Watering

Hi Folks,

I don't seem to know how to water the garden. With Mel's Mix is it true that you can not over water? I ask because I seem to not be watering enough, so I figure I'll err in the direction of watering too much. At least then my poor suffering plants will get the water that they need. How can I tell when it's too dry?

Bart

Good question.  Might do best to ask you regional buddies.  They would know more about your area.  

When I hose water I use a wand attachment, with a shower option, on my hose and hold it under the plant for almost 5 seconds.  Same when I water with the watering can - 5 seconds.  Seems to work.  I've never been able to over water my MM and I water twice a week whether it needs it or not.  

CC

Twice a week doesn't seem enough for my SFG

CapeCoddess wrote:
When I hose water I use a wand attachment, with a shower option, on my hose and hold it under the plant ...

That is exactly what I do but I have not timed how long I hold it in any one place. The wand attachment is great ... no bending over, no resulting backache and the water goes onto the MM not onto the plants.

Ditto.

I suppose what I'm really asking, is it normal to do a heavy water every other day? That seems like a lot.

Bart

I sometimes stick a finger in the MM to see if it is still moist an inch or so (depending on what stage the plants are at) below the surface. For new seeds it may require more frequent watering due to surface evaporation. Last summer we were away for well over a week during some hot weather in July. During that time the SFG did not get any watering, although it may have rained at least once. All was well when we returned home. Of course a lot depends on your location and weather conditions. 

As far as over watering is concerned, I have not had a problem even when I create puddles of water on the surface of the MM before it soaks in. I tend to water each square the same amount and at the same frequency but I really should check to see what each type of plant requires. For example, tomatoes may prefer a deeper watering on a less frequent schedule than some other plants. But keeping track of those differences is too much work for me.

Honestly, I don't water unless it doesn't rain . Then it is 2 x per week. My tomatoes all have leaf curl, no idea why. Plenty of rain. .?

Bart,  Here in CA I water everyday in the summer with the hose wand and 2X week with the drip lines.  Increase your watering until you feel comfortable with the wetness an inch or 2 down.  Don't worry what other folks are watering. You don't want the Mix to get dry because it is hard to get it uniformly wet again.

I put a water meter down to the bottom and it read moist. I watered it deeply yesterday, so I think I'll water again tomorrow. Every two days seems the right way to go. But, that could change.

Bart

Right now in some beds I am watering by soaker hose every other day.  Some beds, every third day.  It all depends how intensively they are planted.  My pole bean beds are intensely planted and I almost feel like they need to be watered every day.  But I hold off and do it every other day.  I also use a moisture meter but some times I pull it out and it says DRY.  What, I just watered it heavily yesterday, how could it be dry.  Must be some thing wrong with the moisture meter.  But no, I stick my finger down and it is dry.  So it all depends on how intensely it is planted, how heavily mulched and how hot it is.

Good question.  I live in Maryland, and our summers are hot.  My wife and I both work, so we don't have much time.   So for years, I would go out every morning before work and water my garden with a hose nozzle.  I was rushed.  On really hot days, the plants would wilt by the time I got home, so I would also water the garden after I got home.  My garden did fairly well.    So, yes, you can't water Mel's mix too much.  However, I did have problems with downy mildew disease and other things.  So this year, I decided to follow the advice of a fellow gardener who said to only water your garden if your plants are wilting IN THE MORNING.  So far so good!

For those of us who sometimes have to resort to hose watering with city water, I've been using a hose filter that's not too expensive and I think lasts my full growing season.  

Camco 40045 TastePURE KDF Water Filter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024E6V30/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I keep it in the fridge between uses.  I'm not sure how good it is but it makes me feel better using it.    

Anyone know how to go about testing it a few times over the season?  My city water doesn't reek or taste off so that won't help.

CC

Actually, I'm forced to use city water, and I know our water is treated with chloramine. Almost all of the water from my garden has come from city water because of our drought.   I wonder if maybe that why things are struggling thus spring.  I'm not too worried about the chloramine affecting the plants directly... But potentially the microbes, affecting the soil web.  Perhaps I should invest in a filter.

Do these filters remove Chloramine.  Some city water systems use chloramine.

yolos wrote:Do these filters remove Chloramine.  Some city water systems use chloramine.

