Water Conservation Gardening

Israel has spend decades researching the best ways to conserve water for crops ... and they use drip irrigation (cheap and easy to install .... you can buy the perforated hose for cheap) ... they have turned deserts into farms



I worked on a kibbutz when I was a student .... they also used polytunnels (the small plastic ones that are approx 1m high and have wire frames) .... you use a lot less water and is ideal for your vegetable growing


I'd be a bit reluctant to use bath water on plants if it were not filtered, ....soap, shampoo, hair conditioners etc may not be a good thing, (also bearing in mind that many people clean out the bath with strong chemicals that contain bleach)

but I'm just guessing

 

To save water with hanging baskets I use the two trug system. Two large trugs with bricks in the bottom to raise the basket from the bottom. One filled nearly to the top with water. Place basket in wet trug and leave to soak, once finished place into dry trug to drain. When enough water's collected in the dry trug I just top back up the wet trug.

Pros, all the water goes to the plant, uses a surprisingly small amount of water.

Cons; unsuitable for some for physical reasons, not ideal for double/totally under planted pots

 

I'm going to be able to divert the bathroom water into a water butt as the waste pipe exits through the wall and down. I reckon that if I cut the pipe 20cm above the butt and mount a hanging basket under it I should have a fairly effective filter. What to fill it with though? I'm wondering about filling it with charcoal. I also wonder if there will be any benefit to rigging up some kind of charcoal filter at the bottom that the drain tap will operate through - fill the bottom with charcoal with a layer of gravel on top of it maybe?

Below is a (useful) link regarding drought tolerant plants which may be relevant as the year progresses.................

http://www.themediterraneangardener.co.uk/drought-tolerant-plants/

 

I'm going to try to avoid having loads of things in pots. (I say this every year.....) And I'm chucking out the few hanging baskets that I have.

Try to avoid raising lots of small annuals that need a lot of water to keep them alive/get them going when planted out in June/July.

I need to plant out earlier when there is more chance of natural moisture.

On the allotment I'm considering covering the beds with plastic, then planting into holes cut into it - only really works for things like courgettes/squash that are already planted out quite big. For things that need direct sowing I think it's going to be best to sow early and hope things have germinated before the chance of a hot, dry spell in late April/May. Mulching over damp soil with layers of newspaper would be cheap and fairly quick to do. Best done on a damp day to make the newspaper stay down and not blow about.

I've already been using grey water from the house for years - mainly on ornamentals but it doesn't seem to do things any harm.

 

i have use bath water every year put in to water butts with some farm yard manure in a old sack and i have had no probs with it

 

What do you buy? Is it special stuff from the garden centre or a bit of screeding plastic, or something else?

 

It's called Mypex if you're googling it.

Wilkos sell a 2 x 6m sheet that's much heavier duty than the standard stuff for £8.98 and 75p/m2 http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/grow-your-own-products/wilko-mulch-sheet-2mx6m/invt/0299006/?htxt=0QylqvLN0H7Fw6pwG889H5XfSLbCgmw3xjdLq02Cuw81rJLjjEMbMTrxSs1s5qn+3AmBsAdeJoVc UDFJV+zZSg==

If you order it online this weekend and collect instore, there's a £5 off £50 order until 22nd March) here:

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/...scounts-offers-good-old-freebies.39667/page-2

I've just ordered six packs (have 4 already) to collect instore to get my £5 off. The pack weighs just under 1.8kg, so it's nearly 150g/m2 - check that out against stuff on ebay & Amazon.

I peg mine down with U shaped clips made from car boot sale fencing straining wire, will take some pics tommorow.

 

Here's some I used on an overgrown plot I brought back into use last spring. The ground was brushcut, rotavated several times, compost/manure added, and raked level to receive the mulch sheets. It was done (as I tend to do everything) in 4m wide beds to suit the width of mulch sheet I normally use:





Then the mulch sheet was laid. N.B. The 2nd pic was actually taken at the end of the growing season after the toms had finished (some of my straw on newspaper mulch in there as well):





And the sheets were lifted for the winter/crop rotation:




Heavy duty black polythene dpm also does the job, but being impervious rainwater will pond on top (unless you ridge the soil and have the hole in the furrows) making it extremely unpleasant if you kneel on it as all the water immediatly runs staright towards you:



And after lifting:




In addition to wire pegs (essential on my exposed plot), old car tyres can be used to both help hold down mulch and for planting stuff like marrows in that will receive some shelter until they scarmble out:



So no weeding, greatly reduced watering, plus I find everything planted through mulch grows better than in bare ground. Must try onions & leeks some time.

 

That additional warmth is one of the reason they grow better. Colin Randal of T&M was telling somebody last month that butternut squashes grow better through plastic mulch because of the warmth. But he didn't know that because it retains warmth you can get a frost on it before anywhere else. I sometimes see frost on my mulch sheets, but nowhere else on the plot.

I chuck loads of stable straw on my spuds to mulch them after they've been earthed up.

 

I heard on the radio that we've had less water in S/England than ayres rock (in a year) !??
Because I'm growing in pots I dont use a hose (much)..but I know some people nearby who will ignore the hose-ban...

 

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