Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => GARDENING AROUND THE HOUSE => Topic started by: Shanevrr on June 27, 2011, 08:51:45 pm
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how long and often should i water a vegtable garden
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How wet or dry is your dirt? Mine is mud all week from rain. Needs to dry out some. Let the dirt and the plants tell you if they need water.
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Most veggies need about an inch of water per week. If rain doesn't provide that you need to. As Allen said...let the plants tell you when.
Scott
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it stays pretty dry, it looks like cracked skin lol. i have a automatic sprinkler system on it. right now it comes on about 6 in morning and stays on for about a half hour. we get a thunder storm here and there but thats it. i need it to grow quickly from starting late but dont want to water to much
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I set my water timer for 2 hours twice a week. Plants seem to be doing okay, now that the majority of the rain is over and the ground has warmed up enough to sprout something.
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As with bee keeping, there are a lot of variables for how much water you need. You need a lot more water for sandy soil than clay. Clay holds a lot of water between soil particles whereas sand does not. Plants give off water to cool their tissues, so if you have constant sun, you need more water. If you have a lot of wind, that sucks water out of the soil and plants quickly. If you live someplace with low humidity, you need more water.
Plant leaves use photosynthesis to support their metabolic process, but plant roots use respiration just like we do. The root cells ‘breath’ oxygen to live. Without O2 in the root zone, the roots die and the plant dies. Hence you don’t want to water log a garden or everything dies. You want to strike a balance between providing the roots water, but not depriving them of oxygen.
Soaker hoses are more efficient at watering plants than overhead sprinklers. You lose a lot of sprinkler water to evaporation on a sunny day. Sprinklers will also promote mildew and fungus on some foliage. Soaker hoses are better, but I’ll admit I don’t practice what I preach all the time. The giant pumpkin growers use misters throughout the day to keep their pumpkin leaves from overheating and shutting down photosynthesis.
My rule of thumb, watch the leaves of your most sensitive plants and adjust your watering until they don’t show any signs of wilting in the future.