How do you water your garden?

[asdjrocky]

This is what I do, and by no means do I mean to insinuate that this is the right way because this is, after all, my first garden. I water early in the morning right from the hose into the ground at the base of the plant. I make sure everything is good and soaked (I live in Ca central where temperatures are commonly over 90) and I do each plant one at a time. It takes me about an hour because I planted so much stuff. Then, before the sun goes down, I go out and give the garden a gentle mist. I've used no fertilizer and everything seems to be going well.

So tell me- right, wrong or otherwise? I'd, as always, love some advice from the Duer gardeners that are more experienced than myself.

Thanks!

[EstimatedProphet]

1. I give every plant a good shower late afternoon

[asdjrocky]

2. Is that all you do?

Do you put any water on the ground? Thanks for responding EP.

[EstimatedProphet]

4. I'm not sure what you mean

Let me be more descriptive, and that may answer your question. I have a 3' watering wand which I set to shower, and water each plant until the ground is soaked. I've got everything mulched, so it will retain water longer.

[asdjrocky]

5. Got it. Thanks! nt

[Gormy Cuss]

3. I'm in a slightly cooler version of your climate just south of you,.

We live in the Diablo Valley (the I-680 corridor east of Berkeley/Oakland.) Nearly all of our vegetable gardens are raised beds with redwood frames. Each plant is in its own well and we water each one at a time, once a week. This time of year it's fill the well twice. Later in the season it may be fill the well three times depending on size of plant and the heat. The remaining vegetable patch is a row along a fence and that is watered once each week using a soaker hose. Watery vegetables like cukes and melons get a second watering during the week.

Herbs and flowers are watered by the automatic sprinkler system that was installed by previous owners for the lawn. We've changed the sprinkler head types to provide water in the right spots. Some heads have been replaced with drip lines. Schedule is the same as for the vegetables -- everything inedible is xeric.

During unusually hot spells we do water as needed.

Watering early in the day is good, but if you're watering every day you're encouraging shallow root growth. Once the plant is established it's better to water it more deeply and less frequently. We've noticed that the plants don't seem to become as heat stressed during our hot spells. Tomatoes in particular seem to do better with infrequent, deep watering.

Our growing season is so long that establishing solid roots will keep the tomato plant producing well into the fall. We don't pull out the plants until November.

[Blue Gardener]

6. I live in Iowa

Mother Nature has been quite generous with the water this year, so I haven't had to water the garden at all!

[bvar22]

7. Smiling Online.

There is always a silver lining. :)

[asdjrocky]

10. My heart goes out to you.

I was in Council Bluffs for the caucus (volunteering for Edwards) and met some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. I hope you're keeping your head above water.

[Blue Gardener]

11. My house stayed dry

But many businesses in town are still under water, and there are people still out of their homes. Many in Cedar Rapids, including my cousins, cannot return to their homes that were destroyed by the floodwaters. I feel very fortunate.

[bvar22]

8. High Humidity Here

We live in an area of high humidity (West Central Arkansas). Our plants are dripping with dew almost every morning. Evening watering, and especially misting encourages mildew, fungal diseases, and insect infestations in our area, so we generally water in the morning only when necessary.

We water the base of the plants, taking care to avoid wetting the leaves.
This year, we pruned the lower foliage where possible, and are using support structures to elevate plants off the ground, especially tomatoes. We are also using a moderately thick straw (Spring hay) mulch.

We are experimenting with the "plastic jug method". The bottom of the jugs have several small holes in the bottom, and are submerged 2" below the surface. We fill the jug, and it slowly releases the water below the surface for slow, deep watering. The jugs are not very attractive, but seem to be doing an excellent job. We will probably use more of these next year.
(The above photo was taken during a rainstorm which is why everything looks drenched.)


Like most gardeners, we tend to water too much. There is an almost irresistible urge to "give the garden a little drink" on a hot July afternoon. This year, we are fighting the urge. We have purchased a moisture content gauge, and have found that our raised boxes in conjunction with the mulching, are very good at retaining moisture.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x7979

[asdjrocky]

9. I love the jug idea.

And I really like the tie dye scarecrow. I've been watering daily as I stated. I tried to take the day off today and found my cukes wilting badly, so of course, it's back to the daily watering. I'm sure I'm watering too much but my plants seem healthy and they are fruiting nicely. I am thinking about investing in a gauge.

Your tomatoes look great, what kind are they?

[bvar22]

12. The scarecrow is Hyacinth Moonbeam,

and she is Starkraven's alter ego and our garden nymph.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=246&topic_id=7162&mesg_id=7195

The jugs seem to be working well. We are still experimenting with the number and size of the holes. We are using a 1/64" drill to make the holes, and 2 - 3 holes per jug may be about right.


The tomatoes in the foreground are a Rutgers on the left, and an Early Girl on the right.
In the background on the left is a Purple Cherokee.

We are still experimenting with different tomato varieties.
Spread throughout the garden are:

Boxcar Willies - looking especially healthy.

