Repurposed Coffee Can Conserves Water

by Texas Homesteader ~

We’re always looking for ways to repurpose empty coffee cans. I’ve found a way to use them in the vegetable garden to keep my vegetable plants healthy & conserve water too.

Come see my water conservation tips.

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Watering Plants In A Summer Drought

In the heat of summer Mother Nature typically turns off the rainwater taps here in NE Texas.

It’s not unusual for us to struggle keeping everything watered during those hot & dry months. Keeping plants watered during the hot, dry Texas summers requires some creative solutions for sure.

Various Uses For Empty Coffee Cans In The Garden

I’ve written before about the many Different Uses Of A Repurposed Coffee Can. Of course there are many ways I use empty coffee cans in my garden:

Corralling Weeds

Holding Garden Harvest

Transferring Plants

EcoBricks for raised beds.

There’s a complete list of different ways I use empty coffee cans at the bottom of this post. (or you can click the button below:)

But today I’ll be using empty coffee cans to help my garden plants stay properly watered.

Repurposed Coffee Can To Water Garden Plants

To conserve water in the garden you want to find a delivery system that allows the water to drain out slooooowly.

I use empty coffee cans in the garden to deep-soak my veggie plants during a hot and dry summer.

First I remove the snap-off lid from an empty coffee can and punch several small holes in it. This gives the water a chance to soak in down to the roots instead of running off.

When it’s time to water one of my garden plants I take off the lid and fill the can with rainwater. Then I snap the lid back on and carefully turn it upside down.

Gravity will do its thing and the water will drip slowly from those small holes. The roots of my plant get a thorough deep soak watering, giving it a fighting chance against the brutality of yet another 100-degree Texas summer day!

Since the coffee we love to drink comes in these handy cans, I always have plenty ready and waiting to be used.

And I think conserving natural rainwater for deep soak watering while helping my garden to thrive is a fine use for them indeed.

#UseWhatchaGot!

Our Various Rainwater Collection Systems

I insist that all outside watering be done only though captured rainwater.

I’ve never liked the idea of purchased treated, drinkable water being pumped through a labyrinth of pipes underground from miles away just for me to pour onto the ground.

So with a few exceptions (such as during drought when the trees could die if I don’t offer assistance), plants are watered using only captured rainwater.

So I have several Rainwater Collection Systems to assure it’s always (or nearly always) available.

There are two 50-60 gallon *rainwater catchment containers attached to house gutters on opposite ends of the house.

When they’re full I use a large 30-gallon overflow bucket to capture even more water.

(I keep those buckets covered to ward off evaporation & mosquitoes, but in the photo below I’ve removed the cover so you can see how much water they hold.)

I also have a 100-gallon galvanized trough that captures rainwater from another gutter located between the two listed above.

That’s a lot of rainwater capacity, y’all! And any tiny amount of rain refills them over and over again.

Underground Cement Cistern Captures Rainwater

I also have a 18-ft deep cement cistern with a pump that I use to water my garden. That water is also captured from a downspout in our home’s gutters & delivered to the cistern via underground pipe. When I need to water the garden I flip on the pump and water away!

But even though this cistern holds several hundred gallons of water, when the rain taps turn off I have to water the garden more often. It doesn’t take long to empty that cistern.

So I’m very careful with my rainwater use. Especially during the hot, dry months of summer.

How To Conserve Moisture In The Garden

The intense sun can dry up any moisture in the soil pretty quickly when the temperatures hit the 100 degree mark, which is common here.

These are a few of my favorite ways to conserve moisture in the garden: (links for each topic will take you to more information)

Water in the cool of the morning. This gives the ground a chance to soak up the water and deliver it to the plant’s roots with less evaporation.

Cover The Soil – This both insulates the plant’s roots from the heat as well as conserve moisture. Use cured grass from a lawnmower, crushed leaves or wood mulch.

Living Mulch – Vining plants cover and shade soil around other garden plants. My favorites are cantaloupe, pumpkin, squash or watermelon.

Deliver Water Only To Roots – I use an empty repurposed coffee can with small holes drilled in the bottom to deliver water only to the plant’s roots and not beneath vines.

Finding Free Wood Mulch – To cover walkways and keep them weed free.

Using Empty Clay Pots – Another way to deliver water to a plant’s roots with easier end-of-season storage.

Repurposed Plastic Jars – For keeping potted plants slow-watered.

TerraCotta Water Spike – For smaller plants.

Eliminate Weed Competition – Weed the garden often so weeds don’t take valuable nutrients and moisture from vegetable plants.

Keeping Fruit Trees Watered In Drought – Using a trough with plug loosened to slowly drip.

What are your favorite ways to conserve water in the garden?

~TxH~

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2 thoughts on “Repurposed Coffee Can To Deep-Soak Plants & Conserve Water”

candace ford at

While we can see drought conditions here in western Oregon, we don’t often have too much problem. Though with global warming changes are happening. We live on a small river and the neighbors have set a tiny pump down at the water, but I expect that’s illegal. Now I’m even more concerned about water consumption because the bird man has installed a wonderful water purification system and every bit of our water runs through that. One simple thing I do is keep a bucket in the shower and use it to flush the toilet in the morning or water the few house plants. Because the spring that provides our water has never seemed to run low it’s only since we began purifying that I have even thought much about conservation. It has been a pretty dry summer here so far. Good luck with all your efforts.

Reply ↓
1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I love that you’re conservation minded with your water – and how wonderful to have a water purification system. RancherMan is currently researching one for our home. If you don’t mind me asking – what kind did you settle on and how do you like it? ~TxH~
  
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~Texas Homesteader~

Working To Provide For Ourselves On Our Texas Homestead

Repurposed Coffee Can To Deep-Soak Plants & Conserve Water