Watering a SFG?

So, to all you experienced SFGardners out there. With my SFG I've been hand-watering which is what I prefer. With our heat I water 2-3 times a day & I get to check up on my plants at the same time. However, we have a 4 day trip coming up in 2 weeks and I'm pondering the best way to water while I'm gone. With our past gardens we did soaker hoses but that was with a typical garden that has a plant here and one there. How well would soaker hoses work in square foot patches of carrots, beets, spinach where almost the whole block needs watering?

What watering systems have you set up to water the garden in your absence? What has worked or not worked?

Thanks!

I use soaker hoses in two plots, with a "V" hose splitter and a battery operated timer. I water twice a day in this heat wave, at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm. Works like a charm.

Leon

Hey newgloves,

I just spent 10 days away from my SFG. Up until then I was also exclusively hand watering. But I set up a sprinkler on a timer for the vacation. My whole garden area is only 14' x 11', so I was able to put the sprinkler almost in the center and it provided great coverage. I used an oscillating sprinkler with only about 50% water pressure to run for 20 minutes every morning at 8:30. It gave each plant about 1/2 inch of water daily.

That is a bit late in the morning, but the sun doesn't fully hit my SFG until 10, so it was plenty of time for the plants to drink up. I even moved all of my container flowers into the aisles of the garden so they wouldn't die!

This system worked SO WELL, that I haven't been able to stop using it. I haven't needed to hand water my SFG in the last 3 weeks and it's been great! I still spend at least 5-10 minutes in the garden each day checking out the plants, but I don't have to keep going back to the tap for more water.

I will be using this same set up next year, too, but only after the plants are big enough to shade out the weeds by about mid-June. Hope this helps!

We've been wondering what the best watering system would be for our 14 boxes in the community garden. Some of the gardeners have planned to just hand water. Each box is 4'x8' and will have it's own water supply. Some of the gardeners want to run a drip system with the battery powered timer. We've discussed the pros and cons of each and all are wondering about the overhead watering and how it might cause problems with some of the plants. I'd like to hear more about watering in the summer heat. We're in Modesto, CA and have had some 100+ days lately, with more to come!

My $0.02, just say no to overhead watering. It does indeed invite a host of problems, primarily mold and mildew, there is also a lot of water wasted. Certainly hand watering with bucket or hose and wand is good until you all figure out your desired system and get it up and running. You are doing fabulously with this project!

Thanks so much for your $0.02, it's really appreciated! Al and I were just sitting here discussing exactly how to lay out our watering system tomorrow. The actual watering inside the boxes will probably be worked out next week, or later this week. Tomorrow we dig the trenches to run the PVC pipe, set up the uprights at each box, and keep some of the "gung-ho" dudes from jumping in to "help" and cut the stuff in the wrong places! Ahhhhh, groups are fun, but keeping these "seniors" in line is like a bunch of little kids! LOL...and we're part of "these seniors", we're just the youngest of the bunch!
Ooops, almost forgot...thanks so much for the kind words about our project. More and more neighbors are coming by daily to check on the progress. I'm looking forward to donating the excess produce to our local soup kitchen to help feed local needy families and kids.

camprn wrote:My $0.02, just say no to overhead watering. It does indeed invite a host of problems, primarily mold and mildew

darn those clouds and the rain that comes out of them...

darn those clouds and the rain that comes out of them...

We already help mother nature in watering, not watering the tops just gives a bit more time to stave off the fungus that might attack. I myself spray for fungus after every rain, I lost tomatoes plants for the last 3 yrs to watering the leaves and the huge torrential rains we get. So no not darn those clouds and rain that comes out of them, we just want to help when we can.

I will be out spraying today after two days of down pours. Im so grateful for them I dont have to water.
Ha-v-v

My $0.02, just say no to overhead watering. It does indeed invite a host
of problems, primarily mold and mildew, there is also a lot of water
wasted.

Yes !! saves water and you are getting to the "source" directly. There are times I have to water after a rain, if it just decides to spit on top of us. I learned the hard way about fungus with my tomatoes as a row gardener and this year was the year I found I could use a spray if needed and trimming away the branches that are yellowing or dead. Plus with a system set up I cant wait for mine to be all drip.
Ha-v-v