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Gardeners know that some plants don’t like being watered all over their leaves, lest they acquire a fungal disease. Tomatoes fall into this category.
There are a few solutions as to how to avoid such fungal disease.
One solution is to water early in the morning so that the leaves will dry off quickly as the sun hits them. Another is to use drip irrigation which means, of course, that the plant has to be planted to align with the holes in the drip hose.
Alternatively, you could just water the base of the plant directly, thus avoiding wetting the leaves altogether. This is good for "volunteer" plants whose position could not be pre-planned.
This describes a very simple, very quick to make, rigid watering wand that will allow direct watering, by hand, of a plant at its base.
I have made a couple of these at different lengths and they work a treat. They are also handy for watering pot plants that are located up high or potted hanging baskets that might be positioned in a tree well away from normal reach.
All you need are the components as shown in the first photo. That is, a straight, rigid piece of copper pipe, a garden tap pre-fitted with a hose snap outlet, and a compression fitting to join the tap to the pipe.
The tap that I used only comes with a male screw thread so I also had to include a female - female socket to join the tap to the compression fitting. Go to the plumbing spares section in Bunnings to get all of these components. I am sure that the Bunnings person in attendance will be keen to help you find them amongst the myriad pipe fittings that they have.
So this arrangement has the tap working in reverse insofar as the water enters from the garden hose via the spout and exits out the other end of the copper pipe thus allowing the water to be directed exactly where wanted and without waste.
The tap handle makes adjustment of the water flow very easy.
The second photo shows the watering tool being used to water the base of cauliflower plants in a raised garden bed.
There is no water waste; the water is directed to exactly where it is needed.
Just make sure when selecting your tap that the "O" ring on the spout is in good condition. Otherwise water will dribble from where the hose fits into the spout. Replacement "O" rings can be found in the plumbing spares section at Bunnings, of course.
