Watering

[SteveB]

I'm a newbie. I got my 25x28 plot all tilled, added about twenty sacks of amendments, including peat moss, and turkey crap based conditioner, and some vermiculite.

I made rows that were as best I could that were level. I ran a PVC line with bubblers to each trench, and I have two rain bird type sprayers. I have a few low pressure emitter lines on some tomatos.

This is the first season, and a learning one. I feel that flooding the rows may not be getting water to the top of the dirt on the rows. I go out about three times a day and spray so the top is moist. I have some planted seeds germinating, and some nursery plants going. They look pretty good actually. The melons look fantastic.

At the nursery, they sell a flat ribbon type watering pipe that has an emitter each few feet. The attachment comes in the form of a barb that goes into a black abs feed pipe. You cut them to length and crimp the ends shut.

What is the best way to water? Flood? Spray? Emitters? Combination? Next year, we will probably have a greenhouse, and can do different things from ground watering to overhead misting and spraying, and hanging pots. But for this year, I'd just like to get maximum yield, and learn more about the process.

Input appreciated.

Steve

[Bill who putters]

I think drip with mulch. I use a drip hose. Cheap and does the job here. I run about 6 50 foot lines one 100 foot. Got a rain gauge that transmit info though I usually just look at the plant life for sadness. This in NJ USA not in drought. However I once mulched real heavy and the summer was overly wet and it is easy to put on but hard to take water off.

Bill

[brooklyn1]

You're no longer a newbie... you've been going on and on for months about your fercocktah garden and especially about watering... WTF don't you get it over with already, PISS on it! LOL

[Billy]

Shelly, your daughter still available for stage parties?

[Billy]

Irrigation is wasteful. Misting and spraying may be good for ornamentals but will cover your tomatoes and cucurbita with mold and mildew by the shortened end of your gardening season. Drip is the watering of preference, along with a (bi?)weekly hand watering, just to stay in contact with your plants.

[Jim]

[....]

I recommend 2 two gallon jugs with sprinkler tips. watering each plant individually gives you the chance to inspect the plant and do a some close hand weeding around each plant.

carrying water to each plant and only each plant reduces weed growth, provides some good exercise and reduces the overall amount of water required to produce the edibles.

[Derald]

There may not be a "best" way to water, although, it seems to me that in most circumstances minimizing evaporative losses is essential. That means mulch and goodbye to sprays, mists, and sprinklers. For many years, I relied on flooding, although it was difficult to achieve consistent coverage and containment in my raised beds was often problemmatical. A couple of seasons past, I "discovered" those soaker hoses that are made from shredded tires; I wish I'd known about them years ago. They just slowly "sweat" water so that it all goes into the soil with minimum evaporation and absolutely no runoff. They require no filtration and never clog the way drip or mist systems can. I use 25' length because it works well in my 3'x8' beds and in larger containers (30+ gal) and they easily daisy chain if longer runs are needed. I always buy the same brand because it has a fairly consistent delivery rate across samples and makes it possible (with a low-priced pressure regulator and full-flow hose end manifold) to accurately gauge the amount of water being applied simply by timing. A rain gauge is useful in preventing over-watering but, unless you're into technology, you'll find memory, observation, sensitive fingers and experience essential in determining when to water.

[David Hare-Scott]

This is not a good idea. The water is needed at the roots not at the surface. Frequent light watering encourages shallow root growth - which in turn requires frequent watering. Also it may encourage fungus on some species (eg tomatoes and curcurbits) and generally is a waste of water and time. If you have that much time you would be much better off if you water thoroughly by hand as required.

The frequency depends on your soil and the weather but it would probably be something like once or twice a week in summer and less in the cooler seasons. Test the soil with your fingers if the soil is damp down near root level (say 4in) you don't need to water unless expecting very drying conditions of high temperature and hot winds. The exception is seedlings that have only shallow root systems or are not established which may require more frequent watering for a while. If your soil is drying out too quickly you need firstly to mulch it and over time to build up the organic content.

I

Flood is the most wastefull method followed by fixed overhead sprayers. Vegetables don't need misting, it only supports fungus, in fact in some situations the garden may be arranged to encourage air circulation to lower humidity so don't raise it. Misting is used to raise the humidity for plants that came from the tropics or rainforests which excludes common veges.

Drippers or emitters are the most efficient method if you can afford the gear and can manage the pipes around annual crops. Hand watering with a hose is good if you can afford the time but don't do it daily (except in extreme heat) just because it feels good.

I would suggest that you have plenty to learn for a while without adding the complexity of a greenhouse. You asked all this before, repeatedly asking the same question over a short period makes people wonder if you are paying attention.

