If you want to save money on your water bill, set up rain barrels. Rain water is free and far better for plants than municipal water. If you want to cut down on weeds, mulch. Usually the longer the hose, the less water pressure you get in the middle. Raise the drums up with cinder blocks, bricks, etc. The higher you go, the more water pressure you have.

It takes less than 1/4 inch of rain on an average sized house to fill two fifty five gallon drums to over flowing.

Gardens generally require one inch of water per week. There is no 100 percent method by which to figure out your soil's holding capacity because it depends not only on the weather temperatures and rainfall, but also on the quality of your soil and if you use mulch. If you have an ideal, loamy water retaining soil, and use 1-2 inches of mulch, you'll require less water than if your soil does not retain water well and you don't use mulch which will heat up your soil and evaporate more quickly. Have you studied your soil?

The best source for inexpensive containers are restaurants/food service establishments and Freecycle.org. You can likely find 50-80 gallon food safe plastic containers for as little at $5.00 if not free.

One inch of water on one square foot is about a half gallon of water.

Example:
10 x 50 feet = 500 square feet
500 square feet x .5 gallons = 250 gallons of water per week

The average rain barrel has a 55 gallon capacity

The main difference is between rain water and municipally treated water which many of us have. Rainwater is naturally 'soft' (unlike well water), neutral in pH, contains almost no dissolved minerals or salts, is free of chemical treatment such as chlorine, free from disinfection by-products, free from other chemicals found in city water as well as natural and man-made contaminants that cause staining, pipe corrosion or smell. It is a relatively reliable source of water for households. Rainwater collected and used on site can supplement or replace other sources of household water. And for those who have to pay for their water, rainwater is free.

'The difference is how far the raindrop travels before we drink it.' Without chemical treatment, drinking water can be healthier. It is as much as 100 times softer than well water, with lower mineral content and total suspended solids.

Think about water going down the sidewalk into the streets, then into the sewer.

'Being the universal solvent, water absorbs contaminants and minerals on its travels to the reservoir. While in residence in the reservoir, the water can come in contact with all kinds of foreign materials: oil, animal and human wastes, chemical and pharmaceutical wastes, organic compounds, industrial outflows, and trash. It is the job of the water treatment plant to remove harmful contaminants and to kill pathogens. Unfortunately, when chlorine is used for disinfection, it also degrades into disinfection by- products, notably trihalomethanes, which may pose health risks.'

Rainwater is good for plants because it is free of salts and other minerals that harm root growth. 'If you’re harvesting rainwater with rain barrels to use for watering your landscaping, the rainwater can help to improve the health of your gardens, lawns, and trees. Rain is a naturally soft water and devoid of minerals, chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals. For this reason, plants respond very well to rainwater. After all, it’s what plants in the wild thrive on.' It's easy for roots to absorb water without minerals and additives.

'Rainwater harvesting can reduce the volume of storm water, thereby lessening the impact on erosion and decreasing the load on storm sewers. Decreasing storm water volume also helps keep potential storm water pollutants, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and petroleum products, out of rivers and groundwater which is causing big problems in nearly all of our natural water systems.'

'Since the rain water is usually collected from the roofs of houses, it picks up very little contamination when it falls. You’ll of course want to keep your roof clean of debris and potential contaminants to maximize purity. The material your roof is made of is also important in how much contamination the water will carry (see Safe Rainwater Harvesting Catchments). The chemicals and hard water from many of our municipal water systems can produce an imbalance in the soil of your garden. Chemical fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, and drought can also disrupt the balance and harmony of the soil. This imbalance causes trees and plants to weaken and makes them more susceptible to disease.

Trees and plants have an efficient immune system that allows them to fend off diseases and other invaders as long as they have a healthy soil environment and aren't stressed by other factors such as drought. Trees and plants rely on fungus, bacteria, and nematodes to help them absorb the minerals and nutrients they need. Trees and plants depend on a fungal root system called mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae attaches itself to tree and plant root hairs and extends the root hair system.

Mycorrhizae uses some of the plant's energy, but provides the plant with minerals it can't otherwise absorb. In healthy soil, the mycorrhizae of one tree connects with mycorrhizae of other similar trees. When you look at your garden, visualize it as a vast interconnected community of trees, plants and tiny critters that live in the soil, all interacting and affecting each other. Thus, the type of water you use in your garden will affect the health of this intricate community.'

Rain Barrel Guide

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The Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater Harvesting

VIDEO: Rainwater Capture with a Rainbarrel

VIDEO: Rainwater Capture on a Greenhouse

(Download a free version of Quicktime to view videos.)

Here is a step-by-step account of how one person built a rainwater harvesting system to beat those hot Texas summers and kept their garden green.

