How much water?

[cookiesdaddy]

I've installed those drip irrigation system using the 1/4 inch tube that has in-line drip element built in every 12 inches. I ran it serpentine in my raised beds 12 apart. I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuces, etc. Currently I set automatic watering an hour a day early in the morning. Is that too much? To little? I remember reading somewhere that it's better to "deep" water the plants but only twice a week. Is that better? How long to the drip system run to consider it a "deep" watering cycle?

THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN OFFER!

 

[897tgigvib]

I don't know the answers to those questions.

How much water to use depends on a lot of things. How dense is your soil is one. My soil is almost all compost and ash. It would get a different cycle than someone elses sandy soil, and different than clay soil.

 

[desertlady]

Not sure how much is a hour of watering ! But dont drown them out ! just enough to keep them moist everyday .. :watering

 

[lesa]

Are you getting any rain? They usually say 1 inch of rain per week... so, I would say you are over doing it. How do your plants look?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree. Not an easy answer. Too many variables. Mulching can make a big difference too.

I can't tell you how long to do it for. But I'd suggest you stick your finger about 2' into the soil and see if it is still damp. When it seems dry, it's time to water again.

 

[digitS']

I wish there was an easy answer for this, Cookiesdaddy. Maybe someone with a drip system can relate his or her experience but without measuring the water, it would probably depend on too many things, as has been said.

With information on gallons, you would just decide on the basis of gallons/square foot. It would take 7.5 gallons to cover 12 square feet with 1" of water. As Lesa says, that 1" is usually given as kind of a rule of thumb for the amount of water a garden needs each week.

Once again, any rule of thumb would depend on a lot of things. My soil drains so quickly, most of the ground is in the full sun, a summer afternoon's humidity is often only around 20%, and one garden is in a quite windy area. I feel that 3/4" twice a week is just about a minimum. I can measure quite easily by setting out things like cake pans at various distances from sprinklers and measuring the time it takes. But . . . those are sprinklers.

Frequency? I really think my soil would benefit from watering 3 times each week but I can't find the time in the schedule to do that. Many folks water their lawn grass every night. Lawn grasses are dwarf plants. The roots are shallow. You haven't named any vegetables with shallow roots but watering so frequently - that would be all that is required of them. The roots would stay so close to the surface that if your system didn't run for a day, the plants may wilt. Left off for 2 days, they could die.

Got a post hole digger? The real test for soil moisture is to measure that as Ridgerunner suggests. Using your hand and feeling the soil at various depths should give you some idea. Perhaps, you could even dig just outside the beds, at the edge of your paths, to get an idea.

Rainfall: The weather service will give you a daily amount. It is kind of nice to be able to skip a day or 2 because of a rain -- I'm sure that could be much more common for you there in the Bay Area than for many gardeners.

Steve

 

[cookiesdaddy]

Thank you everyone for your response. This is an amazingly helpful forum. How about them moisture meters / sensors then? Have you used them and are they helpful? Just wanted to conserve water if I can.

Oh ... and the question regarding frequency of watering. Do you water everyday, or 2-3 times a week, for a vegetable garden?

THANKS!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You'll get different answers for this. I mulch pretty heavily once things get to growing, so mine does not dry out as often as some. Any rain really helps, but for me, probably around once a week if it doesn't rain. Maybe just a bit longer depending in temperature, wind and other things. Some crops need it more than others too. Plants with deep roots can go a lot longer than those with shallow roots. Corn can kind of wait on a rain, at least for a while. Some things may become bitter (like lettuce) if it dries out. I carry water to blueberries about every two or three days in the heat of summer even with the mulch since they have such shallow root system and will die if they dry out. But you don't want to overwater because you can drown them.

I do recommend mulch as a way to conserve water.

 

[catjac1975]

You're going to have to experiment. See how things look after an hour, 2 hours, 3 ? Use the finger test in the soil near the plants. How do the plants look at this point?

 

[897tgigvib]

Yep, it's one thing to have a PH meter since it really can be difficult or tricky to know your soil's PH. Mine is extra tricky, what with conifer and oak composts, the base clay, all the ash, but so far, going by smell and knowledge of the soil ingredients I've not been too far off. Some of my beds and areas need more lime.

But a moisture meter? That has a ring of getting a bit too "techy", especially when a finger stuck in soil has all the digital neuron circuits needed, and more, plus costs a whole lot less. To put it as "wired" magazine might put it, the finger gets 5 stars and 3 paragraphs of "what's hot", and maybe a sentence on "what's not". You may get your finger dirty.

Heck, after a couple years of knowing your soil, and of experience, the ole "memory circuits" attached to the eyes will mostly replace "the finger".


I set my hoses up this year for one hose per row, with valves at the ends of the hoses and on the hand held sprinklers. Several very intelligent folks suggested I switch to drip irrigation.

I might try some soaker hoses later this summer, but then, well, if I get overly automated, durn it, there'd be less reason to go where I enjoy going on a hot day, to the end of a hose, in the shade of my pole beans growing through my netting, accidentally squirting myself and hot passersby..."ooops!"

But ya know, an automated drip system would be great if I make a second larger garden 4 miles away in a year or two.