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Irrigation

WildlifeloverWildlifelover Posts: 380
in Problem solving
Hi,

Would anyone recommend these watering spikes where you add a bottle of water to the spike and it drips, which rate you can alter, to the ground? Any comments would be much appreciated. Thanks.


Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Never tried them, but they look like a good idea if they aren't silly money prices. I've been using fizzy pop bottles with a few holes poked in the lid with a knife to cover plants not on my drip irrigation system for short trips away, which does work but there's no control over the flow rate.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • WildlifeloverWildlifelover Posts: 380
    Not sure on price but I’m looking for alternative ways to water. Do you insert your bottles or suspend them somehow to let them drip? 


  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    edited August 2022
    They would be useful for feeding 10 cress plants.
    From a theoretical physics viewpoint they look rubbish. If a drip hits the top soil the roots can't get it and it'll be dried up by the sun and wind before they do. So you'll need a lot of drips before it gets down to the roots. A lot of drips is a flood of water, or a constant (mains fed) series of drips.
    So in theory I would be looking into something which put the water where the roots are.

    You could use one of those things^ and let it drip into a funnel (upturned cut plastic bottle) which takes the water to the roots.

    Drip feed systems are best when connected to a never ending supply of constantly flowing water.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    I totally agree with MikeOxgreen insofar as surface watering has very limited value.  I've got a stout crowbar with which I make 12 inch deep holes alongside plants.  I fill them with water, careful not to wash soil in as I do it, and am surprised how quickly the water disappears, i.e. into the roots area.  In dry times I might refill the holes as I run back along the row.  A garden spray with single jet option is ideal.  Not practical for large numbers of plants, but the water is where nature neds it.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited August 2022
    My bottles worked last weekend when I was away Thursday morning until Monday evening in hot (30C+) dry weather. I just upturn them and stick them into the soil so the lid is an couple of inches lower than the compost level and propped against a nearby wall/fence. They might not stand up to really windy weather. The bottles crumple as the water seeps out (or maybe is drawn out by capilliary action - I did water thoroughly with a can before I put them in). Not pretty, but it meant my plants in containers that aren't on the mains drip system didn't wilt in the heat.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think the ones in the picture might work better if they're pushed down deeper so that the dripper is down on the surface like the drippers on a mains irrigation system.Less evaporation that way.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • WildlifeloverWildlifelover Posts: 380
    Ah, ok, thanks. I’ve seen a bottle taped to a short cane which is stuck into the ground with the bottle top a few cm above the ground and the water empties over a short period of time. I don’t think a proper irrigation system is viable for our garden but watering takes a fair old while with the trigger hose (I don’t water whole beds, I water each individual plant) or now the watering can. As a lot of our plants aren’t fully established yet, they do need watering so I’m trying to find an easier, water-saving way to keep the garden happy. 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I haven't tried it for plants in the ground (they only get watered when newly planted, until they're established), only containers, so I've no idea how often you'd have to refill the bottles for plants in the ground.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487

    Wildlifelover   I get the impression many people don't understand 'dew'?  As JennyJ et al say, gardeners manipulate plants for their own amusement, so need to help them on their way with initial watering BUT, if there's dew on the lawn etc. in the mornings,  It means that water that has soaked into the earth from previous rainfall has capilliarised up to the surface, met cool evening air, and condensed into dew.  As it has risen, nature allows (established) plants to absorb what they need and flourish.  Hence why roots head downwards to find it and surface watering encourages roots to turn upwards.  
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited August 2022
    At this time of year we'd normally have noticeable dew on the grass until about mid-morning but not this year, so far. I think the soil is just too dry for anything much to evaporate, so there's nothing to condense into dew (or so little that it's not noticeable).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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