A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Watering

What is every bodies watering schedule??

I have 1/2" soaker hose laid out in the rows, and a manifold system that supplies water to all the rows.

I have an automatic timer set to water from Midnight to 1:00 am, and again from 6:00 am to 7:00 am.

It has been in the 90's all last month.

Is this to much or not enough water?

Pat, it all depends. With soaker hoses, it takes awhile to get much water to the soil. I water every 2 to 3 days, by hand with a wand on the hose, to my tomatoes and some other plants. I give about 1/2 inch of water to my tomatoes, differing amounts to different things depending on the size of the plant. For instance, with okra, which I got in late, I try to water well in the morning, then if it's convenient, again in the evening. I would also water things like lettuce more often, and most leaf crops and cole family crops.
My tomatoes are mulched, my okra is not, as it's still small, though it's time to mulch between the rows I planted in blocks.
Fro tomatoes and peppers, I poke a finger into the soil up to the second knuckle. If it's very moist, I hold off a day.
Another issue is the soil, though. I know you have some clay, I have very sandy soil. You could get too much water easily, but your plants may tell you what they need. If they're thriving the way you're going, it could be alright. I'm not sure if there's any reason to water twice a day, but if it amounts to the right moisture level, why not. plants tend to like to "sip" water, not get drenched, so that could be a good approach.

I also water 2 a day one in the morning and once I get home before the sun goes down. It's so hot in Texas. That once you water in the morning and get home from work or were every it is dry again. The only ones I water like that is my tomoate plant and strawberrie plants. The rest just once a day.
Nicky

I set the water timer so that it doesn't interfere with baths, and supper.

The son has odd hours and I never know when he is going to take his shower.

I'm having trouble with watering too. I have a heavy clay soil, and I put the water in the furrow and let it run, and it fills and fills and then the tops of the rows don't seem to get really wet. I never know if I'm putting too much water in. The other day it took me ALL DAY of moving hoses between rows to water.

I am going to say to heck with the rows and switch to watering with a wand, plus I'm going to mulch. that oughtta help.

I use soaker hoses on everything except peppers and tomatoes. I use a drip hose on them. I just finished getting all the drip hose hooked up today. On one row I'm trying putting the small soaker hose on the end of the drip hose so I can cover a bigger circle. Saw something similar on a message board. It seemed to work good today but will know for sure by the end of the summer. I also mulch good. Doing it this way I have cut my water bill way down. Although it has been hot I've still only been watering about every 3rd day. I water on the 2nd if any feel real dry. I'm also real sandy here and that makes a difference. JD

My shadehouse is on a timer. Usually every 3 days for 5 min in winter. Every day for 5 min morning and evenings in the heat of Summer.
Vegies , i water seedlings and lettuces every morning. All others when they need it, usually every 2-3 days in the morning. Everything is heavily mulched with straw or hay and the soil has a high organic matter content, so it holds moisture well.
Tomatoes, i wait until they show signs of stress, then water very heavily. Usually once a week when they are fully formed. They flower well if stressed a bit and that means more fruit.
My septic recycling system takes care of a small perennial garden and on some rainforest trees in wet periods. I also use it for new garden beds to get them established. It recycles all my household waste water thru a series of 5 treatments and pumps out clear water. Not advisable to use it on vegies though. You never know right!
All other parts of my gardens survive on what little rain we get with the occassional soaking from the pond for my citrus and fruit trees in extended dry periods. I like to keep it half full for the wildlife.
We have water use restrictions every summer, sometimes banning all water use on gardens. In this case i use my own pond water and i have a 3000 gallon rainwater tank for these times as well.
If all my water runs out, i will use my septic recycled water in my citrus. Everything else is out of luck. This hasn't happened yet but we've been close.

Hi. I water my containers every night (depends on rain). I don't water too much though. It seems to be working 'cause everything is doing pretty good. The soil is a mixture of local (a lot of clay), potting soil, and compost I put together.

I recently got my hands on an old rice paddy and was not able to amend the soil except for the rows so I added chicken manure and some potting soil. I've been watering every couple of days if it hasn't rained. So far so good, the weeds don't seem to care since they grow everywhere...my back can attest to that.

Shawn