wellington womble
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watering systemsAs my veg patch is a the far end of my extremely long (and very thin!) garden, I was going to get a permanent hose to run up the flower beds on the side to do the watering with (instead of having to put away our current birght yellow hose that usually runs up the path and has to be got out and put away all the time.)
However, having looked at prices of new hoses, I might as well just get a watering system. There seem to be two kinds - dripping things in pipes, and porus seep hoses.
Does anyone have any experience of either, and can give me some tips or pros and cons? At the moment I'm thinking of a drippy one for my pots, and a seep hose for the veg patch. It's only 3 3 x 1 metre beds close together, so it's not going to be wildly expensive (A birthday in march is a wonderful thing.....)
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mrutty
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Used both.
Leeky hose is great along the rows. Found that it 'waters' about 6" either side and doesn't use a lot of water.
The point watering stuff is great in baskets and greenhouses. The kids got me a new kit for the greenhouse which I'll fit in the next few weeks once the water butt runs out (unless it rains again) and the frosts have gone
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Bugs
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Do the drippy things run from the mains, or can you attach them to a water butt? Or both?
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wellington womble
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Drippy things definatly run from the mains or a water a butt. Seepy things, doesn't mention butts, but then I don't have one anyway. I keep meaning to get one, but they always seem ludricrously expensive.
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Treacodactyl
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If you water from the mains take care with the water regs. An outside tap should be fitted with a double check valve and this is desigend to stop dirty water flowing back into the house and mains supply. If the hose goes uphill then you should use another method to stop backflow as well. I've never been able to track one of these down.  If you connet the seep hose to a water butt and fill the butt with a hose this is one way of preventing backflow (as long as the hosepipe doesn't make contact with the water in the butt.)
Any plumbers know any more details about this?
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Deedee
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 Best watering system I found is my long suffering hubby..
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nettie
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My watering system is a cold bathtubfull and a watering can!
Do you think I could rig up a pond pump and hose to water my garden?
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Treacodactyl
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That sounds like a good idea, I've a small spare pump I might try in the summer.
I think they can get damaged if they run with no water. A cheap solar powered pump, now there's a thought... Or even a wind pump that doesn't use electricity. 
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wellington womble
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That all sounds awfully technical, Treacy. This is a one-woman job (and she's hopeless at DIY!) as himself isn't interested.
How 'bout I just disconnect it from the tap when I'm not watering?
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nettie
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| wellington womble wrote: | This is a one-woman job (and she's hopeless at DIY!)
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Hope you're not referring to me, WW! 
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Treacodactyl
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Will you be using an outside tap? If so, is it new? If not or if you don't know then you can buy a part that connects between the tap and the hose pipe (often called non-retun valve). They are about £15 so if you know anyone who can check your tap.
The purpose of these is to stop water from outside flowing back into your house and the mains. If the hose is on gently and you run a tap in the house then water from outside can be sucked in. You may end up with contaminated water in your drinking water.
It's always worth removing the hose from the tap when not in use.
Let me know if you need any other info. It is possible to tell if a tap has a check valve on it.
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jema
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I use a leaky hose from the mains, which terminates in a dustbin.
jema
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wellington womble
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| nettie wrote: | | wellington womble wrote: | | This is a one-woman job (and she's hopeless at DIY!) |
Hope you're not referring to me, WW! |
I was actually referring to me! Sorry if I offended you nettie, it was totally unintended.
I don't know if the tap itself is new. We had building work done about two years ago, when the cold tap (I think) was moved (and a hot one and a drain added, with a shower adapter for dog cleaning purposes. We still have to dry them, but the house is a lot cleaner. Sounds really pathetic, but life is a lot nicer for it!). I don't know if it was actually replaced though.
Havig said that, this is my veg patch. I won't be putting anything on it that I'm not prepared to consume (eventually!) It's going to be totally organic, and if something doesn't want to grow, then I'm not going to eat it!
I'll disconnect the tap hose when not actually in use. The plan is, when it needs watering (and only when) I'll connect and turn on the tap when we walk the dogs in the evening (about 9.30) and turn it off about 20 mins later. This should conserve water, and keep everything growing (I hope)
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judyofthewoods
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On the subject of butts, if you live in the country and have a farmer's merchant close by, you may be able to get 45 gal plastic barrels for about a tenner. The kind they have at my farmer's merchant used to have formic acid in them for silage, me thinks. Formic acid is the same thing as ants piss, I would think a good rinse would leave no toxic residues.
Another source of tanks - free!! if you have a food processing factory not too far, is the 1000 litre (about 200 gal.) tanks which contained liquid food aditives. I have a cheese factory close by, and they have a tank or two empty every week or so, and they contained rennet or food colouring. The tanks are roughly 1 metre square, though more long than high/wide, and come on a palet base in a metal cage. They are a bit heavy complete, but you can take the lot apart, and the individual bits are quite easy to manouvre.
For runing water through the garden to fixed outlets, try and price some alcathen pipe, which is quite cheap, but avoid Jewson, their prices for plumbing stuff is extotionate.
When using drip pipes or anything with small apartures, be careful about using grey water or stagnant water from butts, as the holes could quickly get slimed up. Perhaps filtering it through sand or such like first?
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nettie
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No offence taken, old bean, it just about sums me up really 
Hope the watering system works out, I have been pondering whether a good soak a couple of times a week is better than a sprinkle every day. I do the watering in the evenings but it gets a bit tedious running back and forth with the cans every day! I am on a meter though and using the bathwater has really kept the bills down.
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mrutty
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A good soak once a week is better than a sprinkle everyday. It encourages the roots to go down to seek water making the plants stronger.
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wellington womble
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OK, pots every day and soaker hose for the vege's once a week (Sundays, I expect!)
Never go to Jewsons for anything - they are horrendously expensive, even with trade discount. We mostly use a local guy, who unusually for a little guy against a big chain, is cheaper, although not surprisingly better service.
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judyofthewoods
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Yes, I am also lucky to have a family run agricultural ironmongers close by, who is actually cheaper than anyone around by a long shot, its one of a dying breed of old fashioned ironmongers, where you can buy nails by the pound, a single nut and bolt without ten times its weight in packaging.
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Treacodactyl
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| wellington womble wrote: | | Never go to Jewsons for anything - they are horrendously expensive, even with trade discount. We mostly use a local guy, who unusually for a little guy against a big chain, is cheaper, although not surprisingly better service. |
Yes, some of the prices are very high in Builders merchants and the discounts regular people get can be vast. Sometimes you seem to get them and sometimes you don't.
Now I go in in dirty clothes, take my belt out of my trousers so they're falling down and stick a copy of the Sun on my car dash.
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wellington womble
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do you do that backwards whistle and shake your head when they tell you how much. I reckon that gets you at least 20 percent off on its own!
Himself reckons they teach this at plumbing school, along with things like 'it's gonna cost you, guv'nor'
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