Watering question

[Lattés]

Hey everyone, I have a question about watering.

Ok, here is my situation:

I have a backyard garden in boxes, over the past week or so we have gotten at least a bit of rain every day but not every day has rained the same amount and obviously not the same amount of water as I give them every day when it does not rain.

So... what is the solution? Do I keep watering every day or water a bit when it rains a bit and not at all when it rains hard?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks dave

[Pat Meadows]

For containers, I stick my finger into the soil. If it's dry about one inch down, I water.

If it's wet about one inch down, no need.

Pat

[Lattés]

Is that wet or moist?

thanks d

[Pat Meadows]

Moist, thank you.

I find that containers dry out MUCH faster than things planted in the ground. If there's any doubt about a container needing water, I water it.

I think it's difficult to over-water an outdoor container.

Pat

[Pat Meadows]

You're welcome.

Last year, btw, I had I think 15 big black plant pots on our deck and harvested a whole lot of different veggies from them. This year, I have even more.

I love container gardening.

Pat

[Lattés]

Which brings up the question, what are the advantages and disadvantages to container gardening.

[Pat Meadows]

One disadvantage: you do need to water much more often. OTOH, little of the water is wasted - all goes to the plants you're growing (except for the little bit that runs out the drain holes).

Another: you need to have some kind of containers, and something to fill them with - top soil mixed with peat, or soil-less mix, or (as in my case) spent-mushroom-soil, etc. If you use a soil-less mix or a low-nitrogen soil, you'd obviously need to feed the plants as well.

Those are the only disadvantages I can think of.

Everything I've grown in containers has done wonderfully and been very easy to tend. Almost no weeding necessary, the plants have grown vigorously and been super-productive.

If you need to cover the plants with floating row cover (cabbage butterflies, etc.), you can easily do so by making a cage of chicken wire and covering that with the row cover. Or by just draping the row cover directly over the plants. Chicken-wire cages can also support shade-cloth for lettuce in hot weather.

Pat