Repurposed Coffee Can To Deep-Soak Plants & Conserve 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.

A repurposed coffee can can be used for deep soak watering in the garden. It conserves water while allowing water to slowly drip. #TexasHomesteader

(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a tiny commission. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)  

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. 

Preserving water when drought grips our Homestead, killing grass and trees. #TexasHomesteader

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.

EcoBricks are plastic bottles packed with clean non-recyclable plastic. #TexasHomesteader

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. 

A repurposed coffee can can be used for deep soak watering in the garden. It conserves water while allowing water to slowly drip. #TexasHomesteader

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!

A repurposed coffee can can be used for deep soak watering in the garden. It conserves water while allowing water to slowly drip. #TexasHomesteader

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.  

Rainwater catchment system. A repurposed coffee can can be used for deep soak watering in the garden. It conserves water while allowing water to slowly drip. #TexasHomesteader

(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.

Rainwater catchment system - rainwater from our home's gutter downspout.

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!

Rainwater catchment into deep underground cistern. A repurposed coffee can can be used for deep soak watering in the garden. It conserves water while allowing water to slowly drip. #TexasHomesteader

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. 

Water the garden early in the day to save water. #TexasHomesteader

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.

Keep plants mulched. A repurposed coffee can can be used for deep soak watering in the garden. It conserves water while allowing water to slowly drip. #TexasHomesteader

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

Vegetable garden irrigation. Clay terracotta pot show root zone for watering in long vines of cantaloupe. #TexasHomesteader

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.

Save water by deep soaking directly at a plant's roots using repurposed coffee can #TexasHomesteader

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

You can often get FREE wood mulch from your county or tree trimming companies. #TexasHomesteader

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

Clay terracotta pot as homemade olla to deliver water underground to the plant roots and conserve water. #TexasHomesteader

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

A repurposed jar with a wide mouth helps keep potted plants watered. #TexasHomesteader

TerraCotta Water Spike – For smaller plants. 

Using a repurposed bottle and a terracotta watering spike can deep-soak water plants. #TexasHomesteader

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

Coffee cans to hold pulled weeds

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~

This post categorized in  

Tagged in      A list of all our eco-friendly posts. #TexasHomesteader    All our favorite eco-friendly posts about repurposing. #TexasHomesteader        A list of all our gardening posts. #TexasHomesteader    Summer in Texas. #TexasHomesteader    A list of our best conservation posts. #TexasHomesteader    Our posts about dealing with drought. #TexasHomesteader

Coffee Canister Repurpose Ideas:

Kitchen Repurposes

Garden Repurposes

Other Repurposes

More Repurposed Coffee Canister Ideas

 

C’mon by & sit a spell!  Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea – lots of good folks sharing!  You can also follow along on Pinterest, on Twitter or on Instagram.

If you’d like to receive an email each time a new blog post goes live it’s EASY to Subscribe to our blog! 

 

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

  1. candace ford

    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

      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~

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

* Please enter the Biggest Number

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.