Hosepipe ban.........So when I go on holiday my plants are going to die, great!

s4lvatore

Hi everyone.

With yesterdays announcement on hosepipe bans I am wondering wether to even bother bother growing any veg this year.

I do most of my groing in pots and when I go on holiday I lay a soaker hose over the pots and set a timer for 5 minutes per day to give them enough water. This has worked fantastically well over the last coupe of years and was going to use it again this year.

Been looking online at what is restricted and apparently irrigation systems are restricted too. Well thats put a spanner in the works and there is no way my plants are going to survve a fortnight bone dry.

Anyone got any ideas or shall I just not bother.

BTW asking people to come and water for me is a bit of an ask as I have many pots and cant ask people to take half hour out of their day everyday to use a watering can.

poppysarah

If you've been digging plenty of organic material in to the soil it will hold more water itself.
If you then mulch heavily over the top you probably don't need to water as much.
Why not change your system to run off a rain barrel?

borkid

s4lvatore wrote: »

Hi everyone.

With yesterdays annoincement on hosepipe bans I am wondering wether to even bother bother growing any veg this year.

I do most of my groing in pots and when I go on holiday I lay a soaker hose over the pots and set a timer for 5 minutes per day to give them enough water. This has worked fantastically well over the last coupe of years and was going to use it again this year.

Been looking online at what is restricted and apparently irrigation systems are restricted too. Well thats put a spanner in the works and there is no way my plants are going to survve a fortnight bone dry.

Anyone got any ideas or shall I just not bother.

BTW asking people to come and water for me is a bit of an ask as I have many pots and cant ask people to take half hour out of their day everyday to use a watering can.

In my previous house I used to water veg when neighbours went on holiday. Payment was I could have any veg/fruit which was ready. One year I ended up with loads of raspberries :T I in turn had my cats fed twice a day when we went on holiday. Depends on how well you get on with your neighbours though we were a very close knit community, 5 houses out in the sticks.

oliveoyl

Thompson & Morgan UK


With effect from 5th April, several parts of the UK will be subject to a hosepipe ban. However, the good news for gardeners is that Thames, Anglian and South East Water have agreed that drip irrigation should be allowed. This means that you can continue to garden as normal, buying seeds and growing the flowers and vegetables you normally would.

s4lvatore

oliveoyl wrote: »

Thompson & Morgan UK


With effect from 5th April, several parts of the UK will be subject to a hosepipe ban. However, the good news for gardeners is that Thames, Anglian and South East Water have agreed that drip irrigation should be allowed. This means that you can continue to garden as normal, buying seeds and growing the flowers and vegetables you normally would.

Well thats good news. I have been googling around and cant seem to actually find the official announcement that this is the case to confirm what t&m have saide.

I take it this doesnt incude soaker hoses just the drip kits?

tim_n

The guy on the TV was stating that, there was no penalties, it wasn't going to be enforced just being used to make people aware of the situation. Seemed a bit wet to me.

s4lvatore

So the ban is going to be in place but not enforced?

wellused

The guy from Anglia Water said on the radio today that permanently plumbed in irrigation systems can be used but ones relying on hosepipes could not be used.

flashnazia

tim_n wrote: »

The guy on the TV was stating that, there was no penalties......Seemed a bit wet to me.

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:rotfl:

Soot2006

Southern Water were saying £1000 fine on radio today here in Sussex ... I drove past Ardingly reservoir recently and it is indeed lower than I have ever seen, so I guess it's only fair to abide by the ban . I will water my veg manually and will also get my butt in gear to organise some water butts to collect off the shed roof and house roof (if only my drainpipe didn't disappear into the neighbour's garden lol - will see about getting that moved!).
Thanks for the organic matter tip -- will dig some in + do serious mulching this year! We can only do what we can

Ich_2

The water companies can take offenders to court who can issue a fine up to the amount stated. However they generally will try to educate people by personal visit first and issue warnings