Drip irrigation for tomatoes

[morgs]

Hi all

First year for growing tomatoes in my own greenhouse and I'm no expert.

I have installed drip irrigation (£10 less than half price from B & Q at the moment) to my container tomato, pepper & cucumber plants because I can't get to water them at weekends.

I have it attached to a water butt which is dripping water to about 25 plants. At first I thought it would not be enough water but I have discovered that the water is seeping through some of the pots and onto the greenhouse base. I'm now concerned that I may be supplying too much water. I have no timer so it drips 24/7.

Can anyone give any advice as to whether I need to restrict the dripping time or is it Ok to continue as I am.

Thanks.

[marathon]

You can buy timers that can work with a drip irrigation system from a waterbutt.

What I do is put a dripper in a pot and see how much it drips over 24hr so you can see how much water your crops are actually getting.

My solar pump has a built in timer but I'm sure B&Q do a battery timer

[Farmer_Gyles]

i have a similar drip-feed system set up in my greenhouse - the compost in my pots is moist at the top around the dripper, almost dry around the edge of the pots - no idea if the bottom of the pots are even damp, not checked

the slimline water butt feeds 9 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, about 5 peppers and takes about 20 hours to empty, so it's a pretty slow dripping system - most tomato pots have 2 drippers in each

what i do know is that the plants are all growing and all look healthy at the moment, so guessing it's ok for now - i can add more drippers if it looks like getting too dry

was also told on here that "you can't overwater tomatoes" - although i'd say if the compost was sludgy / sloppy, it wouldn't be too good - maybe partially closing the tap on the water butt will slow the flow a bit?

[morgs]

Thanks for the replies, some useful tips in both. I thought that maybe only half filling the water butt would mean less pressure hence less drip. I honestly never thought of half closing the tap. brilliant. I'll also try filling an empty container with a drip to see how much is being used.

I only have one drip in each plant and they do look healthy, but have only used it for three or four days

[RickinDarwen]

I thought about setting something like this up but read elsewhere that constantly moist soil hampers strong root growth.
Let us know how you get on.

[djhs196]

Hey,

My concern would be overwatering the toms and then finding the fruit to be watery and a bit on the tasteless side. I put in a drip system last year, and found this to be the case - I cut back on the watering and the taste improved, but it was already late in the season and the fruit just wasn't as good as previous years. I'm going to be a little more concervative this time

[Farmer_Gyles]

read elsewhere that constantly moist soil hampers strong root growth.

i read in an old growing book that the trick for good roots is potting on - start the seeds in small pots (ie 24 cell trays), then pot on to 3.5" then 5" then final 9" pots - the roots grow all round the bottom of the cell/pot etc - when you pot on, you give the roots room all round to grow and develop and you end up with a strong root ball that can pick up water from anywhere in the 9" pot - it won't matter too much if the compost is then constantly moist or not

(i'm no expert but this works for me!)

[COMPOST CORNER]

I use a couple of the Big Drippa bags in my 6x6 GH, seems to work, the bag needs topping up once a day (before I go to work) Six drippers off each bag, 10.5 litre capacity.

[NOG]

When I go on holiday I connect my water butt (21 litre) to my drippers. It lasts all week. One dripper per pot and they seem ok. It stays on 24hrs a day.

[Two_Sheds]

I've just set up some little gadgets that I got in a Singapore garden centre (get me!).

I was sceptical, but they really work, and keep the compost moist not wet. The toms are drinking a litre of water each a day at the mo. It's also good for the containers that I can't reach right at the back of the patio.

You put the cone into the soil, and the coiled mini-pipe into a bottle of water, and the cone sucks the water up

[jonohanson]

I bought the one from B&Q too, upto now it seems great, no clogged drippers and means I dont have to pop to the plot every night to water. Well worth the tenner I paid, might have to see if they have any more left.

[Pieman]

Looking for a solar pump (cheap) to do the same - all my cu's and ground toms are being dripped on but not anything up high.......(see the other thread) about solar pumps....

[RickinDarwen]

I bought a couple from this seller,
BRILLIANT BIG DRIPPA GROWBAG/GREENHOUSE WATERING KIT! on eBay (end time 22-Aug-09 18:08:09 BST)
Under a tenner uncluding delivery and arrived quickly.

Watering the blighters (probably not a good turn of phrase!) was becoming a chore.