Rain water?

[garylee]

I would never use it out of the gutter because your roof (depending on what it is made of) has all kinds of bad things in it. That's why they last for 30 years. Maybe if I had a shake or wood shingle roof I would. If you guys aren't having problems then obviously I am just being to anal about it.
As far as rainwater being caught in clean Tupperware containers then I do that all the time. The air we breathe is about approximately 79% Nitrogen (N) and that is one of the reasons that after the rain all the outdoor plants get real green and the weeds grow like crazy. All part of the master plan like when there is a forest fire the following season has the most growth because of all the wood ash and charcoal that washes into the soil causes it.
Somebody had it going on when they set up the earths grow system.

 

[Worldwarweed]

Hey everyone, I have an idea for a device for watering outdoor plants using rainwater that you all may be interested in hearing about. I have recently applied for a patent on it , and this is the first place I decided to talk about it, since it seems to be the best thread about using rainwater for growing that I could find
Imagine if you could take buckets of water , and just throw it on your plants, and it magically came down in the form of droplets similar to how rainwater does. Well ,this is essentially what my device will do for watering plants .
So all that has to be doen is to have some large trays for example 4x4 feet ,with a capacity of about 20 gallons of water,so it isnt too difficult to handle for one person. Larger ones could be made for larger gardens where two people would use it. This tray would have legs under it which would be adjustable and maybe about 4 or 5 feet high . You could move the tray from the rainwater barrel to the garden after you fill it with water using a cart, or it could even have wheels on the legs . When you get it to the garden you would put the tray over the plants that need watering, and adjust the legs so that the tray is perfectly flat . To release the water from the tray there would be a sheet of plastic on the bottom of the tray which would be removed, and then the water would fall through the holes ithat are on the bottom of the tray. I believe that watering the leaves probably helps them as well, since they also need water,and this is the way it is with Mother Nature when it rains.
For feeding the plants with nutrients a slightly different approach could be used since you don’t want to get nutrients all over the leaves and burn them . In this case narrower trays could be used. They could be placed much lower to the ground , between the rows of plants assuming the are planted in rows . of course. Once people start to see how well this system works, they would likely to be sure that they do plant their plants in rows for easy access for the trays.
I hope you all like this idea since it would make your job of watering your plants much easier since you dont have to hold little pots of wtaer over the soil for however long it takes you,and will help ensure that you get water to the soil as evenly as possible ,since it mimicks rainwater closer to anything out there that I am aware of .

 

[Mouser]

I capture it from the guuter, store it in 2 50 gallon garbage cans. I have never had a problem with it, always @ 7.1 -7.0 ph..I switched from RO & the girls LOVE it! I dont filter, though I do screen the top with a pool screen. Keep light from it while storing & all is good.

Last year had troubles with tap water , which was very high in PH ( over 8.5) so this year switched to growing weed in the green house with rainwater captured in a barrel from my gutter system on the house.
What a HUGE difference. Only thing is the water is quite cold and needs to be warmed a bit before watering the plants. Its been a very cold, rainy JUNE in this part of the world ( central BC) so water really never heats up enough in the green house.

 

[Galvatron]

One thing to consider when using rain water on potted plants is that it has no alkalinity. (Same as distilled or R.O.) Over time it could cause the soil pH to drop even if the pH is adjusted. It can be buffered by treating it with calcium carbonate. Alkalinity is different from pH. Hanna makes a nice digital alkalinity meter (HI 775) if you are interested.

Freshwater Alkalinity Colorimeter – Checker® HC HI775

The HI775 Checker®HC (Handheld Colorimeter) provides a simple, accurate and cost-effective way to measure alkalinity.

www.hannainst.com

 

[oldskol4evr]

Last year had troubles with tap water , which was very high in PH ( over 8.5) so this year switched to growing weed in the green house with rainwater captured in a barrel from my gutter system on the house.
What a HUGE difference. Only thing is the water is quite cold and needs to be warmed a bit before watering the plants. Its been a very cold, rainy JUNE in this part of the world ( central BC) so water really never heats up enough in the green house.

you should feel lucky,with the cool water you dont have to worry about mosquito larva,i collect and 2 days later there just swimming around in there,so when i do catch a barrel full i run my air pump on it to keep them out.
if it stays that cool maybe a manifold built to lay on ground and let inside green house temps keep it at thermal temps,just a simple as a pipe surrounding the edge of house laying in the ground