spray-watering garden with in-ground system

[denemante]

Hey all,

I have a veggie garden. It's fresh this year with new soil/manure mix, etc. I also have an in-ground sprinkler system at my property.

Nearby the garden are some small pop-ups that spray a fine shower of water about 8-10 feet. It's not a mist by any means - but at the same time, it's not like a hose. Perhaps like a steady, light rain.

These were put in by the previous owner presumably to water bushes. But I yanked the bushes and now have the garden.

I've heard that spraying a garden with water is bad. It tosses stuff up onto leaves, etc. and can cause issues. I've heard some people water only by hand. Others use a drip system or soaker so water never hits the leaves/soil.

Would any of you advise against me just using these small pop-up sprayers to water?

I don't really want to do it - but I've separately heard you can mulch a garden specifically to stop the splatter.

[Dillbert]

[sigh] apply common sense, then re-question.

some basics:

a "provide water" technique / method that causes "dirt" to splash up on (lower) leaves can cause issues _where and withfor_ situations where "soil borne" diseases exist.

prime example, tomatoes. bad example - flowers.

wildly spraying water into the air has a number of issues:

first and foremost, is the water "landing" where you want it to be? this is a "in the shadow of" question.

next, tossing zillions of gallons of water into the air results in some of that water 'evaporating' before it 'hits the ground' and does any good. this is an issue in a zero-low-humidity desert climate. not so much an issue in the Pacific North(ever-fogged)West

next, water rained down from above can create conditions - especially in humid climates - that "promotes" disease / bacterial / fungal infection of plants - see powdery mildew as (likely) the least of those 'problems'

bottom line, do _not_ rely on sprinkler systems to irrigate a vegetable garden. follow your nose / fingers / wilted leaves as to what needs more/less water.

hand watering directly at the soil level works most marvelously; hand watering 20,000 sq feet - ahhh, that's a problem.

drip / weep hoses work veddy well thank you. but no you can't hook 300 feet of drip hose on a single hose bib. the last 250' feet don't see any water.

prefer to water my roughly 1000 sq ft veggie patch with a 4 foot wand. not because "it's better" - but because that forces my attention to look and see 'zactly what in the 'ell is going on in my garden.

of course, I also have a 5' raised oscillating sprinkler mounted in the garden. when I got time not, I just hit the hose valve and let it rip....






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