An inch of water per week...

[Midnight Gardener]

After scouring the internet for information on watering various vegetables it seems that they all pretty much need what is referred to as "an inch of water per week". How is this inch determined? If I took a gallon of water and watered a plant with it, it may be more or less than an inch. I if I took a hose and watered a plant with it, it may be more or less than an inch depending on the time period I watered. I have a drip system in my new garden and the emitters I use are 1/2 GPH and 1GPH. I could take some type of vessel and put it under some emitters and see how long it takes to get an inch in the container, the question then becomes though, do I use a trash can sized container or a soda can sized container? An what about weather? I would assume that the outside air temperature would have a great deal to do with this inch of water as far as evaporation goes.

[opabinia51]

There are no hard and steadfast rule for watering your plants. Watering is dependant on climate, soil conditions, plant type and so on. My advice to you is to experiment.

Some rules of thumb do exist:

1) For plants in the ground it is better to give them a deep watering which means to have a sprinkler or soaker hose on them for at leat one hour.

2) For potted plants, just soak all the soil which means to water the pot or basket until water comes out the bottom.

3) If you have sandy soil you will need to water more often than if you have clay based soil. Clay has a very small pore size if not none at all so water tends to pool and if you overwater, you can encourage opportunisitic fungal diseases like club root and so on.

Of course the way to ammend both soils is to add organic matter. If you add organic matter to clay based soil you will form soil colloids which are very stable complexes between clay particles that bond to organic macromolecular compounds. These are very important in soil genesis and are excellant for keeping stable nutrients in the soil. They are also good for holding onto water in a pausitive way.

Anyway, just experiment in how long you need to water and how often. It depends on how hot the weather is, how much organic matter is in the soil , the soil type and other items I have outlined above.

[Reptilicus]

wow, one hour? that seems like a long time. Is there such a thing as overwatering? I am a newbie and that may be why I didn't get a great crop last year. I did ok.

[opabinia51]

There is overwatering but for established plants the roots go down deep into the soil. I actually water my veg garden for 2-4 hours once a week or sometimes less often depending on whether or not it needs it. This is actually a water saving technique, among other things.

[Reptilicus]

There is overwatering but for established plants the roots go down deep into the soil. I actually water my veg garden for 2-4 hours once a week or sometimes less often depending on whether or not it needs it. This is actually a water saving technique, among other things.

I have been watering a few minutes each nite... I should get to watering more then.

How much should I water my peach trees?

[Midnight Gardener]

There is overwatering but for established plants the roots go down deep into the soil. I actually water my veg garden for 2-4 hours once a week or sometimes less often depending on whether or not it needs it. This is actually a water saving technique, among other things.

I have sandy soil. I ordered 11 yards of topsoil for the garden when I planned it. As usual, the plans of mice and men... I never thought to order half topsoil and half compost. So now I have straight topsoil and it is definitely on the sandy side. I am in Sacramento, Ca and the normal soil here could be best described as bricks laid into the earth! I have been watering with a drip system and the water seems to disappear fast. I was also thinking a couple of hours per week will be required? What zone are you in?

[Jess]

Have you tried sticking your finger or a trowel in the soil after you have watered?
I think you will be surprised at how little the water has penetrated. Sometimes it feels like you have been watering forever but in fact the individual plants have only received water for a few minutes if that and if you hold a hose or can in one spot too long you invariably get runoff so it still doesn't penetrate the soil around the plant. Watering needs to be done slowly and gently hence Opabinia saying an hour.
Watering a couple of times a week well is far better than watering a little every night. All this does is encourage shallow rooting which means less drought tolerance which means more watering!......Catch 22!!

[opabinia51]

That'd be it Jess. Regarding the person who bought a bunch of topsoil, don't rush out and by a bunch of compost. You can make your own for free or very cheap. When the leaves come down this fall, rake the up and then run over them with your lawn mowver and spread them over your beds and cover them with manure. If you have any local farms near you can can get manure for free or for very cheap. I get mine for 50 cents a bag for horse and steer manure and for 2 dollars a bag for chicken manure.

Don't use chicken manure if you want to grow corn in your garden and don't use Walnut leaves. Oak leaves are a no no if you want to grow grasses, this includes corn.

Also, try and vary your leaves and your manure just to get a wide variety of nutrients into your soil. Apple leaves are loaded with nutrients, maple leaves are great.

[Midnight Gardener]

That'd be it Jess. Regarding the person who bought a bunch of topsoil, don't rush out and by a bunch of compost. You can make your own for free or very cheap. When the leaves come down this fall, rake the up and then run over them with your lawn mowver and spread them over your beds and cover them with manure. If you have any local farms near you can can get manure for free or for very cheap. I get mine for 50 cents a bag for horse and steer manure and for 2 dollars a bag for chicken manure.

Don't use chicken manure if you want to grow corn in your garden and don't use Walnut leaves. Oak leaves are a no no if you want to grow grasses, this includes corn.

Also, try and vary your leaves and your manure just to get a wide variety of nutrients into your soil. Apple leaves are loaded with nutrients, maple leaves are great.

Believe you me, I am not going to buy compost. I just found out today that one of my neighbors owns a couple of horses! He said I can have all the manure I can shovel. Yippy! As for the leaves, I did exactly what you said in February but I put them in a pile to make compost. All the pile has done is shrink a little. I have one large spot left in the garden where the tomatoes are going when they get big enough. I am going to till the pile of leaves up into that spot.

