I have a soaker hose that is snaked through my "T" shaped raised bed. I've noticed that it waters the bed to the point the bottom is dripping water onto the lawn, but there are sections in the dead center between the turns of the soaker hoes that are dry, dry, dry. What gives? Is it because the hose is on top of the soil and not buried? My thoughts were that if I buried it, the seedlings w/ their little roots wouldn't have gotten water from the hose, as gravity and drainage would pull it away from them.
Or is it the mix: peat, vermiculite and compost. It gets crumbly on top when dry, but the underneath material will stay damp for a good while.
I'm scratching my head here.
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stella1751
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I tried soaker hoses last year for the first time, and I swear by them. I loved the way they slowly soaked the whole bed!
I also use the same mix as you, except most of mine is soil with peat moss, vermiculite and compost added in. I think your problem lies with your soil mix. Without soil mixed in, too, and in good quantities, the peat moss in particular can repel water.
Can you buy a bag of topsoil and crumble it over the top? It, with the help of the worms, will gradually work its way in.
Unless your plants are really young, it probably doesn't matter if the top is dry. I've got some young cucumbers I have to spray with a nozzle sprayer each night because I went overboard with peat moss and compost
I also use the same mix as you, except most of mine is soil with peat moss, vermiculite and compost added in. I think your problem lies with your soil mix. Without soil mixed in, too, and in good quantities, the peat moss in particular can repel water.
Can you buy a bag of topsoil and crumble it over the top? It, with the help of the worms, will gradually work its way in.
Unless your plants are really young, it probably doesn't matter if the top is dry. I've got some young cucumbers I have to spray with a nozzle sprayer each night because I went overboard with peat moss and compost
Sorry for being misleading....it's not just the tops that are dry. The top looks dry *most* of the time....but when watering is needed, even after the bed is dripping water from the bottom after the soaker hose is on, if I stick a finger in the dead center of one of the curves where the hose turns, it's very dry - no water seepage laterally. Hope I'm explaining this well enough!
I could do the topsoil thing, but with everything already well established, I can't really rake it in or anything - might inadvertently disturb roots or something. And not too many worms in there, as this bed is completely filled with the mix. I've put what worms I find in areas of the yard in there - not sure if they make it or not.
The mix is AKA "Mel's Mix" from Square Foot Gardening. LOTS of people use it. How could it just be a problem for me?
I could do the topsoil thing, but with everything already well established, I can't really rake it in or anything - might inadvertently disturb roots or something. And not too many worms in there, as this bed is completely filled with the mix. I've put what worms I find in areas of the yard in there - not sure if they make it or not.
The mix is AKA "Mel's Mix" from Square Foot Gardening. LOTS of people use it. How could it just be a problem for me?
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Hispoptart
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Nope, not the hose. I can see it "sweating" over the entire length of it. That was one of the first things I checked.
I'm at work, or I'd run out and take a quick pic so you could see the set up. Maybe this will help:
Picture a "T" shaped bed - you're standing at the bottom of the T, and it's 4' wide. The sides go up 4' on each side, then out 2', then up another 2', and then the top of the T is 8' wide - 32 sq' in total. You're still at the bottom of the T and the soaker hose starts in the right hand corner, then snakes across the T, first at the 4' wide section, then continuing the same snaking pattern it goes across the 8' wide top part of the T. The little curves where the hose turns to go back across the T stay dry, while the soil direct adjacent to the hose, as well as underneath that area, gets wet. But the areas in the dead center of the little curves get no water. I can't make the curves any tighter or it would kink the hose. I can't run another hose, or it would be overkill.
*sigh* Maybe it just won't work for me.
I'm at work, or I'd run out and take a quick pic so you could see the set up. Maybe this will help:
Picture a "T" shaped bed - you're standing at the bottom of the T, and it's 4' wide. The sides go up 4' on each side, then out 2', then up another 2', and then the top of the T is 8' wide - 32 sq' in total. You're still at the bottom of the T and the soaker hose starts in the right hand corner, then snakes across the T, first at the 4' wide section, then continuing the same snaking pattern it goes across the 8' wide top part of the T. The little curves where the hose turns to go back across the T stay dry, while the soil direct adjacent to the hose, as well as underneath that area, gets wet. But the areas in the dead center of the little curves get no water. I can't make the curves any tighter or it would kink the hose. I can't run another hose, or it would be overkill.
*sigh* Maybe it just won't work for me.
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applestar
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It does kind of sound like the mix dried out and is now refusing to soak through -- typical of peat based mix. I think it might start working again if you can get that center part moistened -- I'm thinking tepid water with a bit of soap (not detergent) in a watering can slowly sprinkled from above, or if you have the room put in a gallon milk jug with drip holes punched in the bottom and sit it there to soak in.