David

[brooklyn1]

I seriously doubt he has any garden... so far he's shown us nothing... John's garden is in the dreaming/trolling stage.

[SteveB]

You still around, you silly troll? Get a life.

[SteveB]

I'm just working with what I have. I have lots of pipes and connectors, and such. Had I started from scratch with nothing, I'm sure I would have a drip system in place now. I like to do things once and do it right. This first year is an experiment for two purposes. One is for me to learn, and second to show my wife who knows nothing about gardening that her ideas about just sprinkling seeds and applying water is a little short of what is needed.

For me, next year will start with a thorough tilling of about 50 bags of amendments, various meals that add nutrients, a new drip system of the proper type, and then a greenhouse to cap it all off.

Sometimes, it's rule by benevolent dictatorship, and the knowing proletariat vote is not counted. I had a hell of a time getting pressure reducers just to feed the small lines I already had.

"What's the difference?" was the common question.

"Well, one will work, and one won't", was the answer delivered to deaf ears that would only consider cost, and nothing that went contrary to rumor, innuendo, or what she heard on HDTV or Oprah.

Each year should be better, especially when spectacular failures are allowed to happen to all knowing persons.

"I told you so" is never spoken, but conveyed with eye contact.

Just like planting a eucalyptus tree too close to the house. But I digress. The tree should be sawn down within one year.

And then there's the roots and stump ...........................

sigh

Steve

[David Hare-Scott]

What species? Do you know its likely ultimate size? Do you know its propensity to drop branches (even in calm weather)? I have references that will tell you these things and provide some data about the chances of it destroying your roof if you are interested. There is plenty of newsreel footage taken every time there is a good storm round here showing what eucalypts do to houses - perhaps SWMBO could view some.

David

[Billy]

You know you could save a lot in amendments by planting "green manure" as a cover crop. Rye to condition the soil and legumes to pump nitrogen into it. Stump might even make a nice place to sit, and look over your garden.

[brooklyn1]

Your wife knows much more about gardening, I bet she can hardly wait to plant you! hehe

[Billy]

Is your life so pitiful, that abuse is all you have? You have no business here. You could write the same words in any group, not that any would want you. What a sad, dreary life you must lead.

[Suzanne D.]

I like buckwheat as a good quick hot weather crop. You can get in three or four plantings in a single season, and it gives lots of mulch when you cut it down. I believe SteveB is the one who lives near me in southern Utah (there are so many Steves on this NG it is hard to keep them straight), and if so, I can guarantee him that buckwheat grows well around here with virtually no care. I've got it growing in my tomato beds right now. I also like canola for breaking up hard clay soil, and I like my crimson clover (which is surprisingly growing even in this heat) to add nitrogen and attract beneficial insects with its bright flowers. I feel that if you can keep the ground covered with vegetation that will pull nutrients to the surface AND provide future mulch, there is no reason to spend loads of time and money on bagged amendments. Bulk seeds are cheap, and having the ground consistently covered with vegetation discourages weeds. I understand the desire to get the soil in good condition RIGHT NOW, but really, after just two years of using no-till practices, I've got a good 3-4 inch layer of rich black dirt in my beds, so it really doesn't take long at all to do it naturally.

--S.

[Billy]

In a nutshell, that's it. All that is needed is to just get out in front of your needs and prepare for their arrival. I haven't tried buckwheat, but that was recommended to me along with rye. I can't give rye all the credit for conditioning my soil but it did make a vast improvement. I still have some of my green manure coming up here and there, and I encourage it to keep growing. After I cut the rye and legumes, I cover with paper, and mulch over that with alfalfa. Then I water occasionally, and wait at least two weeks before I plant. It's not rocket science and it leaves the aeration provided by the worms intact, as well as the fungi that provide nutrients for the plants.

[brooklyn1]

You don't read very well, obviously you're incapable.

All you do is copy and paste scads of irrelelevant material that hardly anyone takes the time to read, essentually you're a spammer/troll. You're not intelligent nor are you entertaining... if you died in the next five minutes no one would miss you.

[Bill who putters]

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Now Mr Hyde it is time to change back to Dr. Jekyll.

Bill who thinks Felco is the best. Consider

Read the reviews Mr Hyde.

I own it and trim my 4 thousand inches of driveway with it.

[Steve]

Don't jump to conclusions. Some of our lips don't move during the process enabling us to achieve greater speed.

Tip: Proclaiming others as unintelligent should always be written in paragraphs with fewer than two spelling errors.

Essentially, you're kind of a jerk.