It seems that when the rain ends and the weather is dry for a week the plants suffer! We had weeks of rain but now the soil seems like cement and very dry! Two things I did when I planted seemed to work together to keep lots of moiture around the plants!
+++
When the ground was really soaked I put 5 sections of black plastic down in 10 by 25 areas. I put about a 100 or more 5 inch diameter holes in each area about 9 inches appart and 9 inches between rows! This by itself holds the moisture in the ground better than any other mulch in my opinion!
+++
The other thing I did which I mentioned in other post was to make a funnel shapped hole about a foot deep using a steel rod or shovel handle with a point! I new that the deep hole would hold water at its deepest point but it worked better than I thought! My tomatoes needed no water even with the 92 degree heat.. I guess when you can incoporate two things together with one complimenting the other you can.t loose!
+++
I also planted small seeds in the funnel holes but filled part of the funnel hole with soft compost material and placing the seed about a inch or two below the surface. If I would have not use the soft soil my seeds could not penetrate the hard dirt!. The corn seed I dropped in the hole about 4 inches down after filling the foot hole part way up with the compost! Imagin a 3 inch surface funnel hole going down a foot with the bottom of the hole about a inch in diameter. I think the corn roots will love it! Its all up nice even the zucks & cukes that I put in the3 same type hole. What meathod do you use to keep the moisture in the soiil for days without wattering? Has anyone tried the funnel hole yet?
-
stella1751
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1494
- Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:40 am
- Location: Wyoming
I mix either perlite or vermiculite with my soil when starting a new bed. I started doing this when I lived in Cheyenne. That city has water restrictions, and I wanted to make every drop last as long as possible.
So far, my preference is for vermiculite, based upon the results I have seen. Last year, the bed with the highest concentration of vermiculite, which isn't saying much, 'cause I don't use a lot, refused to dry out, even after two weeks of all sun and no rain. I felt certain something had to be wrong, and I watered the peppers anyway, killing two of 'em.
This year, I have strawberries in that bed. It's been a wet spring, so it's early to tell whether or not the same thing will happen, but they've been out there for about six weeks now, and I haven't watered them once. They are growing like crazy and are now putting on blossoms. I've also got garlic out there. It's been growing since March (I think), and I haven't watered it once.
I just completed a new bed this morning for my Habaneros, and I amended the soil with roughly the same amount of vermiculite I used in the old pepper/new strawberry bed. It will be interesting to see whether it has the same water retention capabilities as the other!
Oh. I also mulch heavily with grass clippings
So far, my preference is for vermiculite, based upon the results I have seen. Last year, the bed with the highest concentration of vermiculite, which isn't saying much, 'cause I don't use a lot, refused to dry out, even after two weeks of all sun and no rain. I felt certain something had to be wrong, and I watered the peppers anyway, killing two of 'em.
This year, I have strawberries in that bed. It's been a wet spring, so it's early to tell whether or not the same thing will happen, but they've been out there for about six weeks now, and I haven't watered them once. They are growing like crazy and are now putting on blossoms. I've also got garlic out there. It's been growing since March (I think), and I haven't watered it once.
I just completed a new bed this morning for my Habaneros, and I amended the soil with roughly the same amount of vermiculite I used in the old pepper/new strawberry bed. It will be interesting to see whether it has the same water retention capabilities as the other!
Oh. I also mulch heavily with grass clippings
The third thing you can do (which you may be doing alreadyBobberman wrote:It seems that when the rain ends and the weather is dry for a week the plants suffer! We had weeks of rain but now the soil seems like cement and very dry! Two things I did when I planted seemed to work together to keep lots of moiture around the plants!...
) is to add organic matter, such as compost, to your soil.That can work wonders to eliminate the cement-like texture, and increase the moisture level in the soil.
Even though I have the black plastic I mulch around the hole in the plastic to keep weeds from coming up beside the plants! I use leaves or compost mix!. The holes in the plastic I did not plant in yet have the nicest weeds about a foot high. I put in another 2 dozen tomatoes tonight and a dozen peppers! Everything is coming nice and there was rain last night!
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30543
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Black plastic "mulch" is often recommended for northern Gardeners trying to grow heat loving crops like sweet potatoes and melons.
It seems to stand to reason that if the black plastic can help heat up the soil to encourage these plants to grow in the north, where the summer temperatures and the sun do not get hot enough, then in the more southern locations where the sun and heat are stronger, the increased heat can become stressful to the plants rather than beneficial.
Personally, I'm not in favor of plastic "mulch" -- black or any other color.
M2c
It seems to stand to reason that if the black plastic can help heat up the soil to encourage these plants to grow in the north, where the summer temperatures and the sun do not get hot enough, then in the more southern locations where the sun and heat are stronger, the increased heat can become stressful to the plants rather than beneficial.
Personally, I'm not in favor of plastic "mulch" -- black or any other color.
M2c
Corn doesn't have a tap root, and produces poorly if it doesn't have enough water when silking.
https://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137ch2.html
I have good luck spreading matted leaves (saved in a big pile from the previous fall) covered with grass clippings (to keep the dark leaves from heating up and scorching the plants). But the soil has to be wet to start with since this type of mulch stops minor rains from getting to the soil. Grass clippings and or wood chips by themselves are better as a permeable moisture insulation.
https://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137ch2.html
I have good luck spreading matted leaves (saved in a big pile from the previous fall) covered with grass clippings (to keep the dark leaves from heating up and scorching the plants). But the soil has to be wet to start with since this type of mulch stops minor rains from getting to the soil. Grass clippings and or wood chips by themselves are better as a permeable moisture insulation.
