Watering in the greenhouse - planning ahead - advice needed

[MrsKP]

This has been playing on my mind for sometime now.

In the big g/h I'm going to have 12 growbags, 24 plants in black bucket ring culture.  Mainly toms but a couple of cucumbers and aubs.

Ickle g/h will possibly have 10 growbags, 20 plants - chillis, and a couple of spillover toms/cukes/aubs.  (hmmmmm seem to have miscalculated on the g/bag front - note to self, get some more  ;D).

Last year I was very hit and miss with the watering.  I just watered and fed everthing with gay abandon.  Everything seemed to cope fine, but it was on a much smaller scale that I'm  planning  for this year.

Supersprout asked about Big Drippers a little while ago, but not many pros and cons came out of that thread.  I'm not planning on going anywhere during the summer so will be around for morning and evening waterings, but I'm wondering about the better/easiest way. 

Bearing in mind that the OH will be presenting me with birthday cash tomorrow, there is some budget available, but I'm also armed to the teeth with empty 2ltr pop bottles if necessary.

Both g/h are a fair way but within reach of the outside tap but running a hose would mean me tripping over it !   ::)

What advice would the experts give ?? 

Thanking you muchly as always.

;D

[MrsKP]

[Tee Gee]

I never use growbags don't like them! but then thats me!!

If I were to use them I would use them halved and laid vertically which gives each plant its own growing space.

I use both bed & ring culture;



With the ring culture I fill the first third of my bottomless pots with farm yard manure. The purpose of this is;  it holds moisture better than compost plus the water seeking roots are at the bottom of the plant.

Along side each plant I sink a 5" pot or similar and water into this. I find this takes the water down to where it is wanted! Plus this saves washing the compost off the root system.

nb. I have not done this in the picture above because as you can see the pots are sat on a bed of farm yard manure so I water this.

I only water the top of the plant when feeding!

A note on cucumbers;  the pot along side method is particularly beneficial because you do not want to wet the compost at the base of the plant stem.

If you don't use a pot; heap the compost up the stem to form a hillock and water round the edge of the hillock.

This helps to reduce the chances of 'neck rot'

[carolinej]

Lovely clear advice!Is the manure is well rotted?

cj :)

[Tee Gee]

Lovely clear advice!Is the manure is well rotted?

Don't think it really matters it is only there to hold water!

[Hyacinth]

Told you that about grobags KP and did you listen ::) Did you heck :o Now please listen to TG, look at his pics and do the same...

(by Order..

Lish)

;D

[lorna]

Lish. You must be joking... have you seen how many grobags our friend has bought over the past few weeks?? BTW what size is the big greenhouse KP? Or are you going to use half grobags stood on their ends?
Lorna.

[MrsKP]

big g/h is 8 x 6, ickle is 6 x 6.

i like the idea of the manure in the bottom of the pot and the pot alongside.  I was thinking pop bottle with drip spike dripping all day rather than pour all at once and yes that was going in the bag rather than into the bucket.

If I were to use them I would use them halved and laid vertically which gives each plant its own growing space.

For the really stupid amongst us i.e. me, could you elaborate.

I was thinking, fluff up the growbag, lay it on the ground, black bucket at each end.  I saw some gigantic gbs at B&Q at the weekend and they looked a lot deeper that the ones I have now (and allow more root travel ?).  The base of the g/h is gravel over solid clay so planting direct in the border is a no-no.

here's one i made earlier



am just not going to have room for the pretty maids!

Thanks for all your help though, by the time I get round to planting out, I might have some idea !!!!

;D

;D

[Tee Gee]

I'll try and explain although I think Tim has a picture somewhere!

Take one bag!

Lift it at the middle of the bag and let equal amounts of compost to trickle to either end of the bag!

Cut bag in half!

Roll down sides of bag to just above compost level, this strengthens the bag or should I say pot, because this is effectively what you have!

Form a few drainage holes at base of bag/pot

Now lay these out as you wish i.e. to suit your growing space.

I think you will find you can get more plants this way if you want to.

I hope I have made my self quite clear ;) if not get back to us with your queries.

[MrsKP]

I get your drift Tee Gee.  I think I did that for my Totem last year, but outside it fell over !!! 

It would give an deeper run right enough.  hmmmmmmmmmm

;D

[jollyroger123]

12 growbags in an 8x6.  Tell me more

I only managed 4 growbags in my greenhouse last year.  Do you double them up each side and do the plants get enough light this way.

See my other post as i got a bit carried away as usual with buying and sowing seeds.

[kt.]

An alternative method I have not used yet but may this year:

Dig your 'horseshoe' shallow trench around the path in your greenhouse. Layer it with plastic (rising up the sides). Place manure on the plastic. Fill with water. The water remains in the plasic and is absorbed by the plants as & when. Some people use stone chippings instead of manure. At the end of the season just remove the stones, rinse the plastic, rinse the stones - & all ready for the following year.

[MrsKP]

i've not a clue jollyroger !  i only had 7 plants last year and a few of them were gartenperle (outside in hanging baskets).  I seem to have acquired a few more varieties this year and was looking to cram in as many as possible.

it might all end in tears yet !

can you see my silly plan a few posts up the thread ?  i figured that 12 would just about fit.  the g/n runs E/W so will get light from about 10am-sun down.  the north side would be slightly shaded but i'm hoping that there will be sufficient light during the height of summer.

the trough is certainly something to consider for maybe next year KT.  I don't have the stamina to sort it for this season !!  lol

this is all giving me things to think about though !  keep the ideas coming.

;D

[lorna]

Stop drinking the Vodka then you won't keep doubling up ;D ;D ;D

[Rosyred]

The water board have this idea, fill a plastic milk bottle with water and put a pin prick near the top and 1/2 inch from bottom and let the water drips slowly.

[kt.]

The water board have this idea, fill a plastic milk bottle with water and put a pin prick near the top and 1/2 inch from bottom and let the water drips slowly.

Anybody tried this? If so did it work ok?

[MrsKP]

I've tried it with a pop bottle and a water spike .... there was no dripping, it just poured out (water going all over the floor as well lol).

I shall definitely try the "one prick"  ::) at each end method and report back !

;D

[jennym]

Haven't used this in greenhouse as I don't have one, but it worked outside:
Place a full bucket of water next to the plant you want irrigated. Take a thin cotton rag or thick sisal rope (soaked first), put one end in the bucket (tied round a brick in the bottom to hold it down) and the other end trailing over the edge of the bucket onto the soil by the side of the plant. The rag or rope acts as a wick and water passes slowly onto the soil. You only want it long enough to pass from the base of the bucket to the soil. Weight it down onto the soil with another brick or tread it in. Lasts 2 or 3 days in hot weather, longer if not so hot.

[Hyacinth]

EXCELLENT Jenny 8)  Way to go for me when I'm away for weekends....simplest ideas are the best, eh?

[Curryandchips]

My friends with a house in Spain have used this following technique ...

Take a 2 litre (or larger) plastic bottle and fill with water. Fit the lid with a small hole cut into the end using a skewer or small drill. Upend the bottle and push down into the pot. The water will slowly trickle out, using the capilliary action of the soil. A bit of fine tuning with the hole size will get an optimum effect.

Our Spanish friends do this using 20 litre water containers ...

In my greenhouse, I fitted waterbutts onto the gutters, and then fitted some hose running into the greenhouse. This hose is filled with water and then put into the butts, so acts as a syphon. To stop the flow, I just hang it on a wire hook in the corner of the greenhouse. It works excellently.

Derek :)

[MrsKP]

lots of great ideas here. thanks.   watch out for mad woman wielding skewer tomorrow!

;D