Water water everywhere

[Harriet]

We all talk about our greenhouses (or other enclosures) keeping the rain off the cactus, the pH and additives we put in our water, and a little about storing the water. But I haven't seen (or I missed) a whole lot about how the water is delivered to the plants.

What do you use? Hose? Watering can? Fancy timed released drips? Are rain barrels the storage method of choice, or do most of us use city water or well water?

Do you water on a schedule? Or when the plants scream "I'm thirsty darn it"? (It is hard to tell when a cactus needs water!)

Do you have your plants separated by how often they need water as well as how much light they need?

I can think of many more watering questions, but I'll stop here. I will be very interested in hearing about how watering is handled in the many different environments we talk about here.

[CoronaCactus]

We generally use a hose with a shower head. (has like 1000 tiny holes) Keeping the water pressure very low to let it mostly just dribble out. But not in a clunky stream, enough pressure to still allow it to "shower".

When I have time or for those plants with wooly tops, I use a 2L soda bottle with a brass nipple screwed into the bottle cap and I attach a 16-18" piece of clear 1/4" tubing with a slash cut in the end. Since there is no air release, it flows slow and steady (with a little squeeze) and I water around the plant.

If you have regular rainfall, store it! Black trash cans make good storage bins. Take it a step further and add a sump pump and water right out of the trashcan.

I use a weekly water schedule, usually Sunday mornings. I don't separate for water needs, just skip those as I go. But I do separate for light.

As you spend more time with the plants you'll recognise when they look thirsty. Wrinkly stems, sulking, droopy leaves, etc. I use the "squeeze the charmin" method. I'll pinch the plant with my fingers and check to see how soft or turgid the plant is, from there it either gets watered or not or maybe just a sip.

All that said, keep in mind I'm in zone 10 on the doorstep of the Mojave desert.

[Harriet]

Thanks Darryl. I like the idea for the fuzzy plants. It is hard to avoid getting their tops wet when using a hose!

Florida weather and watering needs are so different from yours, I know I have to adjust. In the summer we have such high humidity that most of my plants get extra water by sucking it up from the air! My in-ground plants get hit by rain and irrigation so I never give them anything extra. (Thank goodness for good old sandy quick draining soil!) Our winters are a lot drier than the rest of the year and the plants seem to like as much water, or more, during the warmer spells in winter.

That being said, I'm still interested in any other delivery methods!

[CoronaCactus]

Yes, our conditions are pretty much night and day...but hopefully you can incorporate some of the ideas into your regime.

I don't think you had joined the forum when I wrote this, but it shows the 2L soda bottle.
http://www.cactiguide.com/article/?arti ... icle12.php

[daiv]

Harriet,
Since moving to MN, I try to use rainwater for watering. I did a post in "Cultivation" showing just how hard the water is at the greenhouse. I simply collect the water in a Rubbermaid tub and then "dip" it out with a watering can. I just pour on the water to make sure the soil is good and wet and them move to the next plant. Much water drains out through the bottom and down through the pea rock floor.

No watering schedule here. When the weather is warm and the plants are growing they get water whenever they dry out. As it cools down, I start to ease up and then stop completely sometime in September.

I don't arrange my plants based on water needs. This usually has more to do with pot size than anything. Bigger pots often don't need as much water as smaller ones.

[dustin0352]

Harriet most of the plants in me greenhouse I water from the bottom. Meaning I dip the pots in a bucket of stored rain water and let em soak. These are heavy waterings as all of the pot/soil get saturated, but I only do it when the plants are screaming for a drink. This method is however very time consuming (2-3 hours not icluding all the seedlings), but the watering lasts them for a good 1-2 weeks maybe more.

As for the cacti on the back porch you saw I just let mother nature water them. When we have back to back rain days for 5 or more days I might move em to the gh to dry out. As for times like now where its going on almost 2.5 weeks of no rain I just give em a drink with the watering can.

No schedule in my waterings, just water them when they tell me its time. And like daiv said no arrangment due to watering , mostly by pot size and by favorites lol. For water storage rain barrels are great if you have the $$ to get one. I just use kitty litter buckets lol. I might give darryls idea of the black trash can a try seems simple and cost efficient enough.

[fanaticactus]

Hi, Harriet. Since my collection is still split between NY & VT, it's difficult to give a definitive answer. In VT I left general instructions for my neighbor, who kindly agreed to water my kids in my absence: For the desert types, an ounce of water once a month for the smaller pots & three ounces for the larger pots (3"+). During the widely variable summers in VT, when I'm there with my full collection, I just go around with both a small plastic bottle and a watering can and ask myself "If I were this cactus, would I be thirsty now?" and water accordingly. I generally use tap water from the town, but would like to start collection rain water to use.

[Harriet]

Thanks guys. I'm leaning toward rainwater at some point, but worry about making life too easy for mosquitoes. There are mosquito larvicides available, has anyone used them, and does it harm the cactus?

[Tony]

I use a trash can that holds 20 gallons of city supplied water, to it I add 10 tsp of vinegar, 1/4 strength Schultz tomato fertilizer and deliver it with a sump pump and hose to water to all my potted plants. You can find these sump pumps at Home depot/Lowe's type places. If I could rely on rain to water everything all the time I would certainly use it, but I cant so I don't.
I have been using this method for two years now for everything from seedlings to very old mature plants and they are all growing better now than ever.



I have no no rhyme or reason to watering schedule or plant location. When I have time to water, I water. Usually every two weeks or so. Some get passed over if need be. Like summer dormant, winter growers wont get anything in the heat of summer, I'm still learning about some of them so those I watch very carefully to see if I can determine the best times to water so they don't split, grow out of shape or rot. Some are doomed no matter how hard I try.
I am fortunate that I have a multitude of places to grow plants. Full sun, part shade in the morning, part shade in the afternoon, full shade in the middle of the day. And different temperature zones to, like against a block wall as opposed to just out in the open. So i try and locate plants to best suit them and i will leave them in a place if they are truly happy or move them if they appear to need more or less sun. At this point I don't move to much around as i think most everything has found a happy spot, but years ago I was moving plants constantly throughout the year.

[hob]

rainwater is my preferred supply, i have a 200 litre storage tank to keep it in


it is automatically refilled every time it rains by a clever fitting that goes into the downpipe from the house roof, once the tank is full the water is automatically diverted back down the drainpipe.


for emergencies i have a 130 litre tank behind the shed that fills from the shed roof, i don't ever remember using it though..........with UK weather the main tank never runs out

for watering i use watering cans, a big one to move the water to the greenhouses, a one gallon one for accurate mixing of fertilizer and systemic insecticides and 2 small ones for watering (the bigger ones have a tendency to either deliver too much or wash the plants out of the pots)



i try to water about every two weeks, small pots in hot weather more often as they dry much quicker.

[gizmo]

harriet, in florida you should be able to obtain a little fish called Gambusia affinis, add a few of these to your rainwater collecting tanks & presto, no mozzies & no chemicals