the lid protecting the ballcock, there is a hoseattachment inside.
-
Never use an automatic system. I have sorted out two gardens that had a lazy mans system, the first everything died when it broke down and as the roots had not gone searching for water they were so shallow when to topsoil dried up so did they. All of his pots had stagnant compost in them. The second most of the shrubs and trees had spread so shallow for the same reasons they all blew over in a strong wind.
Some plants need regular watering, but if you trench where they are going and fill it with water retaining materials, once a week is enough. Most of the other plants will find their own moisture if you leave them alone after the initial care when first planting. I always 'puddle' my plants in, or plant in the rain, after that they are on their own unless I spot some struggling.
You have only got to look how well your weeds do without care, to see the logic in my argument.
-
I only water at planting out/sowing time and until the plants get going then it is up to them and nature to do the rest.
Snap. Although I give nature a helping hand - a hefty layer of mulch outdoors (no exposed soil) and this year two Big Drippa systems for the greenhouse.
-
You have only got to look how well your weeds do without care, to see the logic in my argument.
The reason i water my plants is to get more prolific and bountiful crops. If you want you could easily test both methods out this summer. I know what i prefer ;)
I have sorted out two gardens that had a lazy mans system, the first everything died when it broke down and as the roots had not gone searching for water they were so shallow when to topsoil dried up so did they.
If the plants are water for long enough it allows the water to go down deeper therefore encourging the plant roots to search deeper. :)
-
Quote; Am I right in thinking that of all the plants on the allotment it is the fruits that require the most water?
As a general rule plants with a hollow stem need most water e.g Dahlias & Gladioli, fleshy stems are next in the pecking order then woody plants.
And if you think about it, this is relative to the depth of the root system, i.e. shrubs & trees have a deeper root system (as a general rule) so don't need DIY watering.
-
[quote author=legendaryone link=topic=27708.msg273613#msg273613
If the plants are water for long enough it allows the water to go down deeper therefore encourging the plant roots to search deeper. :)
[/quote]
Why ever would they want to do that? They will stay where the water is, no need to go deeper
-
[quote author=legendaryone link=topic=27708.msg273613#msg273613
If the plants are water for long enough it allows the water to go down deeper therefore encourging the plant roots to search deeper. :)
Why ever would they want to do that? They will stay where the water is, no need to go deeper
[/quote]
Because the water doesn't just sit there it soaks into the soil going downwards so it makes sense that the roots would also go downwards to follow this water.
-
well said ace that is common sense ( very common me) no hose on my lotty. only water when newly planted . start most seeds at home where they can get pampered (got to pamper baby,s havn,t you?
-
Some interesting thoughts there. Thanks to everyone for the comments. Last year the soil I was using was awfull. There was a huge oak and 10 conifers that were stealing all of the water etc from the soil. Now on my lott I wont have that problem. I've been told by other people there that the soil is normally wet and rearlly needs much watering.
-
at our site we have wells with hand pumps, I have a old dustbin that is raised of the floor that i fill using some old downspouts saves carring buckets to top it up ( much quicker ) from the bin I have a leakey hose pipe. The only problem in the middle of summer is beating everyone to the well, before it dries up! I only water thirsty plants like beans and pumpkins on regular basis everthink else gets water if it looks like it is suffering.