Topic: Rain gutter watering and growing system

[Hector]

Have any of you folks tried this? We go camping a lot, so would solve watering problem
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q1kIaJvpdTg
Thanks
Jackie

[Tee Gee]

Too much hassle I just prepare my soil well and let mother nature do the rest!

[johhnyco15]

im with you  tg

[Hector]

I'm thinking it provides a watered greenhouse for more than a week.e.g Toms and chilli in pots.

[Redalder]

We have an Irrigatia  solar battery operated watering system which draws water from the butt attached to the guttering which we use if we are away for more than a few days. It comes with a tubing and water delivery thingys. Can't remember how much it was - had it for ages. We dismantle for the winter in case of frost damage.

[pratinthegarden]

Surely that system just keeps giving out water even when not required.
Might it be better with capilary matting strips or rope or something that would transport water acording to what each plant took. Also the capillary could be readily moved or added to.

[daveyboi]

Looks very much like the system the commercial strawberry growers use now.

It could be very useful in the long term I guess but I would suggest it is  not a lot different to other capillary solutions for the greenhouse or polytunnel (variation on a theme).

For  outdoor use I, like others, think nature and ground are the best way though.

[lottie lou]

Tried a variation of this last year.  A piece of rag pulled through a hole in bottom of pot, almost to surface of compost.  Pot placed on a brick in something that would hold water.  Quite successful.  Going to try this year using capillary matting to carry the water to see if it is better than an old cotton blouse.  Also tried the upturned bottle in the pot which was not quite as successful.

[Vinlander]

I find guttering is a little too cramped for cropping anything - even for bringing on seedling peas for transplanting - continuous watering isn't the answer, deeper soil is.

I swear by having a general purpose capillary system involving matting on a raised platform (fake slates on polystyrene are good) inside a tray slightly larger so there's space to put a 'budgie waterer' made of upended bottles full of water (milk bottles aren't stiff enough). You add bottles until you are confident it can be left for a 2 week holiday whenever you take it... Wide necked bottles are an advantage for stability.

I expanded the system to various 2 and 3m versions making troughs with just 2 x 2m parasite posts (estate agents) on a path plus black plastic. They can keep even pots of tomatoes happy for 3 weeks, also versions with the posts screwed to a plank that make a growing bench - all these versions benefit from using 2-4 x 5L water bottles. Plastic pots on the mat water themselves, clay ones need a folded J cloth or equivalent scrap of matting through the hole with ideally 100mm inside the pot and out.

Cheers.

[Hector]

Thanks all...definitely thinking of a capillary approach under glass.

We much like the clappers outside and dig in own compost but greenhouses are a worry when away. I've tried upturned bottles....hadn't thought of a solar approach...Ill experiment with your approaches.
Thanks all
Jackie

[lottie lou]

I swear by having a general purpose capillary system involving matting on a raised platform (fake slates on polystyrene are good) inside a tray slightly larger so there's space to put a 'budgie waterer' made of upended bottles full of water (milk bottles aren't stiff enough). You add bottles until you are confident it can be left for a 2 week holiday whenever you take it... Wide necked bottles are an advantage for stability.

Could you explain how to make these "budgie bottles" in very simple language please as my attempts with bottles never seem to work that well.

[squeezyjohn]

I have used Irrigatia solar pumps from my waterbutt for a few years and although it's amazing when it works, it really needs a fairly serious overhaul between years and I've had a couple of the pumps die.  The culprit is not normally frost, but actually insects everything from midges to earwigs seem to end up in the very thin tubing and blocking it ... I even found one in the middle of the pump once!

[Hector]

Thanks all...definitely thinking of a capillary approach under glass.

We much like the clappers outside and dig in own compost but greenhouses are a worry when away. I've tried upturned bottles....hadn't thought of a solar approach...Ill experiment with your approaches.
Thanks all
Jackie

Well, spellcheck has done its own thing here...and I don't even understand this although I wrote it!

I think I meant to say agree regards soil conditioning outside and capillary inside :) very interested in both solar folks approaches and also the budgie thing.

[Vinlander]

I swear by having a general purpose capillary system involving matting on a raised platform (fake slates on polystyrene are good) inside a tray slightly larger so there's space to put a 'budgie waterer' made of upended bottles full of water (milk bottles aren't stiff enough). You add bottles until you are confident it can be left for a 2 week holiday whenever you take it... Wide necked bottles are an advantage for stability.

Could you explain how to make these "budgie bottles" in very simple language please as my attempts with bottles never seem to work that well.

YouTube has tons of stuff on wicking/capillary for plants and almost as much on budgie bottles - but tailored to actual animals.  I couldn't find anything that combined both ideas. Maybe someone else can find one...

Short of going to a pet shop or recording something myself it's simplest to describe an experiment I was shown in my earliest chemistry lessons when I was 11.

Demo:
Put 30-50mm of water in a washing up bowl.

Take any fizzy drink bottle (it has to be reasonably stiff - milk bottles are useless) fill it with water and put your thumb over the full bottle so you can turn it upside down, immerse your thumb and the bottle neck in the bowl and release your thumb.

The bottle will stay full of water.

You could demonstrate what would happen when a plant drinks all the water in the bowl by ladling the water out - but it's easier to hold the bottle in one end and tilt the bowl so the water goes to the other. The bottle will stay full until there is no water under the neck. When the water in the bowl is below the neck the bottle will start to empty. As soon as you let the water back it will stop emptying. In a real system it would top the level up to the point where it seals itself off.

Actually it's even easier to just lift the bottle to the surface very gradually watch it empty, let it dip back in so it stops emptying - and use your imagination.

In Practice:
There are a few practicalities that you have to address to make it foolproof. When the tray empties the air has to have a wide clear path into the bottle... surface tension means it can't be too narrow. Either:

The neck has to be held at least 3mm above the tray bottom (you can do this by making a 'cradle' from another bottle base - much pierced) OR
The bottle must have two unequal nicks (sawcuts) in the edge of the neck, one 3mm long and the other 5mm long;  OR two 3mm+ holes low & lower down in the neck - OR a 3mm edge nick plus a hole 3mm from the neck is easy and reliable. You can either accept a bit of spillage transferring full bottles or you can put the cap back on and remove it when it is in the tray. 

Wider-necked bottles are more stable - with 5L bottles I leave the cap on and put a 5mm hole through cap and neck at opposite sides at different heights - then I pick full ones up using a finger and thumb to cover both holes until they are in the tray.

Cheers.

[Paulines7]

We have been looking at using a rain gutter watering system for our greenhouse but we can't seem to find reasonably priced plastic bullet type float valves like those shown on youtube.  Has anyone found any for sale?  We saw them in France several years ago and they were only 2 or 3 euros each.