How Do You Water A Big Garden?

[thistlebloom]

@Nyboy, don't think we women, even us blondes, are like, automatically stupid about how you guys operate.

You buy us implements of mayhem for which we are so grateful,
and, like, helloooo, all the time your calculating how this is going to save you so much labor.

Yeah, we are TOTALLY on to ya!

 

[catjac1975]

I like oscillating sprinklers the best. They cover the most area. The X-hose pros are fantastic in their lightweight rather than dragging heavy hoses. We also use these.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/1597144?w...71025432&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78362129432&veh=sem

The tractors are good but I think they need to traverse on grass. We use them between the daylily beds and it walks through them at a slow pace.

 

[seedcorn]

In your efforts to be organic, you need to get plow, disc, etc for your horses.

& sell ME your Kubota and equipment! LOL

Nice, straw mulch is your future as is my present on sand. It's not just loss of water but sand heats up and burns roots.

 

[Smart Red]

The oscillating sprinklers cover the most area, but they lay the same amount of water on the muddy paths as they do on the needy plants...and...in Texas, I would think much of the water is lost to evaporation anyway that way. I'd be looking for some way to get the most from my water and well system.

 

[Smart Red]

Drat's again. In my jealousy and envy I never thought to reason with Bay about why her Kubota needed at least 30 acres to be properly happy as a working tractor and how her horses would be upset to see that large orange thing doing their work. Or that I'd be pleased to give her unhappy tractor the wide open spaces it needs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't have sandy soil so I'm different than you. Sand calls for lots of compost, humus, compost, clay, and compost of you can get it. Pike the leaves on in the fall and work that into the ground. Shred them if you can. You'd be surprised how much better that is by springtime. Thinking about it though your spring comes awful early. I'd still do it in the later areas you'll plant.

I tend to water deep when I water. In sand, you might be better off watering less at a time but watering more often.

I strongly second the mulch idea. Mulch heavy and often. That saves a tremendous amount of water plus reduces weeding tremendously.

You have a decision to make. Are you going to go raised bed or some similar system where you always plant the same areas or are you going to come over to the row crop method? That should play into how you water. A sprinkler system where water splashes can knock disease up from your soil to the plant. If you mulch before you sprinkle, probably not a big deal, even if your ground is not disease free to start with. Still you pays your money and takes your chances.

How big are you going? We always advise newby's to not get carried away and bite off more than you can chew the first year. Think about it. With your new toy it's easy to plow up the ground and plant. Weeding, watering, mulching, harvesting, and preserving can take a lot of time.

How expensive and rare is water where you are now? Rain barrels work great when it occasionally rains but mine tend to run dry on a regular basis, especially when I need them. I tend to need them when it doesn't rain. Still, put gutters on buildings, including outbuildings, and get some 55 gallon drums. You'll be glad you did.

Spray systems tend to use a lot of water, both with evaporation losses as well as watering areas that don't need it. But you can water large areas with them. They are relatively fast. If you have some tall crops, say corn or staked tomatoes, it can sometimes be hard to get good coverage. A soaker hose, drip system, or something similar uses less water and puts it where you need it. Dragging hoses is a pain. I can damage plants if I am not careful. If you do drag hoses, I recommend an in-line shutoff valve, available at Lowe's or Home Depot, so you can shut off water where you are instead of having to walk back to the spigot to turn it on and off.

I use three different systems with a spigot and hose. I can never keep an oscillating device oscillating so I get one that you can set up for a spray pattern. I can cover reasonably large areas with those but I have a tendency to overwater. It doesn't take long to soak the ground with those.

I usually put a soaker hose under the mulch, say in a row of tomatoes. I just hook up the hose to that buried hose and water away without wasting any above ground or spraying blight up on the plants. Sometimes I do drag a soaker hose around to cover new rows. It's a pain in the butt but it is effective.

I also use a splitter at times, say when I am watering the blueberry bushes, strawberries, or new trees or bushes. I put the splitter on the end of the hose and attach short hoses, say 15' long to that. Then I lay the ends of those hoses where I want to water. It can get kind of tricky if you are not careful. One hose may put out more water than the other. Those short hoses tend to kink plus of the openings are not at the same elevation the water pressure is different so you don't get even flow. Hopefully that makes sense. I generally have the water cut back so it is just a trickle anyway to give it time to soak in.

From my rain barrels I just use a bucket and carry water.

 

[Carol Dee]

I don't have sandy soil so I'm different than you. Sand calls for lots of compost, humus, compost, clay, and compost of you can get it. Pike the leaves on in the fall and work that into the ground. Shred them if you can. You'd be surprised how much better that is by springtime. Thinking about it though your spring comes awful early. I'd still do it in the later areas you'll plant.

I tend to water deep when I water. In sand, you might be better off watering less at a time but watering more often.

I strongly second the mulch idea. Mulch heavy and often. That saves a tremendous amount of water plus reduces weeding tremendously.

