Automatic Watering

[mjr600]

I'm going on holiday in May for three weeks and by then my greenhouse crops should be well on. I have a large water butt with a hose and good pressure running past the greenhouse and want to tap into it to drip water onto crops when I'm away (and when I'm here). Have you done it ? what have you used and how much did you spend, I don't want to spend too much and really need it to work on batteries or by clockwork (maybe not for three weeks on clockwork).

Most of the neighbours are twice my age, I'm 21 don't you know :-}, I really dont want to impose on them so an auto system would be the best bet.

[Allan]

Find Interploy Irrigation of Richmond Road, Kingston-upon-Thames by a websearch. That website will give you just about all you need. Go for compensated drip heads. If any particular problem speak to Norman Leasey there or send me a private e-mail. I am totally dependent on his parts apart from the timers which I buy elsewhere.Hozelock parts will cost you much more. For a simple system there are competitive units in many outlets but for a gravity system get a Galcon one, it is independent of pressure, works on a PP3 battery and totally dependable.There are too many useless makes as I know from experience. Do test everything before you go.
Allan

[pigletwillie]

I will have a polytunnel up and running for this season and am too going away during May and again in August.

As the tunnel is on an allotment site its not always going to be possible to get there to water etc due to shift patterns etc.

To make watering foolproof I have stood a 1000 litre IBT (its just a big plastic container sat on its own pallet) at one end of the tunnel, sat on three pallets to give it about a 2ft head of water. To this container I have fitted an outside tap and then a leaky hose will be snaked through the two beds in the tunnel. The rate of water going onto the beds can be regulated by turning the tap further on or off.

This idea removes all mechanical and or electrical parts and will only fail if you run out of water. To work out how much water is going into the beds you can gauge how much leaks out in 1 hour and then x by 24 to give you a days worth to ensure that you have enough available.

A timer can be fitted if required.

[johnsgirl]

You might think that being twice your age that your neighbours are not up to watering your plants for you but I'm sure they would be delighted to help out, they're not in their dotage by any means.

[Chantal]

My neighbours are in their 70s and not only water my garden/greenhouses whilst I'm away, they also take care of my cat (and I used to have 6) and he also takes care of my chickens on a daily basis. He says it's what keeps him going! It's cheaper and more reliable than an irrigation system.

[Allan]

Piglet, I think there is a false assumption in your reasoning so I suggest you test it thoroughly before you go, for the same time period that you expect to be absent. Look particularly at the spread of water along the length and breadth of the system.
From one who has made wrong assumptions in the past.
Nothing is proved until you have tested it.

[pigletwillie]

Allan,

I did mention in my last paragraph to check how much goes through the system, but yes agree with you that it would require testing for a week or so to confirm results. I would expect the amount of water discharged to lessen as the head of water drops but after 10 days the IBT would still be quite full. If you would enlighten me with any other flaws you can see I would be most grateful.

[Allan]

The point is that, particularly for a continuous flow, the actual amount of water for a given time will be minimal, it has to be if you aren't to cause local saturation or run out of water during your absence. Therefore it is very doubtful to me that the water will get to the other end of the leaky pipe but will all come out at the nearer end. Furthermore the spread from a leaky pipe system is very limited, a foot either side would be a very generous estimation although you can build up quite an accumulation of water deeper down. In my estimation you would be much better off to use a drip feed, by individual plants if possible e.g. tomatoes,peppers, aubergines etc. and more impotant still, to put a battery powered timer inline so as to give the system as much pressure as you can possibly devise for no more than 30 minutes per day if that, and not put any flow restrictor in the line. You will need a timer for this, I have a number of Gardena timers but they have changed so much since my purchase that I cannot vouch for the latest models. It does bring up the question of the light-fingered brigade, if you could possibly hide this e.g. by burying it 9in protective container) so that it cannot be seen while you are away it might avoid a disaster.
Check www.interployirrigation.co.uk for budget priced components.

[richard p]

i tried leaky hose in my tunnels some years ago, on a mains hose they didn't give enough water even left on continuosly, with the risk of a joint blowing in the middle of the night. distribution down the length of the hose was not even and as allan said the water doesnt spread very far from the hose, on my plastic barrel with about 7 ft head there was no flow at all. my advise is forget the idea , unless you can see someone elses system that is working.
i now use an ordinary lawn sprinkler on the hosepipe, about half an hour per week with 4 positions to cover the whole area, perhaps twice a week in really hot weather. i find a really good soak once a week to be more effective and easier to manage. most of the growing season its the sunday morning chore. i hang a sheet or plastic infront of the table with seed trays on to keep the "rain " off. its simple and not too time consuming to get a neighbour in whilst on holiday, bribary with strawberries helps of course. having said all that this year we took our main 2 week holiday in the canaries in january, much less stressful preparing the garden to survive whilst we were away and the lawn didnt need immediat mowing on our return. we now only intend going away for a week max in the growing season , and expect a well soaked tunnel to survive the week without attention, i aim to have the bare minimum of pots and seedtrays in use when we go and they will be stood in trays of water deep enough to survive the week.

[Allan]

Richard, there must have been something wrong with that leaky hose to be that feeble on mains water. Even on gravity feed ours only needs a maximum of 1 hour at any time. Are you sure it hasn't got blocked up with soil or lime deposit. It helps that we use the larger diameter leaky pipe as per commercials, bought from Interploy. Leaky or drip pipe is far more economical than over-all spray where most of it doesn't penetrate to any depth and evaporates within a few hours and you get a surface pan or masses of chickweed etc. With watering it's a good soak or not at all. The other method would be large plastic drinks bottles with small holes in the caps.

[pigletwillie]

Hi Allan,

A chap at work has the same IBT set up in his tunnel and found the leaky hose useless and went on to use individual drippers going into cut off plastic lemonade bottles to prevent evaporation. By choking back the tap he got his to water at a realistic rate for 10 days before it started to tail off. That amount of time will be ample as plot neighbours can top up the water after a week and do extra watering if required. Theft isnt an issue on our plots as they are very secure but then I wouldnt really want a timer anyway, but if required I have a hozelock unit spare.

[mjr600]

Thanks to all who replied to my question.

My brother who has just started an Ebay shop for gardeners seems to have come up with a solution.

Don't know if it works yet but he's now supplying a timed watering system for £24.99 plus delivery.

It is battery operated and with a bit of fiddling I should be able to cut it into my water butt supply.

He's letting me have it tomorrow, I'll let you know if it works.

His shop can be found here.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Gardeners-Friend

So far in the greenhouse (a polycarb one he supplied) I've got Atlantic Pumkins, melons, Chilli and Sweet Peppers, Toms, Cabbage, Leeks, Carrots, Sprouts and Sweet Peas all on their way up. I planted four types of lettuce today In the cold frame I've overwintered garlic and red onions. This should be a bumper year, can't wait.

If there is anything you think you need and don't want to pay the earth, let me know I'll see if he can get it.