Over the last year I have researched how to irrigate my container garden on the deck. I have tried a number of products.
- The glass watering globes.
- Ceramic plant watering spikes.
- Slow leak plastic bottles.
- Decorative ceramic “plant nanny”.
Each of these products worked well. Some were very inexpensive to make, others were not so cheep to purchase. No matter what product I use on my deck I have to take into account that there is no real running water on the deck. All of the water must be brought to the location by hand.
With this in mind I have created a drip irrigation system that uses a ‘bag’ of water as the water source. The bag holds about 3 gallons of water, which is easy to bring in the jugs I have used for watering already.
The bag is set about 4 feet off the floor, and in the closet. The current set up is very temporary. The goal is to hang the bag from the back of the door of the closet on the deck.
Each of the window boxes have 3 drip points. Each of the 10 inch pots have one drip point. And the 18 inch flower-pot has 4 drip points.
This system has only been in place for 24 hours. I am still trying to feel out how often I need to water with it. The following pictures are of the different pots and the closet the water is in.
- Camp shower water bag being used as the systems water source
- connection from water bag to drip system
Total cost of this system has been $24.00. Putting it together has taken me about 3 hour total.