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Soggy Sunday Setup: Installing Irrigation in the Polytunnel
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Jul 21, 2025
Make the most of a soggy July Sunday by installing a simple drip irrigation system in your polytunnel—selecting tubing, laying out drip lines, and hooking up a timer so your plants stay watered without you getting soaked. #PolytunnelIrrigation #DripIrrigation #RainyDayGardening #GardenAutomation #DIYIrrigation #WaterConservation #JulyGardening #WetWeatherProject #TimerSetup #SaveWater #GreenhouseGarden #PolytunnelLife #GardeningHacks #EasyInstall #PlantCare Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gardening-with-ben-garden-and-allotment-tips-and-advice-podcast--5150692/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gardening-with-ben-garden-and-allotment-tips-and-advice-podcast--5150692/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
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Welcome to Gardening with Ben, your
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go-to podcast for all things green and
0:35
growing in 2025.
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Whether you're a seasoned gardener, a
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budding enthusiast, or just curious
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about cultivating your own slice of
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nature, you're in the right place. Join
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me, Ben, as we explore practical tips,
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inspiring stories, and the latest trends
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in gardening to make your outdoor space
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bloom with life. From a lotment
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adventures to wildlife friendly
1:00
gardening, I'm here to help you grow
1:02
your passion and reap the rewards. So
1:05
grab your gloves, roll up your sleeves,
1:07
and let's get started on this year's
1:10
gardening journey.
1:13
Hey everybody, and welcome back to
1:16
Gardening with Ben for a brand new
1:19
episode on a brand new week. Happy
1:21
Monday everybody. I hope that you've all
1:24
had a fantastic weekend. I know I
1:26
certainly have. even though it's been
1:28
absolutely chucking it down. But good
1:32
things happen with rain because that
1:34
means we don't have to spend all morning
1:36
watering, which has been an absolute
1:38
blessing. And fingers crossed I won't
1:40
need to water now for a few days because
1:42
I checked the soil and it looks like
1:44
it's soaked in pretty well. So hopefully
1:47
we won't have to water probably until
1:49
about Thursday if it don't rain. So
1:52
yeah, pretty much we're going to be
1:54
happy for the rest of the week with
1:56
watering. It saved me a big job doing
2:00
that. So we could concentrate on other
2:03
things down at the a lotment today and
2:06
this weekend. So today we have been busy
2:09
in our poly tunnel again. Yes, I was in
2:11
there yesterday uh sorting out all the
2:14
tomatoes, the pump peppers, the melons,
2:18
the oragene plant, but today we have
2:22
been setting up an irrigation system.
2:24
Yes, I had an irrigation system years
2:27
ago, but uh I thought I'll try again and
2:30
I bought one of these solar powered pump
2:33
ones to give it a try and see if if I
2:37
could manage to do it. Okay. And I only
2:40
bought it for about 10 plants, but I
2:42
bought an extension kit on it, so it
2:44
added a few more drippers onto it. And
2:47
we managed to set it up for all my
2:50
plants. So, we've got it on my tomatoes.
2:52
We've got it on my peppers. We've got my
2:54
oragene and on my melons at the other
2:57
side of the poly tunnel because I got
2:59
enough tubing for it all to connect up
3:01
to. And yeah, it were pretty much easy
3:05
to set up. Uh, a lot easier than I
3:07
thought. And I'm no good at DIY and
3:09
building things. Um, definitely not.
3:12
Especially when it comes to building
3:13
sheds, they'll fall down straight away.
3:17
But yeah, we've been so busy down at the
3:19
a lotment setting this up this morning.
3:22
And it didn't take that long to do. Um,
3:25
it pretty straightforward, easy to fit
3:27
together, and I just follow the
3:29
instructions and we're all sorted. Now,
3:32
in my poly tunnel, usually I just water
3:34
them with a watering can. Uh, but I'm
3:37
having to water them like every single
3:39
day, even sometimes twice a day. So,
3:42
they are getting pretty dried out cuz
3:43
the compost isn't that brilliant in
3:45
them. And you know what compost like? It
3:48
does dry out a lot faster, especially if
3:50
it's in a poly tunnel where it is a lot
3:52
warmer.
3:53
So, we set up all the drippers into it
3:56
and we set up the solar panel and
4:01
we don't get a lot of sun in the poly
4:03
tunnel when it's dull like it has been
4:05
today, raining and bits like that. But
4:08
the solar panel got it working. It
4:11
fitted up to the timer. I turned the
4:13
timer on and it pumped out the water
4:16
which was absolutely fantastic. I was
4:18
quite impressed with it. And obviously
4:20
my wheelie bin, it can hold a lot of
4:22
water. So, it should last for quite a
4:26
few days. And then all I have to do is
4:28
just keep topping up the
4:30
wheelie bin with water as and when
4:33
needed. And if I want to feed the
4:35
plants, I could just chuck some feed
4:37
into the water and it will feed the
4:39
plants there and then. So, it's an
4:42
easier way to feed things as well. Uh, a
4:44
lot easier than measuring out the caps
4:47
and doing it all that way. You can just
4:49
add it straight to the wheelie bin
4:51
itself and it will feed the plants.
4:54
Now,
4:56
in with the kit, it came with a pipe.