Arkansas Travelers - one of my favorites from last year, very mellow

Black Krim - How could you resist that name? Several large tomatoes should be ready in a couple of weeks. Very robust, very bushy, but seems to attract aphids.

4th of July - I don't even remember how that one got in the garden.

Yellow Plum - This one we grew from last year's seeds. It was a MonsterPlant. We cut it back a number of times, and it still measured 12' when we pulled it up in the Fall. It produced hundreds of tasty tomatoes.

Roma - Yum

We also have 3 unknown Volunteer tomato plants that sprouted in the compost pile. I liked their can do attitude, so they earned a garden spot. (I just know they are all Yellow Plums).

We haven't harvested any yet this year, but a couple of Early Girls and a Black Krim should be ready in a week or so.

I believe that all of our tomatoes this year are heirloom. We plan to start saving seeds from the 3 or 4 best varieties.

[asdjrocky]

13. Man, I wish I knew even half of what you seem to know.

I've got some Early Girls just sprouting. Some Mama Mia's or Romas, not sure which. And some Cherry Variety 100, a Mr. Stripy and a few more.

Just picked my first green beans and they were great! I've had some Summer Squash and I've got some Cherry tomatoes that should be ready in a day or two.

Who would have thought I'd have so much fun doing this?

[bvar22]

14. We learn from mistakes, and we read a lot.

This is just our 2nd year with a big garden, though we always had something in pots & windows when we lived in Minneapolis. We made some "mistakes" last year which we are correcting this year.
We've already made some mistakes this year....such is life.


Most of what we "know" comes from Mother Earth News, or Countryside & Small Stock Journal, or books.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

http://www.countrysidemag.com/

We give each other books on Sustainability and Organic Living for Christmas and birthdays.


"Who would have thought I'd have so much fun doing this?"
There is a sublime joy in eating a "still warm from the sun" vine ripe tomato from your own organic garden. You can't get much closer to Mother Earth than that.
Starkraven and myself love to just sit in our garden in the evening and just look at everything. It all changes everyday.
This morning she walked in from the garden and gave me our first Jalapeno pepper. It was beautiful.

There can be heartbreak too.
Hippywife lost her whole garden to a hail storm a couple of weeks ago,
and one day it will be our turn, and one day yours.
Everything is transitory, especially gardens,

[hippywife]

15. Guess what!?

Most of the garden bounced back! The tomatoes didn't except for a few plants so I'm re-seeding those. Prolly won't have them until like September, I'm thinking.

But it is wonderful how well so much of it recovered. Rosie, however, looks pretty sad. I did buy her a new dress, a denim jumper with little embroidered flowers on the bodice, for next year, tho. :hi:

[hippywife]

16. Oh, pishposh!

You're doing fabulously!

Really, your garden is just lovely. :hi:

[asdjrocky]

17. Thank you so much.

Lot of work, and a lot of fun. Ate two juicy cherry tomatoes today, still warm from the sun. And while I've never been a big fan of green beans, I sure think the ones I've grown so far are great!

Funny, when you grow something yourself, it just taste better.

[hippywife]

18. It sure does!

Heck, it even tastes better if someone else grows it as long as it's fresh, not picked before ripe and trucked over a thousand miles.

Glad you're having such a grand time with your garden. :hug:

[Dover]

19. Sweat hose mainly, and some hand held watering.

I'd like to upgrade to a drip system when my garden gets a bit more established, but the sweat hose seems to work really well and the faucet control only needs a minimal flow for them to work. I usually leave it on a full day and night and then off for four days. Seems to be about right as I think a deep long soak is probably more effective than shorter, shallower watering.

I use a handheld hose sometimes in the mornings to help them throughout the day. It's close to 100 degrees here and my garden is only just recently established so I'm watering more than I might in the early spring or fall. And some (but not all) plants seem to like to have their leaves wetted.

[asdjrocky]

20. Thanks Dover.

I haven't really flooded them, and it's kind of a silly method, but I've figured out a way to make sure about 2 quarts of water comes out of my hose, per tomato plant by counting. (I practiced with the hose and a two quart jug for a while.)

I read in some of the literature sent to me by the local college extinction course that tomatoes need about 2 quarts a day, so that's what I'm doing. Sometimes a little more if it's hot, sometimes a little less if I dig down a few inches and find the soil moist. It seems to be working out well. Having some problems with the soy beans, carrots, and lettuce, but I think that has more to do with the soil than watering.

[bhikkhu]

21. I used a low pressure drip system on a timer for years

watering in the early morning.

Now I have switched to watering with a hose, sometimes early, sometimes in the afternoon. The main difference is that the old system was complicated to set up, but once it was set I could forget about it and just check for when things were ripe. Now I am out in the garden every day; it takes more time and attention but it is better, as I keep up on the weeding and have a better sense of how things are really doing.

I suppose I thought of it before as a chore whose efficiency should be maximized; now I'd rather think of time in the garden as a luxury that makes so much more sense than time spent watching TV, or on the computer.

[asdjrocky]

22. Exactly. Wonderful point.

I see so much when I'm watering by hand.