Over the past couple seasons i have realized one of my main issues at my outdoor spot is that my plants are lacking water and i end up backpacking in gallons of water just so my plants can make it through the season. Now each year i have been improving my methods and been having slight success. In the planning stages now for this years grow and i am trying to figure out a couple new ways to collect rainwater. One of my ideas is to stretch out a 5x7 tarp and have it collect rainwater into a 5 gal bucket. Another is to lay down a tarp on a hill and try to set it up so the runoff water would flow into a 5 gal bucket. My final idea was to dig a small trench and collect water during rain storms that way. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time in advance.
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Ideas for collecting rainwater
- Thread starter Jam3sb0ng
- Start date
TBH 5 gallons is not much. On a sunny day or windy day that moisture will not last long.
Check this thread out for some great ideas
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=88022
Check this thread out for some great ideas
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=88022
r2k
Member
Keep in mind that large surface area things like tarps can be easily spotted from the sky. Camo tarps might help, bright orange or blue is probably a bad idea.
If possible, it is better to collect water uphill from where you will use it. Water in the local area is great, but water that is uphill is mucho easier to move than downhill water. You can use drip line and battery operated timers and dripper tips to distribute water.
Anything the water touches will pick up sediment or dissolved salts. I'm thinking of leaves and dirt. They will be nutrients for any algae or other growths. Try to do your best to keep it clean and keep glop out of your reservoir.
Algae also needs light to grow well, so keep your reservoir protected. Many plastics are translucent to light, so they won't be good without some kind of blocking cover. If you can hold it up between your eyes and the sun and see any pin pricks or light coming through, it won't be good enough. If you keep light and nutrients out of your water, it should stay clear of algae.
Plan for plenty of reservoir capacity, more than you really think you need. 35 or 55 gallon food grade plastic barrels are really nice, but they tend to be blue. You could bury them in dirt to hide from the sky and keep light out of them. If you are really clever, you will bury them at the same depth so all tops are level. You can use a length of garden hose to set up a siphon from one barrel to the next. Go from the bottom of barrel #1 to the bottom of barrel #2. Once you get some water in barrel #1, you can suck water into the hose with your mouth, cap it with your thumb, and then put it to the bottom of barrel #2. As long as both ends stay submerged, the siphon works. There won't be much head pressure between the barrels so water won't move fast, but it will move. If one of your barrels is bigger, make sure your collector dumps water into the bigger barrel first. If you have more than two barrels, don't siphon them serially from barrel 1 to 2 to 3 to 4... Set them all up to siphon in and out of barrel #1 directly.
Sticking connectors and tees and dripper tips into drip line is a pain in the ass. The tubing is really stiff and putting barbed connectors into it is difficult. You can either dip the tube in hot water to soften it or you can chew it with your molars 3 or 4 times, twisting the tube a quarter turn each bite. Personally, I like to chew it.
If you use a tarp, it might be easier to drive four or eight stakes into the ground and tie the tarp loosely about one foot up on each. Put a large rock in the middle of the tarp and you now have a sloping collector. Attach the drain hose to the middle next to the rock and you have a system. You might want two or three collectors to increase volume. It all depends on your local rainfall amounts and the rate you use water.
-r2k
If possible, it is better to collect water uphill from where you will use it. Water in the local area is great, but water that is uphill is mucho easier to move than downhill water. You can use drip line and battery operated timers and dripper tips to distribute water.
Anything the water touches will pick up sediment or dissolved salts. I'm thinking of leaves and dirt. They will be nutrients for any algae or other growths. Try to do your best to keep it clean and keep glop out of your reservoir.
Algae also needs light to grow well, so keep your reservoir protected. Many plastics are translucent to light, so they won't be good without some kind of blocking cover. If you can hold it up between your eyes and the sun and see any pin pricks or light coming through, it won't be good enough. If you keep light and nutrients out of your water, it should stay clear of algae.
