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I tested a regular rain barrel against a 55-gallon one with a spigot for my garden in Phoenix, and the bigger one with the tap was way easier to use and saved more water.
The smaller barrel was a pain to fill a watering can from, but the big one's spigot let me control the flow perfectly and I collected enough during our last monsoon to keep my veggies going for almost three weeks without using the hose. Anyone have a good setup for linking multiple barrels together?
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evan_dixon676mo ago
Sounds like you figured out the real secret to Arizona gardening is just having a bigger bucket. I've linked two of the big ones with a simple hose kit from the hardware store, works like a charm.
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taylor826mo ago
Except that just makes a bigger target for the sun to bake. You're still losing a ton of water to evaporation with those open buckets. The real fix is burying ollas or using drip lines right at the roots, so the water goes where the plant needs it instead of into the air.
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abby_henderson4mo ago
Huh, that's an interesting take. But honestly, I'd argue the opposite. Those open buckets lose way less water to evaporation than you'd think, especially if you throw a lid on them or even just a piece of shade cloth. Burying ollas might be efficient in theory, but then you're committed to that exact spot forever, and good luck moving them if your plants need a different layout. The linked bucket setup @evan_dixon67 describes is way more flexible and you can adjust things on the fly without digging everything up. Seems like a lot of folks overthink this.
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