[opabinia51]

If you have a pile ove leaves, that is called leaf mold and it will take about two years to turn into soil. If you have unmulched maple leaves in the pile, they can take longer. You have to turn a compost pile and it helps to turn a leaf mold pile as well.

A cold compost pile should be more than a 50:50 mixture of browns to greens say about 60:40 meaning that 60 parts leaves to 40 parts to manure.

A hot compost pile should be a 50:50 mixture.

If you just use manure, you run the risk of the pile, or sheet compost going anaerobic on you and this is what we don't want. This is what happens when the compost "stinks" .

Leaf mold is great in any shape or form, you can add the partly composted leaves to your compost pile when browns are short at hand. You can use the leaf mold as a summer mulch and slow release fertilizer. It will provide a home for beneficial organisms such as garder snakes.

(I really don't like snakes but, they keep the slug population in my garden down to nill.)

[Midnight Gardener]

If you have a pile ove leaves, that is called leaf mold and it will take about two years to turn into soil. If you have unmulched maple leaves in the pile, they can take longer. You have to turn a compost pile and it helps to turn a leaf mold pile as well.

A cold compost pile should be more than a 50:50 mixture of browns to greens say about 60:40 meaning that 60 parts leaves to 40 parts to manure.

A hot compost pile should be a 50:50 mixture.

If you just use manure, you run the risk of the pile, or sheet compost going anaerobic on you and this is what we don't want. This is what happens when the compost "stinks" .

Leaf mold is great in any shape or form, you can add the partly composted leaves to your compost pile when browns are short at hand. You can use the leaf mold as a summer mulch and slow release fertilizer. It will provide a home for beneficial organisms such as garder snakes.

(I really don't like snakes but, they keep the slug population in my garden down to nill.)

I took some miracle grow potting soil I had left over from seed germination and dumped it on the pile of leaves then put sunflower seeds in the pile. They started sprouting over the last couple of days.

[opabinia51]

You should see the smile on my face right now. Yes, that will happen but this is a good thing, just turn them into the pile. Don't forget to add browns like broken up sticks, leaves, shredded black and white newspaper articles and so on.

And don't forget to turn your pile at least once a week. Preferably every day. It's worth thte little bit of work, trust me.

I think I mentioned this above but, in the fall use the sheet composting (or mulching... same thing) method. You don't need to turn it at all. Also, do a couple of trench composts as well. Your plants will thank you for it next spring.

[Midnight Gardener]

You should see the smile on my face right now. Yes, that will happen but this is a good thing, just turn them into the pile. Don't forget to add browns like broken up sticks, leaves, shredded black and white newspaper articles and so on.

And don't forget to turn your pile at least once a week. Preferably every day. It's worth thte little bit of work, trust me.

I think I mentioned this above but, in the fall use the sheet composting (or mulching... same thing) method. You don't need to turn it at all. Also, do a couple of trench composts as well. Your plants will thank you for it next spring.

Here's a better picture, I plan on letting them grow until the summer is over and then till them in like you said.

[Reptilicus]

There is overwatering but for established plants the roots go down deep into the soil. I actually water my veg garden for 2-4 hours once a week or sometimes less often depending on whether or not it needs it. This is actually a water saving technique, among other things.

Sorry to 'hijack' this thread. I just have to say Thank you. I have watered using your recommendations. The plants are now a dark green and look 100% healthier.

I wasn't watering enough evidently.

[opabinia51]

Good, I'm glad that you have found improvement. That's great! Also, with these types of watering regimes you will actualy save water. Adding leaves to your garden will also save on how much water you have to use. Leaves will hold between 300 to 500% of their mass in water and prevent evaporative loss of water. Also, use deep mulching by digging trenches in your garden and placing leaves, manure and other compostables (vegetable scraps, seedless weeds, blood meal, kelp meal, grass clipping, a wide variety of leaves) into the trenches in layers and then covering them with soil.

This will not only increase the fertillity of your soil but, it will increase the water holding capacity of your soil as well.

Furthermore, you can create piles of leaf mold around your yard and garden which: is simply piles of mulched and unmulched leaves (depending on the size) that will slowly decompose. You can spread the leaf mold over your gardens as a mulch during the summer. It will act as a free fertilizer and decrease evaporative loss of water. You can also use it as a mulch in winter to keep the ground from freezing and to provide homes for insects ovet the winter months.

[pixelphoto]

wow, one hour? that seems like a long time. Is there such a thing as overwatering? I am a newbie and that may be why I didn't get a great crop last year. I did ok.

Depending on your soil dig down just a few inches after you "spray water" and see the difference in the color of the soil and the moisture.
Many times people who just spray water with the hose are only wetting the surface. It can take some time before the water truely soaks in and gets down deep to where the roots of the plants are.
Also as opabinia51 said deep watering for 2-4 hours is good as it allows water to saok into the deeper roots.
If you just give them a spray watering the roots will stay or grow shallow. They don't get as many nutrients this way and if it gets really hot during the summer time the plants can dry out and die much faster.
By deep watering the roots can mine the soil deep down and have a better chance of surviving a drought or extreme hot period. They also provide more nutrients for the plant and usually provide a better yield in crops.
A typical tomato plant can have roots down to 4 feet or more in the soil. The typical spray watering with a hose wont soak in good enough to feed those roots.