A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs The Frugal Gardening Forum Watering a garden

OK... so, I'm planning on having a plot (or 2, maybe 3[?]) @ our community garden & I'm wondering if anyone has ever (or does) sink some kind of container in the dirt near the plants (or puts the container in when planing the seed(s) so not to disturb the root system later) that you can fill up & it "waters slowly" to the roots. I'm thinking the plants (hopefully, pumpkin & watermelon) will do better if they can get a good long smaller drink, than a "water the surface & hope the water gets to the roots" drink.

My idea was to take big containers (the kind pretzel nuggets come in from Sam's Club or the like) & poke/drill smaller holes in them, burry them next to where the seeds/seedlings are. I'll fill them w/water every other day (hopefully) & the water will slowly leak to the roots for a constant slow drink. Maybe I'll even do it here in our garden & let the Boys fill the containers each or every other day.

What have others used? How did you put the container in the dirt? Any other suggestions/opinions are encouraged & welcome!

Thanks in advance - Sarah

Long live the frugal gardener!!

We have several 5 gallon buckets with small holes drilled in them, and we water our fruit trees with them. We set one by a tree, fill it, go to the next bucket, fill it, after we've filled a few buckets, it's time to move the first.
You could adjust to fit your needs by partially burying.

I'm planning to use tomato sauce cans to water tomatoes & peppers & to fertilize my fruit trees.

How big are these cans?

Where are you putting them?

Does each plant get it's own can?

How many holes do you punch in the can?

Where do you punch holes in the can?

Are you concerned about the cans rusting?


Thanks for answering these questions & throwing out other suggestions for me to consider to help w/the watering.