How to save Water in Gardening

[shahwon]

Plants use 10-15% the rest goes as seepage.
In view of Water Scarcity, here is what I do

Take an empty pet bottle, make a small hole in the Cap and make a larger hole in the Bottom, fill it with water. Press the Bottle Head in the soil at 45 degree angle, it will start drip action, keeping the moist round the clock, in Flower pots. In Flower Beds keep a yard apart.

I ha done this when I went upcountry for week, on my return the plants were hale and heart.

I have received an appreciation from The Horticultural Association of USA

Baqar Shah
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[zaib]

thanks..its good trick to save water.

[zaib]

what will be the case in hot areas, i guess the water in bottle will vaporize in no time??? Any idea about that.

[Izhar]

This is an important area of gardening, I have been reading some material regarding drip irrigation and intent to install this system for my new house. Will discus more in future

Zaib, I have used the above described method in pots and it worked great for 8-9 days, depending on size of bottle used. I used 1.5 liter soft-drink bottle. My pot was 18" diameter cement made.

[msubzwari]

A company has a commercial product called EarthBox which is the best solution I have seen for water conservation.
http://store.earthbox.com/EarthBox-Cont ... roducts/5/

As it is the case usually, enthusiasts have come up with equally good DIY solutions. Google search for "DIY Earthbox" will give you loads of sites. Some of the links given below
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimat ... For-CHEAP/
http://encyclopediahydroponica.wordpres ... earth-box/

From our perspective, almost all solutions make use of plastic containers which are rather expansive here in Pakistan. So it is certainly not a "cost effective" solution but it fits the bill when primary concern is water conservation and time saving.

The Pet water bottle method on the other hand, is simple and effective.

[msubzwari]

what will be the case in hot areas, i guess the water in bottle will vaporize in no time??? Any idea about that.

Evaporation is very limited as there is only a small hole in the bottle cap.
The evaporated water condenses on the upper portion of the bottle and trickles back to the bottom portion when temperature goes down.

[khabbab]

There is another method of bottom watering in which gardeners put a thin piece of rope or any other absorbing material. Its first end is inside the pot from the bottom, directly attached with soil at the bottom. The other end outside the pot is directly into water. Pot will be placed in a wide tray and stones will be present between tray and the pot. I am trying to look for an illustration on the internet. If found i will share it here.

They have used double pot in this picture. It is not very costly solution if done correctly. But i am yet to implement it.


This is wick watering. http://hoovershybrids.blogspot.com/2010 ... ot-or.html
In rural areas, i have heard farmers using matka irrigation system as well.

[khabbab]

Izhar, how do you make a SMALL hole in the cap of the pet bottle. I made a hole with iron nail and it was not small enough.

[Izhar]

Khabbab bhai, same procedure i.e. hammering an iron nail through it, I used the nail used for shoes 1" long.

[tweedle2009]

I have an area that is 800 sq ft.How many bottles do I need to install ? Currently we are watering that area daily.