Choose Your Watering Containers Wisely

My Cup Poureth Over

Most folks use a hose to water the garden, while some folks prefer to use a watering bucket of some kind. It depends primarily on what watering methods you have available. It also depends on how mature your garden is. If you just have little seedlings barely starting to peek out of the ground, then you may want to desist from blasting them with a fire hose.

I prefer using a watering bucket as well as smaller clear glass containers. Now, granted, this is a little more work, but in my case time is less of an issue whereas getting extra sunshine (Vitamin D) and exercise is much more desirable.

There are several reasons why I like to use both types. Here are the reasons why I like to use the big plastic watering bucket for part of my watering:

• More volume - I can water much more with the larger watering bucket.
• It seems to be the best fit for the larger, more mature plants like tomatoes and peppers.
• It has a built in sprinkler spout for watering over blanketed plants like lettuce and arugula.

That being said, there are a few reasons why I also like the smaller bottles as well:

• They are glass vs plastic. (Since I use both, this makes a weaker argument in court.)
• The glass containers will warm up quicker than plastic if you leave them out in the sun prior to watering.
• The are F-F-F-F-FREEEEEEEEEE!  (Now, that's sustainable!)
• They are easier to handle for small children, whom you may be teaching.
• When you use glass, you have re-purposed the bottle that initially contained your vinegar, etc. (Less Carbon footprint, good job!)

Below is an example of a few of my glass watering bottles:

Displayed here are 4 used 16.9 ounce bottles of delicious Spectrum's Organic Balsamic Vinegar and a 32 ounce bottle the famously delicious Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar.

Notice that the bottle to the left has the little plastic topper so that the water will come out slowly, which takes longer, but will not damage tiny plants, like the very young arugula in the background. The bottle to the right has no plastic topper, so water will gush out more quickly. This is better if you need to put out a fire or if you are trying to finish up before your favorite show comes on, but you need to be careful with smaller plants. You can shake it back and forth a little to soften the blow.

There's no comparing the large bucket (left) the the little bottles.  Display next to the 2 gallon bucket are 4 16.9 ounce bottles (call it 2 quarts) and a 1 quart bottle (Bragg's). All 5 little bottles represents on three eighths of the big bucket.

Why would you ever use both? One thing to think about is when the kids want to help you in the garden. You use the big bucket, but then let them use a smaller bottle with a topper on it.  Try to find bottles small enough for them to get their hand around. The 32 oz bottle shown with no plastic topper might not be good for a really young child as they will have to two hand it, thus possibly obscuring their field of vision (partially) meaning that they might be over-watering smaller plants.

In conclusion: You need to consider which watering methods are best for you. Hopefully this short article wil have given you some helpful ideas. Also, every glass bottle or jar that you hold on to for plant watering represents one bottle that will not need to go visit a landfill. That's another reason to feel good inside.