Plan for plenty of reservoir capacity, more than you really think you need. 35 or 55 gallon food grade plastic barrels are really nice, but they tend to be blue. You could bury them in dirt to hide from the sky and keep light out of them. If you are really clever, you will bury them at the same depth so all tops are level. You can use a length of garden hose to set up a siphon from one barrel to the next. Go from the bottom of barrel #1 to the bottom of barrel #2. Once you get some water in barrel #1, you can suck water into the hose with your mouth, cap it with your thumb, and then put it to the bottom of barrel #2. As long as both ends stay submerged, the siphon works. There won't be much head pressure between the barrels so water won't move fast, but it will move. If one of your barrels is bigger, make sure your collector dumps water into the bigger barrel first. If you have more than two barrels, don't siphon them serially from barrel 1 to 2 to 3 to 4... Set them all up to siphon in and out of barrel #1 directly.
Sticking connectors and tees and dripper tips into drip line is a pain in the ass. The tubing is really stiff and putting barbed connectors into it is difficult. You can either dip the tube in hot water to soften it or you can chew it with your molars 3 or 4 times, twisting the tube a quarter turn each bite. Personally, I like to chew it.
If you use a tarp, it might be easier to drive four or eight stakes into the ground and tie the tarp loosely about one foot up on each. Put a large rock in the middle of the tarp and you now have a sloping collector. Attach the drain hose to the middle next to the rock and you have a system. You might want two or three collectors to increase volume. It all depends on your local rainfall amounts and the rate you use water.
-r2k
Where im at an average rain storm
probly get 2 to 3 gallons
But ones i got have been dug for years now
so there full at the beginning of year
they do the trick for me
r2k
Member
A couple more things:
Try to keep all the dripper tips at about the same altitude, which means the plants all need to be about the same height. The higher your water source, the less important this is.
You can move a bunch of water through dripper line, as long as you have time to let it happen. You can put 2 gallon per hour dripper tips on each line and it really flows. You can branch the line at each plant and put two or three tips on each one to move more.
Drippers are supposed to work with about 10 or 15 psi minimum, but I have found they work with much less. You can do it with about 4 feet or less of head pressure, which is about 3 psi. Just make sure all dripper tips have the same vertical drop (more or less) from the water. Horizontal distance doesn't really matter once the siphon is set up.
If you siphon through drip line, you will also pull in bits of algae. This tends to clog the dripper tips with gunk and there is no way to clean it out. You can buy a REALLY simple filter at any pet store. Get a check valve for air lines from the aquarium department. It has a little rubber flapper thingy in it for the valve but it also has a small cotton ball inside that works as an algae filter. It only goes in the line one way (don't reverse it!). Cover it with black electrical tape to keep light out. Throw it away after one season to get rid of the gunk.
-r2k
Try to keep all the dripper tips at about the same altitude, which means the plants all need to be about the same height. The higher your water source, the less important this is.
You can move a bunch of water through dripper line, as long as you have time to let it happen. You can put 2 gallon per hour dripper tips on each line and it really flows. You can branch the line at each plant and put two or three tips on each one to move more.
Drippers are supposed to work with about 10 or 15 psi minimum, but I have found they work with much less. You can do it with about 4 feet or less of head pressure, which is about 3 psi. Just make sure all dripper tips have the same vertical drop (more or less) from the water. Horizontal distance doesn't really matter once the siphon is set up.
If you siphon through drip line, you will also pull in bits of algae. This tends to clog the dripper tips with gunk and there is no way to clean it out. You can buy a REALLY simple filter at any pet store. Get a check valve for air lines from the aquarium department. It has a little rubber flapper thingy in it for the valve but it also has a small cotton ball inside that works as an algae filter. It only goes in the line one way (don't reverse it!). Cover it with black electrical tape to keep light out. Throw it away after one season to get rid of the gunk.
-r2k
GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
How close are you to civilization? Reason I ask is because don't just think of a tarp as means to collect water and it might be seen .... realize on windy days it will make a lot of noise .... out in the bush a nonjnatural "flapping" sound will draw attention from hunters or hikes and near urban areas it might be masked a little with everyday noise but the potential to draw unwanted attention is higher.
There's no water sources remotely close? 1000' of poly tubing and a nice hand/foot pump can be had for cheap money and move lots of water.
Also 5 gallons ain't much ... I'm running (2) 50gal barrels and I'm not sure that will be enough during the August stretch.
