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Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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Posted by dbirkey_IA 4b (My Page) on Fri, Jun 3, 05 at 11:47
A few years ago I stumbled onto a roll of 1/8"ID plastic tubing/hose & drilled holes into the lower end of a 5 gallon bucket just a little smaller than the OD of the hose so the tubing press fits into the bucket. I run individual tubes different lengths to my tomatos & peppers. Fill the bucket up with the garden hose & then slow it down till it just keeps the bucket near full & let it go as long as I want. I keep the lid on when not using it so bugs, dirt etc don't get in the bucket. If a hose does get plugged up, I just take the main hose inside the bucket over the plugged hose & flush it out. By the way, the garden is mulched with grass clippings now & weeded. The second pic is of my tomato cages. I found a roll of fencing in someones trash on cleanup day & made cages out of them. There are 4-5" openings that make it great to reach in to get the toms.
 
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Nice
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| A few questions. Did you find it difficult to fit the tubing into the small hole you drilled? Is that one bucket or two buckets fitted together to make it larger? Bet you could make some compost tea and strain it and fill that bucket on occasion. This is a little like a drip irrigation system without being hooked up to a watersource. Plants prefer getting water in drips rather than all at once. I've built cages for my tomatoes that are like yours. I've even used one of the cages like you did, with the plastic, to protect a rose bush over the winter. And yes, of course, with "found" materials :) Clever idea. I'm going to try it. Cher |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| It's not difficult fitting the hose into the holes as long as you don't drill them too small. It's just one bucket. It may be a little larger than 5 gallon. I hadn't thought of the compost tea idea. I may have to try it. Dave |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| So how fast does the water come out of the tubes? A trickle or a torrent? |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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Hi,
It's more than a trickle, but since there is no direct garden hose water pressure, it is a nice slow gravity stream. I've let it go more than an hour at a time & there is no evidence of flooding. I have noticed that if I only have the bucket say 1/2 full, it comes out a little slower I suppose due to less weight(gravity) on the water. When I'm done with it in the fall, back into the garden shed it goes till next year. |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| Great idea I will have to try that. |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| One thing to keep in mind. My Tomato's are now about 3' & the peppers were put in later, so they have different watering needs. I may add another bucket for the peppers as they don't need near the water at this point than the tomato's like. Right now, I have the pepper lines plugged with a nail. You can do this inside the bucket, not at the end of the hose. 3" of rain here in IA last night. Won't need to use it for a while now, LOL. |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| Sounds like a great idea. Think I might try it in my Hosta bed. Buckets (about $4.00) are not that hard to find, tubing (about $3.00) at aquarium shops not that hard to find, but the imagination to use them in such a way is priceless. |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| We have kept getting shots of rain here. After tonight it's supposed to turn drier for a while now. All my plants,(Tomato, Pepper, Garlic, Onion) look good right now, but I remember last summer when I kept thinking "Oh those poor Plants". It seemed to be so dry. I have to resist the urge to try to help them sometimes (by overwatering usually). Mother nature does have her way of taking care of things. This is just a simple way of me being able to supplement the rain when it gets drier, & believe me it will. I've always had a good supply of tomatos & peppers for my simple Salsa Fresca. This year I'm going to try pressure canning some. |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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Man thats a great idea!!! I was simply going to drill a tiny hole in a bucket for a slow release of water for some newly planted fruit trees but that idea of running lines rocks! This way I can water the tree from several sides at once!!!
Oh and you can pinch the line to restict flow like with a clip (think clothes pin ;o). Thats what is done with water pumps to get just the right amount of flow for say a fountain.
Thanks for the pics and a great low energy use idea. Hell no energy use if you catch rain water! I'm all over this one! Now where can I find buckets with tops? Hmmm.