You have a decision to make. Are you going to go raised bed or some similar system where you always plant the same areas or are you going to come over to the row crop method? That should play into how you water. A sprinkler system where water splashes can knock disease up from your soil to the plant. If you mulch before you sprinkle, probably not a big deal, even if your ground is not disease free to start with. Still you pays your money and takes your chances.

How big are you going? We always advise newby's to not get carried away and bite off more than you can chew the first year. Think about it. With your new toy it's easy to plow up the ground and plant. Weeding, watering, mulching, harvesting, and preserving can take a lot of time.

How expensive and rare is water where you are now? Rain barrels work great when it occasionally rains but mine tend to run dry on a regular basis, especially when I need them. I tend to need them when it doesn't rain. Still, put gutters on buildings, including outbuildings, and get some 55 gallon drums. You'll be glad you did.

Spray systems tend to use a lot of water, both with evaporation losses as well as watering areas that don't need it. But you can water large areas with them. They are relatively fast. If you have some tall crops, say corn or staked tomatoes, it can sometimes be hard to get good coverage. A soaker hose, drip system, or something similar uses less water and puts it where you need it. Dragging hoses is a pain. I can damage plants if I am not careful. If you do drag hoses, I recommend an in-line shutoff valve, available at Lowe's or Home Depot, so you can shut off water where you are instead of having to walk back to the spigot to turn it on and off.

I use three different systems with a spigot and hose. I can never keep an oscillating device oscillating so I get one that you can set up for a spray pattern. I can cover reasonably large areas with those but I have a tendency to overwater. It doesn't take long to soak the ground with those.

I usually put a soaker hose under the mulch, say in a row of tomatoes. I just hook up the hose to that buried hose and water away without wasting any above ground or spraying blight up on the plants. Sometimes I do drag a soaker hose around to cover new rows. It's a pain in the butt but it is effective.

I also use a splitter at times, say when I am watering the blueberry bushes, strawberries, or new trees or bushes. I put the splitter on the end of the hose and attach short hoses, say 15' long to that. Then I lay the ends of those hoses where I want to water. It can get kind of tricky if you are not careful. One hose may put out more water than the other. Those short hoses tend to kink plus of the openings are not at the same elevation the water pressure is different so you don't get even flow. Hopefully that makes sense. I generally have the water cut back so it is just a trickle anyway to give it time to soak in.

From my rain barrels I just use a bucket and carry water.

Great advice Ridgerunner.

 

[baymule]

Well, I come here for some much needed advice on watering a big garden and I get a little good advice and a lot of TRACTOR ENVY! My DH knows not to buy me sparkly gee-gaws, buy me something the color of galvanized, or heavy duty paint in orange, red, or green and yellow.

Thanks @bobm for telling me what worked for you. I can see how soaker and drip would be the way to go. Overhead sprinklers would evaporate before the water hit the ground.

@Carol Dee that's a good idea about rain barrels. We have a 12'x24' portable building that we're going to move and plan on building extended sheds on both sides to house the tractor, implements and trailer to keep them out of the weather. That will give me a lot of rain collecting surface! Tell your DH he can come with you on your and @Jeni Ann 's sister's getaway-he can ride the tractor while ya'll plant all those starts Jeni Ann is bringing.

@thistlebloom this is the 2nd tractor my DH has bought for me. The first one was a 28 HP Branson, which I enjoyed until one day he sold it and called to brag on how much money he made on it! I could have cheerfully decapitated him.

@Nyboy DH has been thanked, I 'll probably have to root him out of the seat so I can have a turn! @seedcorn My son has harness and is looking for horse drawn implements...... but tractor is NOT for sale!

@Smart Red I am sure my tractor will be happy snug in it's lean to shed, brought out to mow and disc, and be much admired. My horses used to follow me around when I bush hogged the pasture. They just wanted to hang out with me I guess.

Disc and box blade

Trailer

 

[Nyboy]

have no idea what a disc and box blade are but they look like they are new

 

[baymule]

@Ridgerunner !!!! the voice of reason speaks!!



I am absolutely going to pile the leaves on, I'll have lots of them! Was thinking of building a couple of chicken tractors for my hens until I can build the coop I want, and parking them in the garden spot. I will have to check around to see if straw is available for mulch, there isn't any down here. Or maybe I can plant a green cover crop and flatten it a few weeks before planting.....probably won't have time to do that this year, though.

Our water will be a community water, so yes, water will be dear, not like running the well. I plan on rain barrels, but like you, when they're dry is when you need them the most.

I don't want to put in raised beds. I want to plant rows, and I don't want to get big-eyed-stupid over it. Probably not this coming year, but it's in the back of my tiny mind, is two or three garden areas. I want to save seed, so will need to separate varieties and/or stagger plantings. Plus I can turn the chickens in to finish off the garden, dig for bugs and fertilize it for me.

Have you thought about setting up a yoke with ball valves to regulate which soaker hoses you want to water with? My garden/s will be permanent, so I want to run PVC out to them and make it easier on myself. I'll set a ball valve cut-off in-line so I can cut it off and drain in freezing weather.

I have a lot of studying to do before I put plans into action. I need all the input and advice I can get!