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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Beat the Drought with Drip Bucket Watering

Several people asked me about the ‘bucket watering’ I mentioned in my post about the drought this summer.  So I’ll share with everyone what I did to save my plants this summer.  I am using it on my small trees, shrubs, roses, and my tomato and pepper plants.
 
I bought 5 gallon buckets from Lowes (plus I had a bunch already at my house). 
 
I use the Lowes buckets in particular because their grey color blends in to the landscape better – unlike the hunter orange buckets from Home Depot! 
 
 
I drilled a single hole with a 5/64th  inch drill bit.  You want it small so it comes out slowly.  You’ll be surprised at how fast water comes out of even a small hole.
 
 
You put the hole in the bottom right above the inside bottom of the bucket.
 
Now make a little circle or mark at the hole so you can find it easily since you may have to clear it.  They are really hard to see because they are so small.
 
 
You then position the bucket next to the plant that needs the water.  Fill the bucket and fine adjust it so that the water comes out just at the base of the plant. 
 
In my tiny garden, I have only 2 tomato and 2 pepper plants.  They are planted so that one bucket can water 2 plants.  For these, I drilled two holes on opposite sides of the bucket.  It’s working well as I have some very happy plants.
 
If your plants are really behind on water, I suggest filling the bucket every day for 3 to 5 days.  After that you can probably water every other day, unless it is really miserable out – like in the triple digits.  If it is that hot, you might even need to water twice a day.
 
Before you fill your bucket each time, give it a shot of water to clean it out.  It doesn’t take much debris to block the small hole. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

4 comments:

  1. Before you buy buckets next time, check at your Whole Foods store to see if they'll give you any. They go through a ton of them.

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  2. Super great idea!!! Will have to do it next year!

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  3. Great idea! Thanks for sharing it! :)

    xoxo laurie

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