Podster, have you ever considered burying one of those black soaker hoses in the garden?
New Raised Beds...What Am I Forgetting?
I have used one before but was not enthused. I seem to forget it is turned on and will run forever or else forget to turn it on. My mind is too cluttered so jugs that I can fill as well as add fertilizer seems to be a good solution. Worth a try anyway...
Sounds good to me too!
Pod will you describe what you do with the jugs. Do you bury completely? Or is there a rule about how deep to bury for the roots to be able to benefit? I am thinking it would drain lower than the roots would be able to reach. Do you poke just one hole in the jug (are you using like bleach jugs?) or does it take a few. I tried doing this several times on top of the soil when I planted trees and the water just flows out even with the smallest hole. Not sure the physics of it but it seemed to me that the holes I made would just 'drip' and not run out so quickly --which is exactly what happened ..empty in less than an hour.
heathrjoy -
Quoting:
I'll do the hole/fill it with water/how long to drain test and see what happens.
My hubby has been digging out a place in the front yard for a "rain garden" and the water stands in there for several days after a rain.
honeybee, sounds like he's on to something. I'm hoping mine drains in less than 4 hours.
Missingrosie ~ keep in mind I haven't done this yet but this is what I had read that inspired me.
Quoting:
install water jugs buried up to their shoulders between where every two plants will be. A pin hole in the sides facing the plants should let enough seep out to keep up consistent watering. I place a tall stick in each jug, its top colored with red paint or nail polish. This helps me find the sticks, which helps me find the openings to the jugs when all the foliage hides them from view. I fill the jugs with a funnel and the water hose. You can add liquid plant food to the water if you like.
I know at times in the past, jugs placed above ground would drain too quickly or if I left the lid on would collapse as the water seeped out. This will be a learning curve but I still feel it will place the water at the roots even though it empties quickly. I'll let you know later in the summer I guess. I will use either gallon milk jugs or gallon vinegar jugs which have stronger sidewalls.
Does anyone reuse greywater from their showers, sinks, etc. for watering? Today, I reused the water from my shower to water my veggie beds. It was really low tech. Just filled up a few buckets. I was only everyday dirty not filthy and use petroleum free, vegetable oil based, biodegradble soap. Figured that there was no harm since the soil organisms will break down the soap. My shower was short, about 3 mins. I collected about 15-20 gallons worth of water. This was enough for about half my garden's watering needs for today. When I put down my mulch when the weather warms up it maybe less. Since our water is starting to be metered, I want to use as little water as possible.
I saw something about rigging up a barrel filtration system for your grey water. No real instructions. I wanted to know if anyone has done this?
It doesn't rain here for about 5 months during the hottest part of the year. Recycling water is realy the only option to water other than the hose.
dlbailey. Here's some good info on graywater, http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/plant_culture/gray_water_for_gardens.html
I actually had the same question and posted it on another forum, here's that forum if you are interested
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1055627/
You will have to go down a little bit to see the discution about gray water.
Since that one time that I used my shower water to water my plants, I personaly have not used it anymore.
That is a good thought but if I may make a suggestion... you might start that as a separate thread? It kind of gets buried after this many posts on a raised bed thread. Water conservation is a topic pertinent to gardening as well as sustaining life and merits its' own thread.
Quote from carminator1 :
Since that one time that I used my shower water to water my plants, I personaly have not used it anymore.
Why? Did it hurt your plants or just inconvienent?
I think there has been discussion of it on several forums. Since the search engine is down, maybe google 'greywater dave's garden"... That should pull up most if not all the threads. Use the alternate spelling 'graywater' as well as I have seen it spelled that way;o)
I've tried and really nothing has come up. I'll try with a different spelling.
DL,
Here's your link to the entire Gray Water discussion here on Dave's.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/822819/
When you're looking for something you KNOW was discussed here, do a Google search like this (the way I found the link for you). Put
"Gray Water Dave's Garden"
in the Google search box (leave the quotes off....)
You can search for anything, anywhere on Dave's by including "Dave's Garden" in the search line!
Hugs!
Pod thanks so much. Now, I know what I did wrong 1. left the jugs above ground and 2. My 'small' holes were obviously way too big. I am going to give it a try - put these laundry jugs to good use.
You are welcome. Even if the water should seep out too quickly, when buried it will put the water and fertiziler where the roots need it.
dlbailey, sorry for not responding sooner to your question. I read a lot of articles about graywater etc... it does mention it can be safe for either fruiting trees and also shrubs, but it always cautions on the overuse of graywater. Remember that everytime you take a bath you also shed dead skin etc... so all that can cause bacteria. Using it everyonce in a while don't think will hurt, but I think installing a rainbarell could save you $ plus the water is free of chemicals, I have also heard you can collect the condensation that your air conditioner makes, here is a video that shows you how to get water from your AC. http://www.youtube.com/user/markhess#p/u/11/4DSNt-zL55Y
Carminator, the articles I read said that isn't a problem as long as the water is used within 24 hrs. Bacterium is everywhere and over 90% of them are benign. The pathogenic organisms should be either outcompeted or killed while cooking.
The concern I read was over the soap and any household cleaners that might be in the water. Soap can build up salts in the soil and harm beneficial soil organisms. Cleaners also harm them and can potentially leach into the water supply. Even then, it seems that most people that use greywater avoid these problems by using only earth friendly products.
As for rainwater barrels, I live in a semi-arid region. It may not feel like it now with our late season storms, but it is very dry here for over half the year. Unfortunately, this is not an option.
dlbailey what about using the condensation from your A/C system, expecially in the summer time. I am wondering if this would be another choice. There are definetely lots of earth friendly product out there you can use for all your cleaning and washing so if what you say is true, I would go ahead and do it if I was in your arid area. Mobile is one of the rainiest cities, so I don't have the same problem.
I don't know...we may be one of the rainest states this year LOL. Will the rain ever subside? We have been getting about 5-6 days of warm sunny days and a few days of very cold, very wet weather on and off for the last month. It looks like this may last at least another few weeks.
I'll look into the AC thing. I think it maybe too dry in the summer to get much condensation.
dl - we get quite a bit on condensate off our unit even in the summer. I don't use anything fancy to collect it - an old cat litter bucket or other 5 gallon bucket. On a good day I fill it - lol. That's 5 gallons I don't have to pay the city of Phoenix for.
A lot of people here also have rain barrels and I am looking into one or two myself. I think we have one of the lowest annual rainfall totals anywhere. I think our average is about 7"/year.
That's wonderful Kelly, 5 gallons of water daily is not bad at all. About rain barrells, I've noticed that when I wake up in the morning that all the grass is wet and also the leaves of many veggies even if it does not rain for weeks so my question is I would imagine some of this condendated water will end up in the rain barrell as well, maybe not much but still some, no?
I don't think so Carmen. I think most rain barrels are sealed systems so to speak. They catch water that is piped to it from roof runoff and/or gutters. Those are the type of rain barrels I am familiar with but there may be others?
When the forecast is for rain, I move buckets, tubs and anything else under the edge of my roof to catch it. I would like gutters all around but don't have them. Most houses on the coast don't have them because the terrain is so flat there's nowhere for it to go but down. I bet I could have filled a pool with the rain off my roof just this weekend and the next morning the soil (sand) didn't even look damp.