I know these are tangents from your soaker hose question, but hopefully you'll find some info useful:

I don't know what kind of weeds you have or how extensive the problem is. But the key to getting rid of weeds and keeping an area weed free is planning far enough ahead and constant maintenance. I don't recommend Roundup, you don't need it.

Weed eating is a futile effort unless your taking out the roots as well. So long as the roots are still in the ground, most of your weeds will continue to come back. You need to completely eliminate the entire plant: top and bottom.

Depending on what "weeds" were in your soil, if you tilled, you most likely brought up dormant weed seeds that were too deep to sprout and broke up stems (crab grass for instance) into smaller pieces where the nodes still sprouted.

If tilling is the chosen method, then do so at least six weeks in advance, and preferably months in advance in order for the soil tilth to build back again as well as for dormant seeds to sprout so you can skim them to kill them as they come up. Do this a few times for a couple of weeks until they've subsided, then you're ready to plant.

Next you need to mulch and mulch well (2-3 inches). This will prevent further sprouting of weeds and prevent migrating wind born seeds from taking root in your soil. If you plant vegetable seeds, you can mulch with a thin layer of shredded leaves or grass clippings or compost or straw, etc. When the seedlings get 3-4 inches tall you can mulch at a greater thickness and more as they get larger.

If you want to go the newspaper route, try Freecycle.org and ask for newspaper. You might be pleasantly surprised. There's probably someone out there (like me) with plenty of newspaper to share, especially if it's going to good use and getting recycled. You can also call your local newspaper, tell them what you need it for and ask if they have any discards.

You need to do layers of 8-12 damp (soak them in a bucket of water first) sheet, then cover with soil. If you don't it will dry and fly away. But if you can cover with soil, or mulch, it would work. You can also try cardboard. Call local businesses for both. You can also try black plastic mulch, but it won't add organic matter to your soil.

The issue with straw are seeds which might sprout and cause problems. It works great, just make sure you know what you're getting:

When using hay or straw, you need to know your source and exactly what is in the bales.

Hay and Straw Glossary
A popular organic mulch, hay is commonly used to protect soil and plants from the elements, to line pathways, and to address various needs in the garden. What many people don't realize, however, is that various products are often labeled as "hay" at garden centers, but there are many different types of hay and straw that are commonly sold in bales. While they are easily confused, it's important for gardeners to become familiar with the differences.

Salt hay
Salt hay, or Spartina patens, is a grassy plant that grows in salt marshes and wetlands. MIt is useful for keeping weeds from growing in paths, preventing runoff, and keeping soil from turning into mud whenever it rains or the garden is watered. A layer of salt hay will keep soil moist and encourage worms to come to the surface, which will help to aerate the soil. It also makes an attractive path to walk on between garden rows. Salt hay is an ideal all-purpose mulch because its seeds won't grow away from salt water so it won't germinate in your garden.

Golden straw
What is commonly termed "Golden straw" is either oat straw, Avena, or wheat straw, Triticum. This straw is a by-product of the process of separating oat or wheat seeds from their stalks. Golden straw is often used as bedding in horse stalls; because there are no seeds, the horses won't eat it. This straw spreads nicely, and the lack of seeds means there is no risk of it germinating in your garden. It can be used in the same way as salt hay.

Wheat straw
An excellent choice for straw for use in the vegetable garden. Lay down six inches in height in the fall then direct sow seeds in the spring. No need to dig. There will be a handful of weak sprouts from seeds, just pull them out.

Feed hay
Just as its name implies, feed hay is used to feed livestock. Though inexpensive and plentiful, it is not a good choice for use in gardens because it is full of seeds. The main ingredient of feed hay is alfalfa, Medicago sativa. It also frequently contains flowers and seeds from many other plants and weeds such as clover and golden rod. These seeds are likely to germinate, resulting in a garden full of weeds rather than flowers and vegetables.

Soil Solarization is another technique you can use, using clear 6 mil plastic. It has been around for a long time. It's effective for those who have patience and can plan ahead. A drawback is that it kills beneficial organisms and bacteria in the soil.

What I do is lay roof shingles over any area where I want to create a bed. Within two weeks vegetation underneath is weak and pretty close to dead. I wait until the soil is crumbly underneath, sink my spade in and start hand sifting and pulling out everything then I crumble it back in the spot along with compost so it's light and airy and never walk on it again. Then I'll mulch with leaves and/or grass clippings. Usually the latter.

I don't do huge areas of space at a time. Literally just lay them on top of the grass and overlap them a bit so light doesn't get thru. After a couple of weeks and after a rain check to see if the soil is "friable" (soil crumbles in your hands). Length of time after a rain will depend on whether your soil is sandy, clay, etc. For me it can be 2-3 days in certain parts of the yard, 1 day in another area of the yard. When you lift the shingles, you'll see there is little to no grass and what you can see is yellow or white. Sink a spade in and lift up, then just get in there with your hands and fingers and take a chunk and pull out the roots. This works fabulously with bermuda grass because the main runner stem is in tact but the roots have died off so all you have to do is follow the runners. Sometimes they're 4 feet long. But they're soooo much easier to get out! Much less work than tilling and sifting.

