watering stakes

memart1 5/24/2012, 9:32 pm

I was at Harbor Freight today and found some little stakes for watering your plants. You screw them onto an empty 1 or 2 liter soda bottle that you have filled with water, then poke them in the ground by your plant so the water seeps out near the roots. Has anyone tried these? Do they work well? How about when they need to be refilled? I had been thinking of getting enough to put one in each block with my tomato plants.

mijejo 5/24/2012, 10:18 pm

I love the concept of these. However, I found that I had two problems using them in Mel's Mix. 1. Note that when the bottles are filled, they are heavy. MM is to soft to support the weight of a full bottle. They ended up sideways on the ground. 2. Most of my beds are 6" deep. The design for this contraption is for a deeper area. I think to work effectively, the growing medium should be deeper and more dense than MM.

squaredeal 5/24/2012, 10:48 pm

I used them extensively last year. I'm not sure I'll use them this year. It takes time to fill all those water bottles and if the holes get clogged then it takes a really long time for the water to come out. On the positive side, you water the roots, not leaves, which is great if you have Bt on cabbage or broccoli leaves (rain or regular watering washes it away and you have to put it back on). I don't have drip irrigation, so the slower watering speed is kind of nice, too - fill the bottles and walk away. Bottom line - they work for smaller sfg's or for limited situations.

**walshevak** 5/24/2012, 11:26 pm

farmervalerie used them last year.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t7281-tomato-tues-for-lower-south

Kay

**rowena___.** 5/25/2012, 10:39 am

i use water bottles but i skipped the spikes. i just poke holes in the lids and sink the bottles. the water stays cool because it is in the ground, and i can fill with compost tea if needed.

scroll down for a picture:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t11890-sfg-csa-idea

since posting this, i have tried a different method, which is putting slits in the bottoms of the bottles and sinking them with the tops up. that way i can fill the bottles without removing them from the garden.

i like the filling ease of the upright bottles but i like the rate of water release on the bottles that are upside down.

memart1 5/25/2012, 12:02 pm

Suppose you used upright bottles but instead of slits you put holes in the bottom with a small hot nail? I was concerned about removing the stakes to refill the bottles and then disturbing the plant roots when replacing the stakes. Upright bottles would not disturb the roots.

**rowena___.** 5/25/2012, 2:00 pm

memart1 wrote:Suppose you used upright bottles but instead of slits you put holes in the bottom with a small hot nail?

give it a try! if it doesn't work the way you like, no harm done.

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