here is the deal. we had a pretty cool and wet april and as a result many of my plants appear to have been stressed by to much water. Everything has started to pick back up, along with the temperatures (forecasted triple digits this weekend). I have recently installed drip irrigation with 1/2 gallon per hour drippers in all of my raised beds and I need some guidance on how to use them.
the beds are approximately 14" - 16" deep, 50/50 sandy loam and organic material soil mix with about 1" of wood chip mulch.
according to a $10 moisture meter the top 4"-5" are dry but just below that the meter peaks out on the wet side.
should I water when the upper layers are dry or wait until the lower layers are dry as well? how long should I water with the setup described above/ how frequently?
I am pretty new at this so any advice is welcome.
thanks,
Brandyn
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panhandler
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gixxerific
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It's hard to say without knowing exactly what your soil is like. Mine is clay and compost and rock. So it drains good on top but down below it doesn't. With your sandy loam I would think it drains faster than mine. If you have had a lot of rain I might let it go for a while, even if the top dry's out a bit. That way the root system will go deeper looking for the moisture. If you keep the top wet the roots will stay near the top and have the chance to dry out when it does get hot more.
The rule of thumb is and inch a week, the other rule of thumb is if you dig down a few inches and it is dry to water, but water heavily, don't just wet the surface.
You will know if you plants are too dry they will start to wilt same thing if they are over-watered. If they do start to wilt from being dry a good soaking will bring them right back around.
Hope this helps.
The rule of thumb is and inch a week, the other rule of thumb is if you dig down a few inches and it is dry to water, but water heavily, don't just wet the surface.
You will know if you plants are too dry they will start to wilt same thing if they are over-watered. If they do start to wilt from being dry a good soaking will bring them right back around.
Hope this helps.