Watering Question

[curly_kate]

Hi everyone!

I know that most plants need 1" of water a week, but how do you judge that when you're watering them yourself? I have soaker hoses set up in most of my veggies, but I have to run a sprinkler on the pumpkin/melon patch (there's no way I'm getting soakers in there now!). I've been watering about 30 min. as early as possible in the morning once a week, when we haven't had any rain. Anyone know how long you're supposed to water to get 1" on the plants?

Kate :watering

 

[patandchickens]

Three possibilities, in descending order of anal-retentiveness <g>:

1) determine approximate flow rate on your soaker hose (quickie way is to buy a hose meter but you can also do it empirically by coiling it up in a muck bucket or whatever and turning it on and then measuring how much water came out in how much time), then just do the math to figure out how long it should be left on.

or

2) poke at the soil every few days or once a week or whatever your climate requires, and see when the top couple-few inches have dried out (not become baked-bone-dry, mind, just no longer substantially damp and dark and cool), and water the garden real good then (most people should leave it on longer than instincts tell you, and thus water less often)

or

3) keep an eye on the plants to tell you when they need watering. Wilty plants will droop, leaves will start to curl, leaves will look more matte-finish and often slightly lighter/greyer, depending on the plant. So, anything that is at all wilty in the morning definitely needs water (unless it is diseased). Things that are wilty in the evening are often ok overall but should be kept an eye on. Things that get wilty by midday, whether or not they need water depends on what kind of plant. And of course you can always poke down into the soil to doublecheck your impression of what the plants show.

Hope this helps,

Pat

 

[Tutter]

I really go by the plants themselves. Conditions change with weather, varying humidity, and your soil. I can't imagine how anyone can know that a given vegetable would need 1" of water, considering all the variables they don't know. (Soil, temps, humidity wind blowing or not, etc.)

Water well in the morning, or evening, and see how they look later/the next day. Do they look happy and healthy? (See Pat's post for description of that.)

Once you learn when they start to look sad, you'll know how often to give them a good soak. But after that, try to avoid letting them wilt down, as a lot of vegetables don't handle stress well, and it can adversely affect your production.

If you have a heat wave, unexpected winds kick up, or you have a big drop in humidity, they will almost certainly need extra watering.

Good luck!

 

[bills]

It's good that if you water your pumpkins, melons, or any squash's, by sprinkler, that you do it in the early morning only. This gives the foilage a chance to dry off during the heat of the day. This will help prevent the powdery mildew problem that can occur with the members of that veggie family, (when the foilage is left wet in the cooler nights).

My dilemma is that we have had a long dry spell, (as unusual as that is) and of course with everything in full production, they love a good watering. Well, l I have to ration water, as our well level has dropped so low, and needs longer recovery time. The lawn watering is completely out, the flower gardens are low on the priority list, and I even have to be selective about the amount the different types of veggies will get. Hand watering is the best way to go, but boy, does it take up a lot of my time.

 

[Grow 4 Food]

if you are using a sprinkler you can set a coffee can out with the plant and measure how much is in the can.

 

[Tutter]

Bills, you said this is unusual for you, so I thought you might like a tip for your well. Run the pump in the early morning in order to get the most water for your use.

It's been dicey here, on and off, with our drought, and we don't even try to get water at other times of the day when it's a problem.

I'm sorry that you're having this problem, and hope it won't affect your harvest, or other needs, too much.

 

[curly_kate]

if you are using a sprinkler you can set a coffee can out with the plant and measure how much is in the can.

That's a good idea! Thanks!