A little drought tip from a home garden

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Here's a water conservation method I learned from a Chinese gardener. Take an empty bottle, such as a wine bottle. Fill it with water, turn it upside-down and shove it into the dirt a few inches away from the stalk of your plant. This will work as a drip water system for several days.

In the Gardener's Eden catalogue they sell plastic spikes that go on 2 liter bottles that do the same thing. You can check their website. The recycled wine bottles are more durable, and free.

-- flora (***@__._), August 07, 1999

Answers

Another thing you can do is take a gallon milk jug, fill it with water, put the lid back on it, and poke a tiny hole in the bottom with a pin. Set it next to your plant. It will drip drip drip nice and slow.

-- mommacares (harringtondesignX@earthlink.net), August 07, 1999.

Those are useful tips..which are much appreciated.

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), August 07, 1999.

very much appreciated. And the little hole in the milk jug isn't going to run water out as you carry it from the hand pump to the garden. Neat...thanks for the tip.

Taz...who will begin immediately saving milk jugs.

-- Taz (Tassie@aol.com), August 07, 1999.


I bought some of those spikes from Gardenerssupply.com about three years ago--work beautifully as advertised! I also carefully cut little holes in the soda bottles at the top (really the bottom, but they're upended) and plugged them with plastic cheap champagne stoppers! I just fill them with the hose then plug them up so debris and bugs don't get in. Handy for liquid fertilizers too.

Using the milk jugs, fasten a piece of thin bamboo stake to the handles so you can stick them in the ground, otherwise they blow all over when empty. In addition, you can make a square of filled jugs (bo holes) to put around young plants when late frosts threaten in the spring--insulate plants like Wall-o-Waters!

When stuff goes on sale (soon!), I shall buy a soaker hose for my important patches of gardening. I'm tired of going out there in 105-115 indices to water plants! My water barrels have threaded whatsits so I can attach a soaker hose directly to the barrels.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 08, 1999.


I planted my corn, beans, broccoli, etc, with about 16"-24" between rows, and planted squash among everything. I watered once in July, once in Aug. The squash seems to act like a shade & mulch, keeping the ground from drying too much. Neighbors gardens are wilted or dead, even with daily watering. Mine is a huge green mess, with squash climbing over everything, but it's alive & thriving.

Dusty

-- Dusty (dustyg@indy.net), August 11, 1999.



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