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How many gallons is an inch of rain?

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:03 pm
by hardland
I'm trying to gauge how much water to give my Tomato plants. Ive heard and read that about an inch a week is correct? If my pots are 13 inches round, then I believe that equates to about 41 sq inches? 13 x 3.142. Does that mean I only need to give 41 cubic inches of water to my plants per week? if there's 230 cubic inches in a gallon, then does that mean only a fifth of a gallon a week? I'm confused, right now I'm giving each plant a daily shot of about 1/4 gallon.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:09 pm
by gumbo2176
You're putting way too much thought into this. Simply look at the plants to see if they are vibrant. If they start to look like they are wilting, water them. In my climate, 1 inch of water a week will not keep a tomato plant alive in the summer months.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:18 pm
by hardland
I agree with the thought comment. The daily 1/4 gallon seems to be working OK, so I'll just stick with that for now. Thanks

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:53 pm
by gumbo2176
hardland wrote:I agree with the thought comment. The daily 1/4 gallon seems to be working OK, so I'll just stick with that for now. Thanks
Since your plants are in pots, I find that situation warrants considerably more watering than what plants do when directly in the ground.

I don't grow my vegetables in pots but I do have quite a few house plants on my porches in pots of varying sizes and in the summer months I have to water them daily. If I miss a day or two, my plants become seriously wilted.

With our daily temperatures hovering in the low to upper 70's now, I can get by with watering the potted plants every other day.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:43 pm
by Richard L.
A good way to judge moisture in pots or the soil is to buy a "Moisture meter" from your local nursery. It measures the moisture in the soil, if it dry water it... if its "wet" leave it be for a day or two. I use mine a lot on flower pots.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:46 pm
by Barncat
How much water you need depends on Temp and humidity and many other factors! I am new here but have gardened for many years!

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 2:02 pm
by jal_ut
Richard, welcome to the forum.

Barncat, welcome to the forum.

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:16 pm
by Alan in Vermont
there are 132.7 sq. inches in your 13" circle, not 42. You solved for circumference, not area. Area would be 6.5x6.5x3.1416.

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:38 pm
by gumbo2176
Alan in Vermont wrote:there are 132.7 sq. inches in your 13" circle, not 42. You solved for circumference, not area. Area would be 6.5x6.5x3.1416.

Stop!!!! You're hurting my brain!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:56 am
by Alan in Vermont
gumbo2176 wrote:
Alan in Vermont wrote:there are 132.7 sq. inches in your 13" circle, not 42. You solved for circumference, not area. Area would be 6.5x6.5x3.1416.

Stop!!!! You're hurting my brain!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Exercise it more often and it won't do that.

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:08 pm
by cynthia_h
Alan in Vermont wrote:
gumbo2176 wrote:
Alan in Vermont wrote:there are 132.7 sq. inches in your 13" circle, not 42. You solved for circumference, not area. Area would be 6.5x6.5x3.1416.

Stop!!!! You're hurting my brain!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Exercise it more often and it won't do that.
Go, Alan! :clap:

Cynthia H. (in another lifetime, a math teacher)
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:47 am
by gumbo2176
Alan in Vermont wrote:
gumbo2176 wrote:
Alan in Vermont wrote:there are 132.7 sq. inches in your 13" circle, not 42. You solved for circumference, not area. Area would be 6.5x6.5x3.1416.

Stop!!!! You're hurting my brain!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Exercise it more often and it won't do that.

What, I don't understand????

Just kidding. I love crossword puzzles, scrabble, trivial pursuit as well as many other word games. I also play a lot of darts and math is used in every game even though it is only multiplication, addition and subtraction.

It amazes me the number of young people that have such little grasp of simple math that is used in darts. I believe much of that comes from the use of calculators in schools instead of a pencil and paper to actually work things out.

Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:06 am
by DoubleDogFarm
cynthia_h wrote:
Alan in Vermont wrote:
gumbo2176 wrote:
Stop!!!! You're hurting my brain!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Exercise it more often and it won't do that.
Go, Alan! :clap:

Cynthia H. (in another lifetime, a math teacher)
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
There are some studies that claim Brain Puzzles may exacerbate not hinder Alzheimer's.

Eric

Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 11:47 am
by Bobberman
Thats too bad we don't have a daily trivia game here. I did suggest it awhile ago. I have one on my forum which seems to keep my brain working even though I usually come in last! When you get older it seems you forget alot! As for the inches of water its easier to use a retangular container to figure what you need! That pie for the circle is a decimal and sometimes confusing!

Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:29 pm
by gumbo2176
DoubleDogFarm wrote:[quote
There are some studies that claim Brain Puzzles may exacerbate not hinder Alzheimer's.

Eric

Thanks, now I need to get out the dictionary to look up words. :lol: :lol: :lol: