If you have a greenhouse I’m sure the first issue you have is how to water and keep your plants well at all times. With the heat retained in a greenhouse your plants and pots will dry out within a day or two if additional water is not supplied. This lack of water leads first to plants wilting, secondly to ceasing of photosynthesis and then the slow death of the plant’s foliage and roots.
Watering your greenhouse plants can be worked a number of ways, and having the right irrigation setup will really reduce the amount of work that you will need to do into the future.
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- Watering Plants
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- Water Butt & Greenhouse
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- Different Water Butts
For a low cost solution to your watering woos, you should water your plants for a water butt It butt should be positioned as close as possible to your greenhouse. Many greenhouses have guttering and down pipes that will collect and channel water which you can harvest or store using a well positioned water butt.
This basic watering system means that you can have a constant supply of water coming off your greenhouse roof and filling your water butt. It is then a case of having a watering can to hand to apply water directly to your plants
A more elaborate watering system would involve a water pump set to a timer positioned inside your water butt. This water pump could be attached to a drip flow or over head irrigation system to rain water down onto your plants.
With water pump inside your water butt can create a suitable water pressure to pump the water through your irrigation system. Without a pump the pressure of water coming from your water butt would not be enough.
Water butts now coming in a range of shapes and sizes, with one to suit your individual watering needs and space. A 200 litre water butt is the standard and once full should provide enough water for your greenhouse for a number of weeks. Smaller water butts can be work well near a green house and in some cases a small bucket positioned on each of the four corners of your greenhouse can be used to harvest and store rainwater.
The water collected in water butts is known as grey water which effectively means recycled water. Recycled rain water is ideal for watering plants as it is not contaminated with fluorine or chloride. Also recycled rain water is at a suitable temperature for your plants. Lastly and quite importantly rainwater is free and with the upcoming water charges having a water butt in your garden will become a necessity. Water butts are easy to install and require no maintenance so are very much a no maintenance gardener’s friend. All you need is a bit of rain and that is something we will always be guaranteed.