Storing water onsite instead of using a hose and liquid feeding.

One of my greatest challenges to gardening performance is having a consistent routine. 

I recently tackled the watering for an isolated vegetable planter. An annoyance is the repetitive labour of rolling out hoses to water and apply liquid feed - I do it, but I could be using the time for something else. 

Instead of using a garden hose and manual liquid feeding, I explored storing the water next to the planter. By repurposing a 200-liter blue barrel, I streamlined the watering and feeding routine while reducing the total water used. The biggest negative is just how it looks, so I am considering options.

The planter concerned is located separately from other planters and irrigation sources. Previously, watering involved running a garden hose out to the planter, and standing there as I directed the hose. The crop is a small experiment in peanuts, so water requirements are light at 16 litres per plant per week to saturate the surrounding soil to 5 cm deep. Every week I apply one-half litre of liquid feed per plant.

My goals were to  

• Make the routine easier, by eliminating the hassle of using the garden hose. 
• Add the liquid feed into the stored water, reducing the total water consumed and time involved.
• Expand the total rainwater stored, increasing the buffer against drought.

System Components
The main components of this ‘solution’ are: the barrel itself, a 15 mm tank outlet, a basic inline tap connecting to a 13 mm irrigation hose which in turn supplies feedlines to the individual plants. All components were spares I already had, so no extra costs were involved.

Actual Experience
It’s been running for a couple of weeks now. The pattern which has evolved is

• I walk out to the planter
• I turn the tap on for a minute to deliver about 4 litres of heavily diluted liquid feed to each plant.
• I weed and tidy up the planter while this is happening, and then
• Turn the tap off.
• I do this twice per week.

At some point in time, I will have to top up the tank but this is still pending.

Benefits and Trade-offs

The desired improvements happened, with some minor surprises. The value of not man-handling a hose was much greater than I expected. Savings per watering were limited to that used in liquid feeding, (2 litres per week) and about 5 minutes. An unexpected benefit was not having to think about the liquid feeding – consistency was built in. The total time saved per year depends upon how often the tank has to be refilled, but if we say monthly for now, then it will eventually add up.

As for negatives, there was an issue of remembering to turn the tap off  - but practice has taken care of that. The main downside is the cosmetics - the barrel sticks out both due to colour and size. I hadn’t thought of this originally. I'll still need to run the hose out and to top up the liquid feed, but so far this is looking like a monthly task.

Conclusion

Overall, I like the efficiencies and extra water storage this method introduced. The cosmetic aspect needs attention - my gut feel is that this a case of how to make it work, not to abandon it entirely.