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water Need Tips to make lots of Nutrient water for watering

Tardis

Tardis

Aloha guys, 
 
I need your help once again.  Currently I have 2 separate 2 gallon watering buckets.  I give about a gallon per plant when I water.  I have 160 plants in my yard that need watering at different times (all in 5 gal or bigger containers).  
 
Now the mixing, filling, watering repeat is getting old.  Whats the best way to make a big batch of liquid nutriet mixed water and then fill these containers and then water my plants?  Looking to save time and effort and still feed my plants.
 
Ideas?
 
160 plants and you are just arriving at this issue?

ok i guess this is just like a fun garden then? i ask because for like 300 bucks you could buy a 100 gallon stock tank( big water tank for cattle horses), 100' hose, and a demand type diaphragm pump similar to what they use in boat and RV shower systems. basiically you open a valve and a pressure switch says to the pump, " hey man, i think someone wants water, i think you should turn on.".

you would just then need some sort of garden wand to put on your hose. depressing the wands valve would be the only manual action you need take.

but for a fun garden? idk if you want to swing that sort of cash.

you might consider a bag of control release fertilizer, or top dress fertilizer ... and a regular tap water driven drip irrigation kit? 150-200 bucks easy.
i cant really think of anything cheaper to be honest. 160 plants is alot... i hope you make something back to justify that hassle! good luck!
 
queequeg152 said:
160 plants and you are just arriving at this issue?

ok i guess this is just like a fun garden then? i ask because for like 300 bucks you could buy a 100 gallon stock tank( big water tank for cattle horses), 100' hose, and a demand type diaphragm pump similar to what they use in boat and RV shower systems. basiically you open a valve and a pressure switch says to the pump, " hey man, i think someone wants water, i think you should turn on.".

you would just then need some sort of garden wand to put on your hose. depressing the wands valve would be the only manual action you need take.

but for a fun garden? idk if you want to swing that sort of cash.

you might consider a bag of control release fertilizer, or top dress fertilizer ... and a regular tap water driven drip irrigation kit? 150-200 bucks easy.
i cant really think of anything cheaper to be honest. 160 plants is alot... i hope you make something back to justify that hassle! good luck!
Click to expand...
 
I am with quee on this one. Either get some old big barrel craiglist? put it in a high enough spot and mix it it all at once in it and then just hose it down to peppers or your buckets, pump might be optional. But i will go with  slow release fertilizer balls spread in the top soil of the plants and just water them down with a hose normally when needed. I bet it will have almost same result you have now and with the fraction of the current work you do.
 
Top dressing for sure would be the easiest. I used to do the liquid mix thang, back when I had a smaller garden. I still use liquid when the plants are small and I can bottom feed in a big tray. I mix dry fert garden tone when I pot up to 1gal size. I add a cup of garden tone fertilizer when I do final pot up (5+gal). Then I add every month a top dressing. It disolves in a few watering a.

Every few weeks I'll make a compost tea and add a cup or so to each container. It's not that bad. I quite like making tea. It makes me feel like a mad scientist. It's a part of gardening I enjoy. I have a 300gal tote, that I was going to use as a gravity fed system. I haven't found the need quite yet. You can't beat a top dressing and a water wand. It doesn't take long.

I'm no expert. I have found what works for me, in my climate. I also had to look at the cost of growing. I used to grow exclusively Super's. Now I grow a dozen Super's and a couple dozen favorite annuum's. I take a chance on super's in my zone, so I buy super's from other members here. You being in Hawaii, shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck and I hope my ramblings help.
 
I had this problem. 400 plants to fertilize and the plot is too far away from the house to mess with a drip system. I was using a 2 gallon watering can at first and it was back breaking. 55 gallon drum on a push cart of some sort. You can use a heavy duty trash can. Fill with water and ferts. Get yourself a submersible utility pump from Lowes or Home Depot. Make sure it's a decent one especially if using a long hose. Screw a garden hose onto the pump, drop it into the drum. Screw a spray wand on the other end and go to town. I tried using a heavy duty trashcan on wheels. One of those curbside deals. Water is too heavy when full to roll it around so I just wheel it to the garden and fill it there. I worked out how much to use by pumping into a 5 gallon bucket (had marks at each gallon) and timing it. With my pump it works out to around 5 secs per plant. Works great and I get feeding done quick
 
+1 ^ ^ ^what Scorched and others said^ ^ ^ Get a 55gal plastic drum preferably blue (less sun penetration than the white and less hot than the black) I would also add a 400gph pump and 5-6ft of black irrigation hose to circulate from bottom to top. Position the hose so it makes bubbles as it flows from above into lower water level. This will help to keep it fresh and oxygenated in between waterings, if you only use a portion at a time. If you can I would keep it stationary in the shadiest spot you have and just run a long (100ft? +) hose and keep a plywood lid on it, the less light, debri, and bugs the better. For a fairly cheap pump that's pretty dang reliable I recommend the Active Aqua pumps by hydrofarm. I've had the 400gph pumps last up to 2 years running 24/7 cept for cleaning time. Also a 800gph pump should be enuff for a hundred feet of 5/8" hose with less than 6-7ft of rise for watering.
 
just my dos pesos.   :cheers:
 
how in the hell do you move a filled 55 gallon drum? you must either be wicked strong, or you have a stupid huge cart... with like motorcycle sized tires.

55 gallons of water would weigh like 400+ lbs.
 
queequeg152 said:
how in the hell do you move a filled 55 gallon drum? you must either be wicked strong, or you have a stupid huge cart... with like motorcycle sized tires.

55 gallons of water would weigh like 400+ lbs.
Click to expand...
 
Pack elephant.
 
Water is roughly 8lbs a gallon, so yes around 440 lbs to move a 55gal barrel.  I am very new to this and just reading through forums while at work tonight, however instead of dragging a 55g drum around full of water.  Could you just run pvc out to put in a faucet then set up a 55g drum, run soaker hoses, put in a pump (something with a float preferred, like in a boat bilge), fill your 55g drum, kick on the bilge and it will auto turn off when it is done with the watering?
 
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