Kitchen Garden Forum

How do you set up old plastic drink bottles to drip/seep into containers. I tried last year and either all the water came out at once or none came out.

Cheers
Sandy

Have you got the drip feeder tops to screw on them - I think you can get them from Betterware/ Kleeneze ? They are not too expensive I don't think - a couple of pounds for 3 from what I remember.

Vicki

I tried some of them and the holes are too big so the water is dripped out in an hour, try plugging the holes with panel pins or twigs so the water seeps out............I was not impressed however even with tweaking them..

Compo

I think it's one of those things that you look at in the catalogues and think 'what a good idea'.

When it comes to the practicalities of using them, I think it's a case of 'back to the drawing board chaps'. They just don't work, That's my experience anyway, for what it's worth.

valmarg

I am quite interested in some collapsible plastic water tanks that I have seen, with a proper drip pipe system!! Trouble is I can't remember where I saw em!!

I will soon be putting my tomatoe plants in large empty plastic paint pots ( i think 10 litre)in the greenhouse. If I am away for a few days i intend cutting the base off 4 litre milk bottles leaving the cap on and drilling a small hole in the cap before inserting into the compost of the paint pots and filling with water, hopefully providing a slow drip into the pots. It seems right in theory but I will not know until I have tried it out
has anyone tried this and how did it work out?
Regards Brenjon

Hi Brenjohn,
I should experiment with your idea long before you go on Hols. You are apt to get no flow due to a vacuum lock. You actually need something with an air admittance valve to prevent this vacuum occuring.There is a way of doing this by fitting a rigid tube through the lid, whilst remaining water tight,this tube makes a vent when the cannister is up turned.The outlet for your water needs to be a miniscule hole next to vacuum break.
I don't seem to be explaining this awfully well but if you cannot get what I mean please tell me and I'll try and rephrase it.

BrenJohn,
That's one of the things I tried last year which resulted in no water coming out. Because of the vacuum as explained above.
Sandy

Hmmm, am I missing something, how will a vacume occur in an open topped container as described?

Me being think is possibly the answer!

Jerry

How about trying a "wick syphon" = a piece of string from a water reservoir at a higher level to your plants, magically (capilary action) the water goes from the pot to the plants !
Trial and error will be required to get the flow correct.
Please report on your findings as I suspect we all will be away from our preciuos crops at some point.

Johnboy you are a bit wrong and a bit right. You obviously don't plug the whole of every hole up, you put things in the appertures that don't quite create a complete seal, this means that a tiny amount of air seaps in throught the surface of the soil into one of the tiny holes allowing water to seep out of one of the other holes. However, the wick method described earlier by Trevor sounds better, if your not on a hosepipe ban, B&Q sell a cheap auto water valve timer which connects to outside tap and then to micro pipes you could do a greenhouse for about twenty five quid, but you might not have a tap nearby.

Even if you get the dripbottles to work, they won't water anything for more than a day or two anyhow - three at the most.


Yours compotastically

Maybe it's worth having some sort of porous plug in the bottle mouth. the trouble about a single hole is it might get blocked with soil and nothing at all come out. Maybe a bit of capillary matting in the neck would work.
I got a pack of 20 inline drips and yards of tubing for under £ 4 from a local discount (Jaymart). The etceteras promised on the label weren't inside, maybe that's why it was so cheap.
Allan

Allan the tops in question have multiple holes, thats why some of em need blocking up, I wonder if you have seen the product in question?

Hi Jerry and Compo,
My posting was directed to Brenjohn who was going to use 4 Litre milk bottles. I assumed that you filled the cannister put the lid on with a hole in it and turned it upside down to allow the water to drip out you can then get into difficulties with a vacuum.
I was only referring to milk containers and no specific cannister designed to do the job.
Does this clarify it for both of you,

My view on the plastic spikes that fit into old plastic bottles is that they are more for taking the water well below ground, to avoid evaporation loss, than for slow release. That's certainly how I've used them with courgette and squash plants. For a selection of slow release water systems for greenhouses, ranging from cheap to expensive, try Two Wests & Elliott.