Mike |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| I agree! That is a GREAT idea! Filling up the buckets is sure to be a lot faster than standing there watering everything by hand and the plants would get a better soaking too. I've got the buckets - just need the hose. I think this is my project for this weekend!! Thanks again for posting this!! :) |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| One place you might check for the hose is a farm supply store. The roll of tubing I have was for farm sprayers. I deep watered everything last Saturday. I now have 18 tubes going out from the bucket. I slowed down the flow control on the end of the garden hose & let it go for about 3 hours. With the heat & the wind, it's suprising how fast things dry out. |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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"Plants prefer getting water in drips rather than all at once."
Someone posted this, but I wonder what they base it on? Since rain doesn't come in drips, I would think that plants are pretty used to getting water "all at once."
But there are almost as many ways to garden as there are gardeners. What I always look at is "the bottom line," meaning input- in materials, time, and labor- Vs output, meaning how much you get from your garden.
I use those black soaker hoses under my grass clipping mulch to water. I spliced in sections of regular hose- with those "clamshell" repair kits- to keep from wasting water between plants.
I also have used a "wire shelf" trellis for my tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants for about five years now. it consists of four posts with "shelves" of wire fencing attached at about 1 1/2 foot intervals, on the 8-foot tomato trellis. The ones for the peppers and eggplants are much smaller.
The advantages are:
1. It eliminates the tiresome chore of tying up vines.
2. I've had no vines break in wind storms, on any of the crops, since I started using this.
3. Increased yields because of increased photosynthesis. The foliage is never moved, so it stays in the natural position it grows. That maximizes the sun exposure of each leaf, resulting in the optimum rate of photosynthesis. I routinely get over 500 full-sized tomatoes per plant, and last year got 85 and 92 bell peppers respectively from my two plants. This year, though, as everyone knows, hasn't been a good weather year for gardening, probably the worst since I started in 1972.
I just started posting here, and I am "puter challenged" to say the least. But if I can figure out how to post pictures, I'll put one on of my 8-foot mater last year. |
source for free 5 gallon buckets
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| I get mine from ICE CREAM stores. I also check out sandwich shops like Subway - they get pickles in them. If the pickles smell bothers you, just toss in some soapy water and baking soda and let sit for a couple of days and the pickle smell goes away. I have also gotten buckets from painters - they get their paint in 5 gal buckets and usually toss them. Doesn't take long to clean those - just hose out if they have wet paint in them or if it has dried it usually just peels off! For compost tea I just put the barn litter into a sack that I made out of fabric - like a giant tea bag! You don't have to strain solids out - when done just empty the bag out into the compost pile, hose off the bag and reuse it. Dont forget to tie it tight at the top and leave a long piece of rope to pull it up and out with! You can also use the 5 gallon plastic buckets for planting and they make good strawberry type containers. you can put bush beans in the holes in the sides and climbers in the top and use a tomato cage for them to climb up. Put the tomato cages in the bucket with the wide end down. Cut off the "legs", make those pieces into stakes by bending over a hook with pliers and use those to "stake" the rim down into the bucket Works great! You don't have to be old to think of these things - but it helps!!! Lots of trial and error here after over 40 yrs of gardening! Cheers - MagicKiwi |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| Great idea - love this one!!! Thanks for sharing! Sandra |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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I have similar cages for my tomatoes. I bought them from my neighbors garage sale for $2 each - he had made them himself. I am the envy of my neighborhood, because I get more tomatoes from 20 plants than any of my neighbors who have 48!
I like your irrigation system. One note re: rainwater. Yes, leaving the lid off during rainy season would be great, but you would have to cover it with screen, as debris and bugs would get in right? And also, leaving the lid off might subject the water to more evaporation in hot weather than the benefit of rain water could offset.
One question for dbirkey- what is the plastic you have around the cages, and how do you harvest? |
RE: Frugal watering system & Tomato Cages
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| Try a plastic quart juice bottle with the botom cut out. Hang it in the Tomato cage then losen it so it just drips. The water will soak in and develop deep roots. |
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