Drip Spikes
Well before the move I was given about 12 drip spikes to trial in the garden. As luck would have it it then rained for a week, and then I had all the technology failures below to deal with. Anyway yesterday I finally deployed the spikes using some of the collected rain water.
The spike basically connects to a spent PET bottle such as a Coke bottle that is pierced at the base. The spike is then inserted into the ground and lets water out direct to the roots at a controlled rate. There are 9 settings to control the drip speed. I now have deployed the spikes around the garden to a range of plants. All are on the slowest drip speed. Early indications look good with many of the bottles nowhere near empty after 24 hours of deployment.
I will let you all know how it goes over the coming weeks.
February 16th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Oooh, I haven’t seen the ones with controlled drip speed!
We’ve just got the garden variety (pun intended) “stick ‘em in the ground and fill the bottle” type.
Good to see you back online and hope the move went smoothly !
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February 17th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I’ll have to give those a try this year. A high travel job makes gardening challenging.
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February 18th, 2008 at 11:07 am
These Drip Spikes were purchased online from http://gardenexpress.com.au/ in the Gardening Care>Watering section. This company is pretty good to deal with & as yet no plants have died that I have bought from them. I have purchased seedlings with them which I enjoy looking after now that they are growing into beutiful children… Um, er I mean plants!
I believe similar products are available at Bunnings Warehouse as well as other good Hardware/Gardening stores.
These Drip Spikes were the surprise I spoke of in an earlier comment here hehehe.
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February 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Ahhh cool, thanks for that info Socko
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February 19th, 2008 at 6:19 am
I’ve looked at these in catalogs every year - thought they looked interesting. Maybe this will be the year I buy them. thanks for the article on them, as I always wondered if they worked well.
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February 21st, 2008 at 1:21 am
These sound like exactly what I need! We go through long dry spells here, and I feel like I waste a lot of water when I use a sprinkler on the plants.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Wow, drill spikes sound very interesting because I am currently a student and don’t have much time watering my plants in the front yard, I could install drill spikes. But I have a question, Does drill spike replace watering my plants with a pitcher? I don’t want to give you an image that i am lazy but I tend to forget about my plants.
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
What a great idea. I’m not a gardener but my wife is out there every day. I’ll have to pass this information on to her. Of course, then I’ll probably have to find out where to buy them here in the states.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Interesting post.
I have never tried these but have been tempted. Maybe now ill be the time. I am on the road a lot so if they work it would be a big help.
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June 10th, 2008 at 5:35 am
So glad I found this post. I saw some of these contraptions while walking around my neighborhood and couldn’t figure out what they were. I’m new to gardening so have lots to learn. Now I have a name for them! Drip Spikes…thanks!
August 5th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Thanks for info.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Thank you for sharing….
October 20th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I like the idea of this product and have quite a few. Unfortunately I have to continually adjust the rate and clean out the tip that goes in the soil because they don’t always drain like they are supposed to. If you have any tips that might help me I would love to hear them.
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October 28th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
These are a great product. I have had them for about 6 months and the work great.
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October 31st, 2008 at 11:48 pm
thanks…