Advice Needed On Diy Reservoir

[nath]

Hey guys, brand new grower here.

Well my outdoor ladies are needing quite a bit of water as they grow and I'm getting pretty tired of mixing up 5 gallon jugs inside every other day. I have a 50 gallon rain water collection barrel laying around the yard. Looks like this except I did not pay $150 for mine!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Upcycle-50-Gallon-Terra-Cotta-Rain-Barrel/17626896

If I clean that out with a diluted bleach mixture can I use it? It will be kept outside. The top has a screw off cap with a piece of window screen on it so rain water can enter but debris can't get in. Should I seal that up with some plastic and silicone or something?

I'm wondering, does the water inside need to "breathe" at all or can it just be kept pretty well sealed? If I put 50 gallons of water in that tank, add nutrients and ph balance, am I just good to go after that or will the PH change? Will the nutrients sink and give me a more potent solution initially? Any tips would be appreciated, I do not know what I'm doing. Thanks!

 

[RR1]

Hey guys, brand new grower here.

Well my outdoor ladies are needing quite a bit of water as they grow and I'm getting pretty tired of mixing up 5 gallon jugs inside every other day. I have a 50 gallon rain water collection barrel laying around the yard. Looks like this except I did not pay $150 for mine!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Upcycle-50-Gallon-Terra-Cotta-Rain-Barrel/17626896

If I clean that out with a diluted bleach mixture can I use it? It will be kept outside. The top has a screw off cap with a piece of window screen on it so rain water can enter but debris can't get in. Should I seal that up with some plastic and silicone or something?

I'm wondering, does the water inside need to "breathe" at all or can it just be kept pretty well sealed? If I put 50 gallons of water in that tank, add nutrients and ph balance, am I just good to go after that or will the PH change? Will the nutrients sink and give me a more potent solution initially? Any tips would be appreciated, I do not know what I'm doing. Thanks!

You at least need to keep the water well aerated, and adjust before you use it. But that’s minor. Think it through, should work.

 

[Enforcer]

If you’re going to keep it outside, I would worry about heat in the summer. Water temps above 72* will lead to problems.

The PH will swing over time, so you will need to keep an eye on it.

The solution needs to be aerated with a bubbler. So you can’t really “seal” the res.

With all that being said, if you keep the temps in check, monitor PH daily and aerate the solution, you could go about two weeks before needing to dump whatever is left and mix up a new batch.

 

[Mr.jiujitsu]

I have fumbled with this issue yearly. When you have to hand water 50+ plants and have to transport water to them, in buckets it really sucks. To be honest I really have not devolved a good solution. I hand dig a well, like I fucking hand dug a 6 foot well and it worked great until it gets hot and the water table drops. I have used wagons (currently tractor depot has some decent ones with handles that convert between manual pull and lawn tractor) to move bulk water. I have used a 55 gal plastic drum filled with gravity feed droppers (so much work to move the barrel and suspend it in the air for only two days worth of water). My next step is to run gravity feed from a small water source in underground tubing to my hand dug well..... if I ever have time. You can always (depending on how far the site is) dug a small trench and shove a hose in it, so you can use that and it’s not easily seen.

 

[nath]

I hand dig a well, like I fucking hand dug a 6 foot well and it worked great until it gets hot and the water table drops.

Haha man that's both hilarious and terrible.

My tap water is about 6.5. really makes me wonder if I shouldn't try super soil and straight tap water? I wonder how contaminated our tap really is. I know the chlorine is a problem but I've also heard of some growers letting tap water sit for awhile as a means of getting rid of it?

I don't know. How bad do you guys think tap water is if the pH is right?

 

[Mr.jiujitsu]

Haha man that's both hilarious and terrible.

My tap water is about 6.5. really makes me wonder if I shouldn't try super soil and straight tap water? I wonder how contaminated our tap really is. I know the chlorine is a problem but I've also heard of some growers letting tap water sit for awhile as a means of getting rid of it?

I don't know. How bad do you guys think tap water is if the pH is right?

Depends on the source of your tap water. Mine is a deep well, so I have minerals but no toxins or additives. I used to grow coral as a hobby, and found during my time researching that many municipalities use bleach often when doing sanitation’s and cleaning. So depending on where you are it could change a bit Day to day. If I had Cory water I would do RO, as it is my nutrient and water mix is betweeen 6 and 6.5 and now that I stopped tweaking the ph (due to a faulty meter) everything has settled out nicely

 

[Dbear180]

I used a 35 gallon trashcan elevated on pallets before to gravity feed through pvc. Was a lot faster to dump four 5 gallon buckets in there & let it drip to everyone rather than try to water individually. I watered every day & never let water set in it, worked great especially the being faster that way part.

 

[nath]

Yeah I'm on city water and there are definitely bad chemicals in there. I have a very good filter in our house for our drinking water but the filters cost $100 every 500 gallons. Not sure if there's a cheaper option, I'll have to do some research.

 

[DGP]

I have fumbled with this issue yearly. When you have to hand water 50+ plants and have to transport water to them, in buckets it really sucks. To be honest I really have not devolved a good solution. I hand dig a well, like I fucking hand dug a 6 foot well and it worked great until it gets hot and the water table drops. I have used wagons (currently tractor depot has some decent ones with handles that convert between manual pull and lawn tractor) to move bulk water. I have used a 55 gal plastic drum filled with gravity feed droppers (so much work to move the barrel and suspend it in the air for only two days worth of water). My next step is to run gravity feed from a small water source in underground tubing to my hand dug well..... if I ever have time. You can always (depending on how far the site is) dug a small trench and shove a hose in it, so you can use that and it’s not easily seen.

Why not throw a pump in that barrel, hook it up to a garden hose and a shut off valve and just water away?

Dee

 

[Mr.jiujitsu]

Why not throw a pump in that barrel, hook it up to a garden hose and a shut off valve and just water away?

Dee

No power at garden site. Haven’t had the time or motivation to set up solar lol

 

[G gnome]

No power at garden site. Haven’t had the time or motivation to set up solar lol

Get a lil honda generator

 

[Mr.jiujitsu]

Get a lil honda generator

So power aside from a few solar panels are not an option. I have looked at the electric battery powered drill pumps and have one sitting around that I have yet to try

 

[SharkLasko]

Get an RO water filter installed on your sink, then get a big water pump for like 50 bucks. Fill your sink up, put water pump into sink and pump that water through a superlong hose to your garden. I use that method to empty my pool with 100ft of hose, works great.

 

[Mr.jiujitsu]

Get an RO water filter installed on your sink, then get a big water pump for like 50 bucks. Fill your sink up, put water pump into sink and pump that water through a superlong hose to your garden. I use that method to empty my pool with 100ft of hose, works great.

How much for half mile of hose? Hahahha not gonna work

 

[jumpincactus]

Haha man that's both hilarious and terrible.

My tap water is about 6.5. really makes me wonder if I shouldn't try super soil and straight tap water? I wonder how contaminated our tap really is. I know the chlorine is a problem but I've also heard of some growers letting tap water sit for awhile as a means of getting rid of it?

I don't know. How bad do you guys think tap water is if the pH is right?

A bit of advice, are you sure your water is treated with chlorine? more and more municipalities are switching from chlorine to chloramine. That being said the reason I ask is with chlorine it will outgas as it sits out over night. But chloramine is a different chemical compound and doesn't gas off like chlorine.