Then crumble the soil lightly back into the spot with your fingers. As you crumble take out out any weed matter and into the compost pile they go. This is the best time to incorporate compost or any other soil amendments. Now don't walk on the area or you'll compact the soil.

I'll take out large rocks as well since we grow rocks around here. I've responded to "Wanted: Rocks" on freecycle.org a couple of times so now they're gone and have found use to fill holes under fences so dogs don't escape.

The problem with tilling bermuda grass is that when you do that, you create a lot of little pieces that are not easy to find and get out without a sifter. If one tiny piece with a node gets left behind, it'll take root and take off and you have the same problem all over again.

Soaker hoses are great it cuts your water usage in half. I have been using them for years.

You can't go more than 100' on soaker hose though. If you need to go longer than that buy a host manifold for example 1 hose in, 4 hoses out. That will keep the water pressure up.

Soaker hoses are low pressure to you might get away with barrels of water.

I bought the 500' roll from teh same guy on Ebay. i can tell you for a FACT that it is a MUCH better quality soaker hose than you get from a box store! i have both it and box store hoses in my garden and it will put out more water and suffer less damage than the box store hoses.

BTW, i ran the full 500' continuous without a problem at all.

my FIL uses 2 buckets for fertigation with his soakers, but hooks them to the hydrant for regular watering. i jsut feed mine from my well. i do use a bunch less water than with sprinklers, and see fewer weeds between rows.

Hey Dent

There is a post above called "New Irrigation Plan For Next Year". It deals with the same topic you are inquiring about here.

Micro/Drip irrigation is much easier to direct where you want your water, and how much water you want at a specific plant. It is longer-lasting, (UV resistant to 30 years) and infinitely more versatile. You have emitters to sprayers to choose from and how many gallons-per-hour they dispense.

Micro/Drip also waters ONLY where you want the water. Soaker hoses water the entire length of the hose! And EVERY soaker hose waters more volume nearer to the source, and less volume the further away.

I feel like an old ogre or something for disagreeing with so many fine gardeners, many of which I've learned much from.

It's just that our irrigation company (now retired) went through everything out there for 30 years and I'm tellin' ya', NOTHING can stand with the black-poly, Micro/Drip in any performance category. We threw away hundreds of soaker hoses over the years that were wrapped around dried dead plants. Whenever we came across an existing Micro/Drip system, we would maybe have some splices to make where an edger, shovel, or tree trimmer had cut the line, but NEVER replaced one.

I will admit, soaker is initially cheaper, and will take a little less time to install. Performance-wise, no contest.

Thanks for the responses to my questions.

I was thinking of getting the 1000 ft and cutting it in 3 sections.

I would then hook each section up to the 55 gal drums.

Drip irragation would be great but for a family with 5 kids it is no feasible right now. Also I do rotation planting so I would have to chage the setup every year.

Violet thanks for the post I already do rain water collection.
That is why I asked if they would work with a soaker hose.
I can't get enough pressure from them to run a sprinkler.

You will get pressure of about 0.43 psi for every foot of head (depth). If your barrel is 3 feet tall, the pressure when full will be about 0.43*3 = 1.29 psi. As the barrel empties, the pressure decreases until it approaches 0 psi near the bottom.

Usually the pressure from a home water supply needs to be reduced by a regulator or restrictor (little disc with a small hole inserted into the hose connector). The usual operating pressure is 10 or 12 psi, which is considerably lower than you will get from a barrel.

Elevating the barrel on a platform will increase the pressure at the rate of 0.43 psi for every foot of elevation. A platform 10 feet high would get you to within about half the recommended pressure, which might be sufficient if you used extra long watering times. But that puts the top of the barrel higher than your first floor gutters.

Pressure will be also depend on the length of the hose. The longer the hose, the more pressure is lost. Working with low pressure, I would recommend keeping the distance from the barrel to the end of the hoses short, well under 100 ft.

Another solution is to use a pump.

Jim

"The usual operating pressure is 10 or 12 psi, which is considerably lower than you will get from a barrel."

Oops. Make that:

"The usual operating pressure is 10 or 12 psi, which is considerably HIGHER than you will get from a barrel."

Jim

I just put 250' of soaker hose into my flower beds. I bought Colorite soaker hoses that have regular hose connectors and I connected 4 to a 4-way gang valve (two 75' lengths and two 50' lengths).

I had fun making a post for the 4-way gang walve to attach to. They are working great.

yardenman,

Would love to see pics if possible!