How do you water your garden?

[Bandit26]

What is your method of watering? Rain barrels, right from the hose, sprinklers, filtered, drip system, soaker hose, timers, etc?

Since I'm out in the yard daily I use use the standard hose, city water unfiltered. Considering adding a filter this year because I wont drink our tap water so maybe I shouldnt let my plants drink it either?

 

[Chuck]

When I just water I use a drip system, but most of the time I water with compost tea out of a large watering can.

 

[CanadianLori]

I have two sprinkler systems. One is for the lawns are open gardens that runs off the house water. The other is low flow irrigation from Lee Valley. I have a about 40 sprinkler heads hooked up to this and I set up a valve system to control different areas. They go into both greenhouses and my cold frames and along the deck for planters sitting there and up and around the rails to water the hanging plants. I also use a fertilizer injector with this system as well.

If I get enough water in my rain barrel, I hand water with it as well.

Lots of fun and I keep rearranging it too.

 

[Bandit26]

I need to get into composting and compost tea this year. Did some reading/research last year. I think I"m going with a tumbler for ease of use and to help keep critters out

 

[headfullofbees]

I have gravity-fed drip systems from harvested rainwater in water butts for my greenhouse and polytunnel, and bins for dechlorinating tap-water for my compost tea.

 

[CanadianLori]

Please share how to set up a gravity fed system? I would like to try this!

 

[marlingardener]

We water our gardens with harvested rain water. The first photo is the two 250 gal. cubes that collect water off the barn roof. The second is a 55 gal. barrel that collects off the house, and the last is a close-up of one of the cubes that we have collecting water off the garage roof. With 1/2" of rain, we get about 800 gallons of rainwater saved.
I dip (from the barrel) or pour (from the cubes) and carry to the plants. We have three vegetable gardens, an asparagus patch, and four flower beds (I also have magnificent biceps from the carrying). I find that dipping and carrying lets me know just how much a plant needs, and how well the plant is doing. We do have an attachment on one of the barn cubes that allows me to hook up a hose, but we have only had to use it twice, during the drought of 2011.
Our hens are also watered from the harvested rainwater.
Our rainwater harvesting system is not cost effective after you factor in the cost of guttering, but in Texas it is only a matter of time before the cost of water is not the question, it will be the availability of water. At that time our system will be cost effective, as well as necessary.

 

[DrCase]

I like to hold the hose and soak stuff the best
But I do have a sprinklers were ever I have dirt
And I catch all of the rain water that I can and send it down dry creek beds to my plants

 

[claudine]

We have big rain barrels. During summer, my father sometimes waters all the plants right from the hose, but he doesn't have to do it often. We live in a very humid area.

 

[gata montes]

I use ground water and a gravity fed drip system for everything but my pots - which I water with a water can.

 

[nematode]

What is your method of watering? Rain barrels, right from the hose, sprinklers, filtered, drip system, soaker hose, timers, etc?

Since I'm out in the yard daily I use use the standard hose, city water unfiltered. Considering adding a filter this year because I wont drink our tap water so maybe I shouldnt let my plants drink it either?

I wouldn't try to carbon filter irrigation water. Plants in the ground don't care very much about reasonable amounts of chlorine or fluoride. Containers may be a different story.

I use city water too, but not straight out of the tap.

 

[DancingLady]

We have an automatic sprinkler that comes on early in the morning. It gets everything sufficiently watered for the day. I just water the pots with s watering can in the morning. Basically that's all we have to do except on the hottest days some of the plants need a little extra in the evening.

 

[CanadianLori]

I'm going to try the gravity feed. I'll add dripper lines and a solar powered pump to the rain barrel. I'm thinking that if I have a receptacle up fairly high that feeds the main irrigation tube to the gardens. Have an overflow that works more or less like a fountain and returns excess to the rain barrel. er, well something like that. Have months to map it out!

Automatically waters when it's hot and sunny. I already have the pumps and the power, just need to design and set up a workable unit.

Would still use hose pressure system to distribute fertilizer, well, maybe...

 

[Pat]

My garden space is small so I hand water the area. I plan to utilize the rain collection system this summer to help keep the cost under control.

 

[CanadianLori]

My yard is very small but I just love to play and automate things.