The Urban Homestead - "Water Wise Gardening"

[telemarker77]

You should never wear your shoes in your house and you should never step in your garden bed. i suppose if you have garden only shoes that you never take out to the filthy streets it 'might' be okay. modern drip systems are more efficient especially if they are moisture sense dripped.

[emsimoneable]

Hey there!

This looks like a wonderful idea. Do you know if it would be useful in container gardening as well, as long as the container was big enough? Also, would it work with plants that need a lot of room, like tomatoes?

Thanks!

[cayusecorral]

I want to set up this type of irrigation system. Where do I get Oya pots ? I have done a search online and can't find them

thanks

[jaybazuzi]

@cayusecorral If you can't find one, you could instead use a 1-gallon milk jug with small holes around the bottom.

[jaythestingray]

Very cool. I have never seen these before.

[ChenStyleJohn]

Neat! Thanks!

:-)

[hobieslug45]

capturing rain water with 24 55 gallon drums in fl. and drip tube systems . thinking about a shallow well .any web site I can go to for shallow well help. cant seem to find too much info. on this subject

[bopn]

also you can mulch the topsoil to stop moisture running away.

[emforty2]

they are raising our water rates in Los Angeles again

i'll be using gray water but i'll keep it secret...lol

[hobieslug45]

what is gray water

[emforty2]

any used water..for example from the sink but citites have laws that prohibits use of it as they want it back. lol..

they are now passing laws preventing people from organice gardening disguised as "food safety act"

[phrygian360]

if thats true that is crazy and scary. as far as trying to put a hold on personal gardening.

[fenderozzman]

water collected from rain, sink and shower water, etc.

[sfsalem]

It is very good idia and are any other information about this method of irrigation

[DP1066]

I think what your family is doing is awesome.

[SDShadowfax]

Thank you! Great idea-and an ancient one at that.

[scarygary76]

i might try this out, seems useful!

[scrumptiousvittles]

you would fill this once a...?

[DP1066]

Yeah this one is a cliff hanger. They will be right back after this short comercial break.

[jokertim777]

I distinctly heard "once a week."

Yours must have cut off sooner for some reason?

[phillaneseventhirty]

on avrage you would fill this one... is there a scale you could give as to aprox how big an area will diffirent size containers will cover?

[yunta51]

Videos are too short. I wish you would give more info about each technique.

[Raven144]

A better way is to plant a shade giving tree so the water does not evaporate as fast.

what ancient egyptians did was to dig long canals and plant near them like this --->

"---|__(canal)__/(plant in higher ground)\_

[dervaes]

Thanks for the comment, Raven. For vegetables that need/require sun, one can't plant a shade tree. The vegetables wouldn't grow. This method is an ancient form of drip irrigation. If you have to water you garden is this the most efficient way of doing it by delivering water directly to the roots.

[haremountain]

@dervaes Why dont you use hay. put it around the plant, it simulates the forests floor, keeping it moist and its keeps the weeds out

[ii386]

@haremountain Carbon rich material used as bedding needs nitrogen to decompose. Therefore, when you apply carbon rich materials (such as hay, straw, saw dust, etc), decomposition takes place by removing nitrogen from the soil resulting in nitrogen immobilization. It is better to mulch with fully decomposed compost instead, which is more stable.

[telemarker77]

@ii386

all you need to do is a add a layer of cow manure on top of the organic layer of leaves or straw or chicken manure and water it in well and it will make compost on the ground without removing nitrogen from the soil. spread the leaves then on top of them spread the manure and let it overwinter, or plant legumes into it to fix more nitrogen.

[ii386]

@telemarker77 Agreed, manure and hay would overcome the nitrogen immobilization. I was recommending compost as an onsite alternative rather than overwintering or purchasing manure or hay for mulch--compost is free and locally produced. I compost fall leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps and I have more than enough!

[montmike21]

You people sell plastic on your website..

Sheesh I feel the fool asking about non-plastic items..

Its OK though, I have cheaper outlets to buy what I was thinking about and asking about.

And you have opened my eyes.

Thank you.

[montmike21]

Now? I wonder if there is some sort of a larger storage container for me to use to supply the pots like you use? Other than plastic containers? Something that would hold the water other than leach it out until I can transfer it to my vegetables? You really woke me up to using plastic containers tonite! heh... There are other sources for containers out there. I wonder if old wine barrels or whiskey barrels would work? Let me know what you think please? thanks

[montmike21]

this is so cool!

My idea this year, for the first REAL year of my garden was to use plastic 5 gallon buckets.

What I have been doing was filling several (7) buckets with water and letting them sit overnite or for a few days. The water would be warmer than from a hose. But I am still getting the chemicals from the plastics used to make the buckets.. YUCK!

I am going to look for unglazed pots like you did.

[leelingwei]

useful! thanks!

[thatbiologygirl]

Nice, thanks for posting this!