Watering Young Trees

[GaryBDavis]

I, uh, used my tractor to dig the holes to plant these trees. So there's the required tractor involvement.

The tank is 50 gallon and I purchase it down at the local ag sprayer equipment dealer. I like to buy from these guys because they have everything you can imagine and the tanks come with no holes so you can locate and drill your own.

The drain hose is 1" with a cut off valve about 2' from the end of the hose. The inlet for filling the tank is 1/2" with a check valve and garden hose adapter. The check valve keeps water from sloshing out when you drive around, prevents flow back into the garden hose and acts as an extra air inlet when letting the water out.

I pour water into 5 gallon buckets that have a single 1/4" hole drilled in the bottom. This lets the water out slowly which, as we all know, is the proper way to water a tree.

I was pretty pleased with the flow volume. I can fill a bucket just about as fast as I can with a garden hose.

This set up would work well in the FEL of my tractor. I could lift it up to get even more water pressure and a good, strong flow, but it works like it is.

 

[Knight9]

Looks like a simple and practical solution! Good idea.

What kind of trees are you watering? How many do you need to water?

 

[IXLR8]

What sort of prices are on a tank like that. SWMBO just informed me she wants to put in a garden.... which just happens to be too far away for the garden hose to reach.

 

[wushaw]

That looks like it works good and you can water several trees fairly quickly.

Your polaris looks like it has the suspension to hold a 50gal tank, I have a 35gal tank that was killing my electric golf cart so I did something a little different, here is my tree watering tool.

 

[GaryBDavis]

I figure the tank weighs 450lb full and my Polaris is rated for 1000lb, so it handles it well. When it's empty, it is light enough to move very easily.

I think this tank was around $180 or so. A plastic 55 gal drum would have been much cheaper, but what the heck, you only go around life once.

I'm watering fruit trees. I planted 15 of them this year. It takes me two trips and I wish I had been able to locate a 75 gallon tank so I could do it in one, but I'm happy enough with the existing set up. The 100 gal tank was too big to fit like I wanted it to in the back of the Polaris.

Now that I'm done, it will probably rain for the next two months.

 

[wushaw]

Are you using city water? If so it's gonna get $$$ this summer especially with 15 of em.

I use a 2" trash pump and pull water from one of my ponds, it cost @ a tank full all summer.

 

[RobS]

Slick setup, I especially like your bucket with the hole. My system is similar, but not nearly as fancy. Basically, a 55 gal. drum in the back of my truck. For a few plantings I have carried water in my FEL bucket. As I mentioned, I do like the bucket idea, may have to incorporate that this year.

 

[GaryBDavis]

Are you using city water? If so it's gonna get $$$ this summer especially with 15 of em.

No, I'm no city folk. I have my own well and it's pretty cheap to pump water with electricity (less than $0.30 an hour). Plus, it's easy enough to just turn on the hose and not mess with a pump.

 

[AlanB]

Are the buckets anchored in any way, or just sitting on the ground?

I just wonder about them blowing away when the winds come through.

 

[Champy]

Since you're only watering 15 trees (and if they are close enough together), why not run small tubing lines from a central point to each tree; plumb in your raised water tank, and then walk away while the tank drains. My problem is I currently have 1400 trees so your bucket approach would kill me.....LOL

 

[jinman]

Slick setup, I especially like your bucket with the hole. My system is similar, but not nearly as fancy. Basically, a 55 gal. drum in the back of my truck. For a few plantings I have carried water in my FEL bucket. As I mentioned, I do like the bucket idea, may have to incorporate that this year.

Rob, I don't want to disagree with Gary at all, but I would suggest you start with a much smaller hole in the 5-gal bucket. You might be surprised how quickly a 1/4" hole will drain. We normally use something as small as 0.030". That size hole is easier to plug with trash, but the water never runs away and evaporates. You can always easily make the hole larger if you need it. I think a fast drip will produce the best use of water and not soak the ground. this method works good with tomato plants also. A large plant needs about 5 gal per day and this method is a lot like a drip irrigation system for po' folks.

