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?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan_dixon679d 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.

taylor829d 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.