Island News & Views
General · 22nd July 2010
eileen mackay
1. Although the soil is sandy and dries out fairly fast in the upper layers, when you water you need to water deep and not often. This past week, a couple of waterings would have been more than enough if they went to the roots alone. You want to encourage roots to go deep. If you water frequently and superficially, roots stay shallow and a drought will kill them. In one of the driest beds in the garden, broad beans, peas and broccoli have not been watered since planting in April ( I have watered the lettuce plants twice only). They are mulched however. Broccoli have slowed down a bit (just as well as I have more than I can cope with) but they are alive and growing slowly. There are tiny holes or stomata on the underside of leaves through which carbon dioxide enters and oxygen and water vapour leave. If the plant begins to suffer water stress it shuts these stomata. Plants are tough and will do anything to reproduce before dying. If you make life too easy for them, they will grow soft and be more prone to disease. Be mean.
2. Dry soil is very difficult to wet. Do a quick watering to moisten the soil surface (none on leaves) in the evening and then come back the next morning and do a deeper one. That should be it for almost a week of temps into the high 20s.
3. Mulch is wonderful. It not only cuts down water loss from the surface of the soil but it keeps the soil cooler, stops weeds growing and breaks down to add humus. Any weed seeds are easily pulled if you just move the mulch around a bit when they appear. When to mulch depends on the crop. For plants that prefer cool conditions (brassicas, potatoes, peas, carrots, onions, etc) mulch when the plants are tall enough so they don't get buried. For heat loving plants like tomatoes, cucurbits and squash, mulch once the soil is warmed i.e. now. There should be no bare soil showing in the garden. Pull the mulch up around the plants.
4. Give the plants a bottle. For plants like squash or others that need a lot of water, cut the end of a big plastic bottle, remove the cap and bury the bottle upright in the soil, cap end down so it sits upright. Fill with water. This will deliver water to the root area where it is needed with virtually no evaporation. If you have plastic or weed cloth down with plants growing through holes cut in it, bottles are wonderful. Otherwise stick the end of the hose through the hole the plant is in and get the water under the plastic. Overhead watering is a waste of water.
5. Make a shallow depression like a saucer around each plant to hold the water.
6. If starting seeds (time to start winter cabbage and winter sprouting broccoli) do so in a pot at home where they can be watered regularly until they are ready to transplant. Prepare your planting hole, fill it with water and let it drain and then transplant. Cover, firm and water again and then pull mulch around them. if you must sow seeds directly into the garden, cover with remay to cut down evaporation.
7. Drip hoses are meant to drip. Pressure should be such that water drips out the furthest holes but no sprays of water. Water on foliage is wasted water on hot days and encourages disease.
Watering is the real art in gardening and, in the old days, they used to say the success of a greenhouse operation depended on the person at the end of the hose. Some rain is forecast in 7 - 10 days time and temps are cooler.
2. Dry soil is very difficult to wet. Do a quick watering to moisten the soil surface (none on leaves) in the evening and then come back the next morning and do a deeper one. That should be it for almost a week of temps into the high 20s.
3. Mulch is wonderful. It not only cuts down water loss from the surface of the soil but it keeps the soil cooler, stops weeds growing and breaks down to add humus. Any weed seeds are easily pulled if you just move the mulch around a bit when they appear. When to mulch depends on the crop. For plants that prefer cool conditions (brassicas, potatoes, peas, carrots, onions, etc) mulch when the plants are tall enough so they don't get buried. For heat loving plants like tomatoes, cucurbits and squash, mulch once the soil is warmed i.e. now. There should be no bare soil showing in the garden. Pull the mulch up around the plants.
4. Give the plants a bottle. For plants like squash or others that need a lot of water, cut the end of a big plastic bottle, remove the cap and bury the bottle upright in the soil, cap end down so it sits upright. Fill with water. This will deliver water to the root area where it is needed with virtually no evaporation. If you have plastic or weed cloth down with plants growing through holes cut in it, bottles are wonderful. Otherwise stick the end of the hose through the hole the plant is in and get the water under the plastic. Overhead watering is a waste of water.
5. Make a shallow depression like a saucer around each plant to hold the water.
6. If starting seeds (time to start winter cabbage and winter sprouting broccoli) do so in a pot at home where they can be watered regularly until they are ready to transplant. Prepare your planting hole, fill it with water and let it drain and then transplant. Cover, firm and water again and then pull mulch around them. if you must sow seeds directly into the garden, cover with remay to cut down evaporation.
7. Drip hoses are meant to drip. Pressure should be such that water drips out the furthest holes but no sprays of water. Water on foliage is wasted water on hot days and encourages disease.
Watering is the real art in gardening and, in the old days, they used to say the success of a greenhouse operation depended on the person at the end of the hose. Some rain is forecast in 7 - 10 days time and temps are cooler.