Before planting, plan the most efficient way to water your plants, so that you can plant them accordingly.. If you have containers you probably need to water them by hand. For ground rooted plants, soaker hoses with timers are a great choice because they are easy to install, low maintenance and save tons of water due to very low evaporation rates. Another of my favs is the self-watering container. It's more work to plant, but if you fill the reservoir once a week, the plant literally waters itself, which means the optimum health of the plant and the best water conservation. The next step at mi casa is to install a rain water catchment system and greywater capture. I can still use drip systems to distribute the water I capture from these processes.
Vegetables generally need average water until fruiting, then heavy water. Fruit trees in general need average water until mature. Average means inconsistently watering down to the roots a couple times a week. Check how long it takes to get water to the roots by digging into the dirt a few inches. During adulthood, citrus trees need less water and they are drought tolerant.
This great article is an in-depth look at what "Average" watering means for a fruit tree. It talks about a citrus tree, but we can generalize.
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| By PV KS Kevin K |
Watering Options
Hand Water
Use a hose with an adjustable nozzle on the end or a watering can. Unless you are blessed with lots of rain at just the right time, you will probably have to do this until your seeds sprout. While watering observe what’s goin’ on in your plants life. Does it look healthy? If not what can you determine from looking at it closely. Are there bugs hiding in the leaves? If you have lots to water, it is not recommended as a long term plan, since it takes lots of time.
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| by Keith Williamson |
Program a Timer to work with a soaker hose or sprinkler system
Video http://youtu.be/oUoir-wk2Yc My thoughts drifted to a million other places watching this boring video... If you find a better one, or make a better one, send it my way so I can get this one outta here!
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| By JobyOne Joby Elliott |
Drip Hose Systems
Before attaching the hose to your faucet, install a filter to catch small rocks that could cause your hose to burst.
Install a Multi Drip/Spout Irrigation System Video http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-install-a-multi-drip-irrigation-system-2
Sprinkler System
You could use this instead of hand watering when you plant seeds since the surface is the part that should be the most wet... But this wastes the most water and can cause mold and disease to spread especially in cucumber vines which are very susceptible.
Combine either Grey Water or Rain Water Capture with a Drip System
Video overview of Grey Water and How to Install a Legal (in Sonoma County, CA in 2009) Greywater System http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBMpaWq4EKE I am using this system to plan my own... However, it's 30 min long, 10x longer than most of the recommended videos! Start 6 min in to get past the chat about living sustainably.
Diagram of Grey Water Laundry System http://greywatercorps.com/whatl2l.html
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| by Manish Bansal |
Bury an Olla- Clay Pot
The Olla (Oy-ya) 'Pumpkin' saves 85% more water than even drip irrigation! Read this article to see how this ancient watering technique delivers water directly to the roots. http://www.pakissan.com/english/newtech/pitcher.irrigation.a.water.shtml
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Make a Self-Watering Container
This little invention turned my black thumb into a green one and for that I will be forever thankful. The basic idea is to create a reservoir of water that allows the plant roots to draw from so they are drinking just the right amount of water. For this reason, if the soil in your self-watering container dries out, you must re-wet the dirt and refill the reservoir.
This is an ideal solution for people who have small spaces, can't water daily or cement "yards" and want to grow food.
This is the best webpage on the subject providing great graphics and how-to videos http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/
Here's a Video that scratches the surface of the fine art of making a container... http://youtu.be/chTKL6W1ntA
Written Instructions on a Variety of Sizes:
A Cool Twist on the Idea http://livingthefrugallife.blogspot.com/2010/04/food-production-in-small-spaces-fig.html This seems like an interesting blog and it's an excellent idea for a variation of self watering container
Small Container http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-Watering-Plant-Container-out-of-a-2-liter-bot/ A good intro project with a 2 liter bottle for people "on the edge". You could not use this to plant a vine or tree, but perhaps you'd get away with a small pepper plant.
Small Container http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-Watering-Plant-Container-out-of-a-2-liter-bot/ A good intro project with a 2 liter bottle for people "on the edge". You could not use this to plant a vine or tree, but perhaps you'd get away with a small pepper plant.
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| By sdixclifford Stephanie Clifford |
Medium Container http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/self-watering-containers/how-to-make-a-self-watering-container/ Using a 5 Gallon Bucket- How to Build a Self Water Container for Less than $5 | Urban Organic Gardener
Large Container
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm Using 30 gallon storage containers Homemade Self-Contained Gardening Systems: use bamboo instead of plastic
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm Using 30 gallon storage containers Homemade Self-Contained Gardening Systems: use bamboo instead of plastic
Some quick notes from my experience... The picture of the large container is simply to show you how it works. If you are creative, you can make any container into a self-watering container. I've made mine out of old artillery cases, wood storage containers and old trunks (photos to come). Think of your own variation using whatever you have around the house.
How are you going to water your plants?
Create a diagram or sketch of the watering system for your garden.
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