If you have a large garden, you don't want to constantly run back and forth with the watering can. Fortunately, you can build a practical irrigation system yourself with little effort - all you need is a rain barrel and a standard garden hose. Thanks to the resulting drip irrigation, the beds are always well supplied with useful and ornamental plants, even during short absences.
How does irrigation with a rain barrel work without a pump?
An irrigation system without a pump can be implemented with an elevated rain barrel and a garden hose. By gravity, the water flows into the hose, whose holes release it directly to the plant roots.
Gravity replaces the pump
Many commercial systems work with small submersible pumps, as the water from the tank cannot reach the vegetable patch without pressure. However, if there is no power connection in the garden, such pumps cannot work - and solar-powered models are extremely unreliable, as they only pump when the sun is shining from the sky. Instead, you can also use gravity to transport the water to the beds all by itself. How it works? It's simple: you just have to bring the water container, in this case the rain barrel, to a higher level than the beds. To ensure there is enough pressure for irrigation, you should lift the barrel onto a platform between 50 and 100 centimeters high.
How to build a drip irrigation system yourself
For your self-built irrigation system, it is best to choose a larger rain barrel with at least 1000 to 1500 liters capacity, which has a connection for the garden hose in the lower area:
- Connect the hose there.
- Close the other end of the garden hose with a stopper.
- Now make holes in the hose where you want the water to flow out.
- This works well with a hammer and a nail.
- Position the hose so that its holes deliver water directly to the plant roots.
If the rain barrel does not have a connection for the hose, you can also hang the garden hose over the top edge into the water. In this case, just make sure that the hose opening is at the bottom and not bobbing somewhere in the middle or even high up on the edge of the barrel - if the water level drops, the opening is suddenly outside the water and the hose can't get any water transport more to the bed. Ideally, attach the end of the hose so that it cannot slip or even slip out.
Tip
For an irrigation system, you can use not only electricity-powered pumps, but also solar- or battery-powered pumps.