I don't think so.  But this one reduces chloramine:

Camco 40691 GardenPURE Carbon Water Filter
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-40691-GardenPURE-Carbon-Filter/dp/B00G2586NK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498234769&sr=8-1&keywords=camco+GardenPure+filter

I don't have chloramine in my city water so can use the other one.

Since I'm retired and I enjoy gardening I go along with Mell and hand water using a water can, I catch rain water in connected barrels and use that, it hasn't rained in the last twenty days so I'm getting low so when I have to use tap water I fill a two of my barrels and then let it set for two days to let the sun bleach out the choline or what ever there using.

I received this "10 Smart Watering Tips for Your Vegetable Garden" video in an email from the Old Farmer's Almanac today. Looks like there is some SFG going on as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdCII3wJ50s&list=PL3VEy0_tuFgSA596wd13Ka2UfA3Pw0S1s&index=1

newbeone wrote:Since I'm retired and I enjoy gardening I go along with Mell and hand water using a water can, I catch rain water in connected barrels and use that, it hasn't rained in the last twenty days so I'm getting low so when I have to use tap water I fill a two of my barrels and then let it set for two days to let the sun bleach out the choline or what ever there using.

I also hand water my SFG beds and potted containers.  I have several five-gallon containers and fill them from the hose-pipe and also let them stand for a day so that they are air temperature and the young plants do not get cold water from the garden hose.

I do not water my lawn as I cut it high and mulch at the same time and since I started doing that my lawn remains lush a green all summer long when my nieghbours are desperately drowning their grass from their hoses. 

When my old lawn mower died  several days ago my neighbour kindly cut the lawn for me as it had got several inches high.  I used my new mower today and found that in places he had scalped it and there was no grass that needed cutting. That of course has coincided with several days of high temperature and the lawn is looking very stressed in parts.  So I will have to live with that until it grows again in the cooler weather and wetter weather.

has anyone try this method for watering? Do you think it would be too much pressure for our garden seedling? I trying to move away from hand wandering on a daily or every other day, since I'm still working.

for filtering, I use #11 on this page.

 [url=Pure water products0filters]http://www.purewaterproducts.com[/url]

also, intelligent irrigation offers a hose filter - Green Knight Hydroponic Dechlorinator filter

has55 wrote:has anyone try this method for watering? Do you think it would be too much pressure for our garden seedling? I trying to move away from hand wandering on a daily or every other day, since I'm still working.

I got exhausted just watching the video. Pros: PVC is cheap, it has plenty of pressure to deliver the water. Cons: PVC fittings can be expensive, it is a rigid system and can't be moved, it wouldn't work for true SFG when planting seedlings as 16/square. I am sold on drip tubing and its cheap fittings, flexibility, including being able to remove the whole grid for major amending, etc. The PVC would be nice for getting water to and up the side of the individual beds, though. These are just my thoughts.

excellent point. Exploring ideas. Aquajet subsurface irrigation is great after the plants start growing, but I have to hand water to get the seedling going. Also, I was looking at something like this, because I used this type of portable grid for my garden bed. I figured it would be easy to modify, but I would use a black garden size drip irrigation or short garden hose to connect from my water line to the grid. I posted the pictures of my grid on some past thread. I think it was the one that jimmy cee did on his latest grid method.

For what it's worth - I use a PVC grid system very similar to the one Hass55 has described.  I've had it for about 5-years - so I know it's long lasting. It's not glued together so I can replace individual pieces when needed.

When I want to add mulch to the beds so I can re-plant, I unhook the grid and lift it out of the bed in one piece.  Then replace it when I've finished putting in the new mulch.  The grid is so light weight, I can manage up to a 4x8 bed by myself, when I have to lift the 4x12 beds I enlist the help of my husband so the grid doesn't bend in the middle and come apart.

I've got a turn-knob on each bed to regulate pressure so I can customize the system for all my plantings.  I generally water newly planted small size seeds (like carrots, lettuce, spinach) for about a week by hand with a mister, then use the watering grid.  Large size seeds (cukes, squash, melons) are fine with the watering system as soon as they're planted.

I've found I really like this system because it waters from the bottom, allows me to spend my time taking care of the plants, and can be set to run even when I'm not available to water.