4:59
What you put into the wheelie bin or
5:01
into your water but and it's got a
5:03
filter on the end of it as well, so that
5:05
if there's any muck in the water, it
5:07
won't get sucked into the pipe and it
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won't
5:12
mess it all up in sense. Uh it won't
5:15
cause any blockages. So, that is one
5:17
good thing. And it also comes with some
5:20
water prongs what you stick in. And it's
5:25
basically when the prongs are dry, that
5:28
means there's no water left in the
5:30
wheelie bin and it won't try and pump it
5:32
out. It'll just keep
5:36
off until it's actually filled back up
5:38
again. So, we'll see how we get along
5:40
with that and see how much water we can
5:43
use on our plants and how long it lasts
5:46
for without having to fill it up. Um,
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you can also change the settings on it.
5:52
You can change it to water 5 minutes, 15
5:55
minutes, or 30 minutes on it, I believe
5:57
it was. And it you can do it for every
6:00
12 hours, every 24 hours,
6:04
every 48 hours, or every 72 hours. So,
6:07
I've set mine to five minutes watering
6:12
every 12 hours. So, they get a water
6:14
twice a day, uh, one in the morning and
6:17
one at a night time. So, that it'll keep
6:19
them hydrated and hopefully keep the
6:22
plants alive. It'll save me a big job
6:24
going down to the a lotment every day,
6:26
keeping them watered and keeping them
6:28
hydrated. And obviously, my dad does a
6:29
lot of the watering as well, so it'll
6:32
save him having to do it. And we'll see
6:35
if if it works. If it doesn't, it it's
6:38
obviously only a bit of money lost, but
6:40
we'll have to go back to the watering
6:41
can. But it's worth a try. I love trying
6:44
new stuff out and little inventions.
6:46
It's always exciting trying different
6:49
things and different methods in growing
6:51
these things. So, yeah, it's been pretty
6:54
much a busy morning down at the aotment
6:57
today. We have also been recording a
7:00
couple of videos. I've recorded a little
7:02
tour of my poly tunnel which will be out
7:04
later in the week as I weren't able to
7:07
do my outside tour today. I wanted to do
7:09
a tour of my plot as it's been a couple
7:12
of weeks since the last one and I
7:15
couldn't do it because it was absolutely
7:17
chucking it down on the a lotment and I
7:18
didn't want to get wet obviously. So,
7:20
we'll be doing a tour of the plot pretty
7:22
soon. Hopefully, I'll record it this
7:24
week while one night when it's dry
7:27
because obviously I won't need to do any
7:28
watering because the plots's watered for
7:31
a week now. It it'll be fine for
7:34
watering the plot. So, hopefully we'll
7:37
get a tour video recorded for you coming
7:39
up, but I'm happy with everything how
7:42
it's gone on. I also did a little slug
7:44
hunt as well this morning because
7:46
obviously with the rain out comes the
7:48
slugs and I was just checking on my
7:50
pumpkins and I could see slugs attached
7:53
to the pumpkins. So they were straight
7:56
off there. I taking them off the
7:58
pumpkins. I don't want them getting
7:59
eaten. Not when I protected them for so
8:01
long and they're actually growing quite
8:03
big now. I'm quite surprised actually
8:05
because my Atlantic giant one is growing
8:09
faster than the other one which is quite
8:13
large at the moment. So, I'm expecting
8:14
the Atlantic giant to overtake the
8:17
normalsized pumpkin pretty soon because
8:20
it's growing so much every single day.
8:23
Uh I might end up having to have a
8:25
forklift to move it at this rate.
8:27
Fingers crossed. But we'll see. I don't
8:29
think it'll be a massive giant one, but
8:31
we'll see how big we can get get it to
8:33
grow. Obviously, we're in July now, and
8:36
the pumpkins usually stop growing around
8:38
September time. So, it's got quite a few
8:40
months to grow and hopefully get to a
8:43
decent sized pumpkin. So, I'm excited
8:45
about this. I've never grown the
8:46
Atlantic giant ones, so it'll be
8:49
exciting to see how big we actually can
8:51
grow it. We only sewed these about
8:54
uh end of May time and obviously usually
8:59
start pumpkins off around March time.
9:01
So, we're pretty late in starting these
9:03
off. So, if if they do well this year,
9:06
I'll obviously be starting them off in
9:07
March next year and then maybe we will
9:10
get a massive giant one because that
9:12
will be fun to see how big we can
9:13
actually grow a pumpkin. That's the
9:15
thing with gardening as well. It's not
9:17
just about growing food. is about having
9:19
fun, having little competitions, seeing
9:21
what you can do, see what how you can
9:23
grow it, and set yourself little
9:25
challenges as well as that makes it more
9:28
exciting. I don't care if I don't get no
9:30
produce from something. It's just about
9:31
having fun and enjoying being outside in
9:34
the fresh air and making the most of the
9:37
weekends rather than being stuck inside
9:39
doing nothing all weekend. So, yeah,
9:42
that has been what I've been up to on
9:45
Sunday down at the Aotment. If you're
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new to these podcasts, make sure you do
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get drop it a follow. Make sure you
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click the bell so that you get notified
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you've got a lot to keep yourself going.
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everyone. Remember, keep smiling, keep
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shining, and keep gardening with Ben.
10:11
Everyone,
10:12
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10:14
thanks for tuning in to today's episode
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