Try water polymers to help maximize rain water with VERY minimal effort or look into sourcing leaf mold ... you can pack a lot into a duffle bag with you and it hold 400-500% water my volume so it will help hold a lot of water when compared to soil/peat around 65-80% water capacity depending on soil structure.
There's no water sources remotely close? 1000' of poly tubing and a nice hand/foot pump can be had for cheap money and move lots of water.
Also 5 gallons ain't much ... I'm running (2) 50gal barrels and I'm not sure that will be enough during the August stretch.
Try water polymers to help maximize rain water with VERY minimal effort or look into sourcing leaf mold ... you can pack a lot into a duffle bag with you and it hold 400-500% water my volume so it will help hold a lot of water when compared to soil/peat around 65-80% water capacity depending on soil structure.
Guyute54 - thanks for the link to the thread i have not read that one before. I going to try to use a couple of his ideas this season.
vostok - where my grow spot is at it would be extremly difficult to dig down much futher then 4 ft deep due to rocks and it isnt my land.
r2k - i was thinking of using camo tarps and i was gunna throw some bird netting on the tarps hoping it would hide it alittle better, i would not have thought about algae till it was too late thanks for heads up. i am going to try to get a 35 or 55 barrel out there now just to give me more options. A drip system might be just the thing i need to make everything overall easier.
GEMiNi GENETiCS - my spot isnt near any civilization, there is a water source(a pond) roughly a mile away i could try to siphon out of but i would have to make/buy some type of hand pump to extract the water from the pond
Thank you everyone for your posts, anyone know of any good hand pumps i could buy/make?
vostok - where my grow spot is at it would be extremly difficult to dig down much futher then 4 ft deep due to rocks and it isnt my land.
r2k - i was thinking of using camo tarps and i was gunna throw some bird netting on the tarps hoping it would hide it alittle better, i would not have thought about algae till it was too late thanks for heads up. i am going to try to get a 35 or 55 barrel out there now just to give me more options. A drip system might be just the thing i need to make everything overall easier.
GEMiNi GENETiCS - my spot isnt near any civilization, there is a water source(a pond) roughly a mile away i could try to siphon out of but i would have to make/buy some type of hand pump to extract the water from the pond
Thank you everyone for your posts, anyone know of any good hand pumps i could buy/make?
you could cut some poplar logs bout 4ft long drill 3/8in holes every 6in or so, soak it in water if its very dry, then bury it below your plant. The idea is that the log will saturate and hold moisture and the plants roots can grow into it and draw moisture from it. If the plants are on a slope a simple burm can help retain rain water runoff
r2k
Member
Northern Tool sells a drill pump for $19.95. Attach it to a cordless drill and you can move water in style. Take along a couple of extra charged battery packs for more fun. You can also google "hand crank water pump", I found something for $30. There are also syringe-type pumps for pulling water from a sump hole (or pond) for around $22 at this link:
http://www.wayfair.com/GTWaterProducts-Pumps-a-Lot-Water-Pump-Kit-WP25-L921-K~YLC1000.html?refid=GX50899361940-YLC1000&device=c&ptid=75697292220&gclid=CjwKEAjwotmoBRCc6LWd2ZnkuBYSJACyt2quCT7IOb1h4-Zy3vMiSH_sIbZOvjdEOk-x0wSBUDFFABoCTE_w_wcB
I happened to be out today and saw the check valve I mentioned. These make really good algae filters in quarter inch drip line. $1.99 retail for one.
-r2k
http://www.wayfair.com/GTWaterProducts-Pumps-a-Lot-Water-Pump-Kit-WP25-L921-K~YLC1000.html?refid=GX50899361940-YLC1000&device=c&ptid=75697292220&gclid=CjwKEAjwotmoBRCc6LWd2ZnkuBYSJACyt2quCT7IOb1h4-Zy3vMiSH_sIbZOvjdEOk-x0wSBUDFFABoCTE_w_wcB
I happened to be out today and saw the check valve I mentioned. These make really good algae filters in quarter inch drip line. $1.99 retail for one.
-r2k
Kygiacomo!!!
AppAlachiAn OutLaW
get ur self a water bladder. they have all different size's from 10 gallon through 1000 gallons+
