Hi,

With the current weather conditions (in Melb) I've started saving empty
softdrink bottles to make those reservoirs / waterers for the trees in my
yard as their leaves have started to curl in the heat.

As I understand it all I need to do it cut the bottom off and drill a couple
of holes in the lid, then bury it neck down. How far down do you need to
bury it? So far I've made two. The first I filled and it emptied in a few
hours and since I refilled it has gone down about a centimetre in the past
two days. Is this the rate water is meant to empty from it? Is it blocked?
Can it get blocked?

Pixo

On Thu, 06 Feb 2003 22:23:28 GMT, "Pixo" wrote:

Hi,

With the current weather conditions (in Melb) I've started saving empty
softdrink bottles to make those reservoirs / waterers for the trees in my
yard as their leaves have started to curl in the heat.

As I understand it all I need to do it cut the bottom off and drill a couple
of holes in the lid, then bury it neck down. How far down do you need to
bury it? So far I've made two. The first I filled and it emptied in a few
hours and since I refilled it has gone down about a centimetre in the past
two days. Is this the rate water is meant to empty from it? Is it blocked?
Can it get blocked?

Pixo


I've been using a 2 litre bottle with a few pinholes in the bottom. I
fill it up and park it next to the plant I want watered, and it slowly
drains. This seems to be pretty good for deep watering of small to
medium plants (like my dwarf lemon tree). It's been so dry that
watering with a hose just causes the water to bounce off the surface
and run away.


Tom Elliott
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Hey look what I found!

Tom Elliott" wrote in message
news:3dc0c12c.24985437@news...
Well, looks like water restrictions are hitting melbourne soon. While
I realise this doesn't make a huge difference to me as I don't have a
lawn, and don't wash my car that often (I figure the dust layer acts
as an extra crash buffer). However, it seems that things will get
worse before they get better, so I'm making sure I have plenty of
water saving going on.

How safe is grey water to use on vegetables? My main source of this
will be the drain from the washing machine. Do the chemicals in the
detergents break down quickly? Should I alternate between garden beds
to spread it around?

I've also devised a gravity fed drip feed system for my vegies.
Nothing revolutionary, but it's probably worth sharing.

I use a plastic garden stake, to which I attach a 2 litre juice bottle
, upside down, about 1/2 a metre above the ground, From this I run
three plastic tubes, each with an adjustable dripper on the end, which
is positioned at the base of the plant. The drippers are about 60c
each.

I don't cut the whole base of the bottle off, leaving just a tiny bit
so that it remains as a lid, preventing debris getting into the lines
and causing a blockage.

Then, all that I have to do is top up the juice bottle with water, and
let it go. It takes about an hour to empty, and delivers the water
right to the base of the plant. So far, it seems to work well, and
it's a good candidate for grey water.

If anyone's interested enough to want more details, post a reply here
and I'll get some photos online.


Tom Elliott
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And this!

I mentioned in my last post that I had worked out a cheap and
efficient drip system for my garden, and some people expressed
interest in seeing pictures of it.

I posted a description of how it's made here.

http://members.optushome.com.au/tegm/garden/

Hopefully it's of interest! I'm thinking of extending this site to
encompass other water saving tips for gardeners, so anyone with good
ideas, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy gardening!

Tom.


Tom Elliott
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--
Wanda
aka Willow
The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances
garden gnome
http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow

~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~
Pixo wrote in message
...
Hi,

With the current weather conditions (in Melb) I've started saving empty
softdrink bottles to make those reservoirs / waterers for the trees in my
yard as their leaves have started to curl in the heat.

As I understand it all I need to do it cut the bottom off and drill a
couple
of holes in the lid, then bury it neck down. How far down do you need to
bury it? So far I've made two. The first I filled and it emptied in a
few
hours and since I refilled it has gone down about a centimetre in the past
two days. Is this the rate water is meant to empty from it? Is it
blocked?
Can it get blocked?

Pixo

"Tom Elliott" wrote in message
I've been using a 2 litre bottle with a few pinholes in the bottom. I
fill it up and park it next to the plant I want watered, and it slowly
drains. This seems to be pretty good for deep watering of small to
medium plants (like my dwarf lemon tree). It's been so dry that
watering with a hose just causes the water to bounce off the surface
and run away.


Tom Elliott

We've had that hydrophobic soil thing happening here too... I'm saving up
the big 3 litre juice bottles so I can have a row of them all down the
flower border beside our scrap of lawn. In my case it is not so much water
conservation that is the issue (our backyard is so tiny I could probably
water by hose twice a day without breaking the bank... I can stand in 1 spot
and reach it all with the hose! Here I am the watering system. ) but the
ability to go away a couple of days and not come back to fried flowers is
very tempting.

If it weren't for the garden terrorists (2 toddlers, our cat, the
neighbour's cats) I'd seriously be thinking about organising some chimney
pots or terracotta pipes to put around the juice bottles to make them look
pretty.

Nice bit of research there, Willow!

On Fri, 7 Feb 2003 20:39:49 +0800, "Willow"
wrote:

Hey look what I found!

Tom Elliott" wrote in message
news:3dc0c12c.24985437@news...
Well, looks like water restrictions are hitting melbourne soon. While



Tom Elliott
remove `mapsitna' from email address to reply by email.