So as a gardening gadget geek, I love automating the systems on my allotment so that I can control what's going on when I'm at work see my post on Growing Hi-Tech.

But I've never been happy about the efficiency of my automatic watering system in the greenhouse. Previously I've relied on pumps alone, but the water pipes are narrow, pressure to low and the droppers tend to block up, so after a few weeks of frustration I was back to the watering can. 

So this autumn I've redesigned the system from the ground up! Remembering a school trip to the Dinorwig Power Station which is a marvel of engineering, I realised the answer was to develop a pumped storage system, whereby you use the power of gravity to give you the pressure and volume you need. The second trick to this system is something found in your washing machine! If you ever wondered how the fabric softener gets out of the tray and into your wash, it's through the wonderful simple technology of the Siphon . 

The header tank holds 62litres / 13gal of water, or 4 big watering cans so it's a weighty object when full, so I've strengthened the roof trusses to cope with the additional load. The siphon system is compromised of simple 15mm push fit tubing split into two distribution feeds. The siphon is measured to just below the top of the tank when its full, so it only triggers once the water level goes above that line, at which point bingo! The siphon mechanism automatically kicks in and empties the tank down through the irrigation system, happy days.