 

[kossetx]

Everyone has their own ideas as to what works and I'm going to offer mine to you for future reference. I too use 5 gal buckets to water my fruit trees, but to empty the buckets I use jute twine with scrap nuts on each end as a siphon for the water. It works extremely well and I can use my buckets for other things too since there are no holes. As usuall, just my .02.

 

[AlanB]

Everyone has their own ideas as to what works and I'm going to offer mine to you for future reference. I too use 5 gal buckets to water my fruit trees, but to empty the buckets I use jute twine with scrap nuts on each end as a siphon for the water. It works extremely well and I can use my buckets for other things too since there are no holes. As usuall, just my .02.

Round about how long would that take to empty a bucket?

I just have a hard time visualizing it, I guess I should try it and see it work.

 

[Jadd]

I use a 2 " gasoline powered transfer pump w/ 150" feet of fire hose to water my trees. I drop the suction line in the dug well, that we no longer use, crank up the honda water pump, feed it thru 2" fire hose w/ nozzel and water away. It's easier than watering by garden hose. If I want a little distance I crank up the Honda & twist the nozzle. If it was not for the transfer pump I would have lost all my trees last year. I first tried agriculture grade discharge hose and it was a disaster, too difficult to use. We had some 2 " hose at the firehall that was no longer serviceable, & was going to be thrown out. The fire hose works great, easy to use, heavy duty coupling and will take the increased pressure from the pump.This may not work for everyone, but it works just fine for my applications.

 

[KrumpsBrother]

Gary,

Spreading a bag of the cheap Texas hardwood mulch around each tree will go a very long way to retain the moisture in the rootball and surrounding soil. This is very important for the Summer. It adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil as well.

Also, get some bamboo canes on those trees to grow them out strait. If you need some PM me, I have a small tree farm between G-town and Andice.

KB

 

[GaryBDavis]

I haven't timed exactly how long it takes to drain the bucket with a 1/4" hole, but I'd say it takes maybe 3 minutes or so. With the bucket sitting on the ground, it slows it down and towards the end, the water flow out of the bucket slows way down. It's as good or better than using a garden hose truned down to a trickle.

KB, man it's a small world sometimes. Not too many people know where Andice is at. I take it you place the bamboo cane right next to the tree and tie it off? I like tall, straight trees with a high canopy.

 

[sugarmaple]

The landscaper for one of my clients puts a polyethylene U-shaped dish around the base of the newly planted tree and disappears after one filling. So my solution is a small water trough from the farm supply, guessing 50 +/- gallons and a small honda pump which fills at the farm pond and dispenses at the tree. Works great. Usually put the tub in a small trailer but have been thinking about mounting the tank on a 3ph mounted rack or fork for simplicity. FWIW, the holes in the dish are smallish <1/16" and drilled in a slightly raised portion of the dish bottom to prevent plugging. The raised portion also allows one to feel the hole location and clear any muck that might be impeding the waterflow without emptying. My guess is that the dishes hold about 15 gallons if they are sitting fairly level and could be found at a landscapers supply.

 

[KrumpsBrother]

KB, man it's a small world sometimes. Not too many people know where Andice is at. I take it you place the bamboo cane right next to the tree and tie it off? I like tall, straight trees with a high canopy.

It's best if you can stick the cane down into the rootball several inches down and an in inch or so out from the base of the tree. I tie off to the cane about every foot or closer if the tree is really crooked. I've got to straiten several hundred in the next week or two, stop by I'll show you how to do it. The tree farm is 1.5 miles west on CR245 off FM2338.

KB

 

[GaryBDavis]

I think CR245 connects FM2338 to FM970 between Florence and Andice. It runs north/south on the east side of FM2338. Does CR245 go west of FM2338?

 

[KrumpsBrother]

I think CR245 connects FM2338 to FM970 between Florence and Andice. It runs north/south on the east side of FM2338. Does CR245 go west of FM2338?

Check that, 1.5 miles east of 2338! Dyslexic I'm.

KB