In article ,
doofy wrote:

Frank Miles wrote:
On Wed, 28 Nov 2007, doofy wrote:

Anyone know of the feasibility of a drip irrigation system feeding out
of some 5 gallon buckets into some tubing?
If I get this community garden space, I only want to go to it once a
week because of the distance.
Do you think some 5 gallons buckets, maybe 3 feet off the ground,
could supply a weeks worth of water? Mostly, do you think the drip
mechanism would work without the city water pressure behind it?


Ahhh... I'll use these stupid "imperial" units.
1 5-gallon bucket, absolutely full, has 1155 in^3 of water. If you water
only 1/2" deep, that's barely over 4' square. As far as pressure... water
has a a density of 62.4 lb/ft^3. At an elevation of 2 ft, that's a
pressure
at ground level of ~125lb/fit^2, or less than 2psi. Enough for only the
leakiest of soaker hoses.

This may explain why you haven't seen more people doing this. You need
'way more buckets, and probably 'way more elevation.

Good luck!

-f

WEll, I wouldn't expect one bucket would be enough, but each bucket is
going to have the same pressure problems. And I don't expect to be
soaking the entire square footage of the garden, but just right at the
plant (drip system).

This is just right, but I have to order it from Australia:

http://www.wateringsystems.net/

Doffy, I don't know what kind of amenities you will have at your
community garden plot but they must have water. With water you may be
able to just run a host to a timer and, using simple drip irrigation,
accomplish your garden watering. If you can't get a dedicated hose you
may be able to set up a manifold of faucets from the water source and
implement the above approach.
I'm sure other gardeners will want to work with you on this because
schedules can change but watering needs don't. Nobody wants to be a
slave to their garden. Gardening is more fun when you want to, not when
you have to.
For gardening, the reservoirs from Australia seem like they may be very
expensive. If you were just watering a half dozen shrubs, then it would
probably be fine, but to water evenly a patch 20' x 10'would be one for
every four square feet would be fifty little reservoirs. One for every
eight feet would be twenty five reservoirs and the watering would
probably be very uneven.
Check out the site before you commit your self to, possibly, unnecessary
costs.

Good luck
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars