[Growster...]

I think because the watering quandary is so diverse, and different rules apply to practically every single vegetable, I really have to take the basic tenets of cultivation, and apply a measure of common sense, mainly to keep a) my sanity and b) some sort of growing going on the various veg and flowers.

If I were to put into action all the recommendations on watering from some scientific pamphlet I picked up back in the 1980s, I'd first go completely mad, then give up all hope of ever growing anything other than 'tired and emotional'! I'd then become a gibbering wreck... (again, I hear you say..;0)

Basic tenet? Soil moisture is a damn site closer to the top than you think it is. I thinned out some parsnips previously planted in paper pots today. The soil was pretty hard dry, (been under cloches), but the roots were already four or five inches long and counting on most of them, and they are still matchstick thin! So if a tiny piece of vegetable matter can start to delve down so deep, in hard unforgiving soil, in search of water, I reckon that little chap knows a lot more than I do!

[m1ckz]

with this dry spell should i be watering every thing daily now ..everything is now out on the plot cues, , toms gerkings,ect i hardly water potatoes at all.takes me a hour to water everything now,,just wondered if im over doing it

[Beetroot queen]

I think daily is too often as you are not encoring the plant roots down to look for water themselves.
I am doing mine today because they haven't been done for about six days and everything is very dry. I do john's finger test for water and use that as a guide.

I water new bits in more often till they get going

[willp]

Depends on your soil - on free draining sandy soil you`ll need to water sooner and more often than on moisture retentive clay.

Ungerminated seeds will do best if kept moist, but really it`s a question of actually getting down and checking the soil.  For most crops it matters not if the top inch or so is dry - have a furtle and feel how it is where the roots are.

I feel that many people make a rod for their own backs with over frequent watering - especially when the weather gets a bit warm.

Will

[pdblake]

It's one of those 'how long's a piece of string' questions really. As said, it depends on your soil. I tend to give everything a good soak when first planted out, then leave them to it, only watering if it all starts looking a bit Saharan, or to give a liquid feed.

For seeds I soak the row when sowing then again in a few days time if it hasn't rained.

My plot soil is very free draining though. At home, on heavy clay I hardly need to water at all,  save for feeding, but then I also get to use all the lawn clippings as mulch too, which I don't have at the plot.

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

My soil is soooo free draining that 6 inches down it is bone dry at the moment and everything is looking a bit limp.

I have been watering daily this week, but it still looks like it needs more. Or am I worrying too much?

[devonbarmygardener]

I borrowed a friends hose and really soaked the plot last evening so it won't need doing before sunday now at the earliest, even if the weather stays so nice.

Not sure if anyone's said it - pretty obvious really, but you're best watering early morning or evening so the water doesn't evaporate straight off in the midday sunshine.

But like I said, you probably already know that anyway

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

I did, but always appreciate advice anyhow Devon

[seaside]

A nice problem to have at last.
I leave my onions to it, along with the broad beans They are all well advanced and need no help from me given this year's weather. I'm also watering by hand the newly transplanted fruit bushes.

All this year's crops were well watered in/puddled on planting out. That down pour was a godsend 10 days ago, almost an inch of rain and was well worth a week.
Since then I have watered heavily once for an hour with the hose, and that included the potatoes, especially the earlies that are now flowering, brassicas through the enviromesh, peas that never did get a good start but I'm learning, strawberries, sweetcorn and runners/borlottis. Tempted to give the raspberries a blast but didn't.
I have left the greenhouse door open for the last week so every other day by hand has been the greenhouse  routine and have started feeding the tomatoes etc.
Looking at the forecast, I need to give certain crops one more good soak over the weekend to give them a boost, especially the newly planted corn.
My preferred time to water at this mid Summerish  is 6am, good for the plants and wouldn't want to hog the site water pressure.
A fault of mine is to over water early module seedlings. Summer watering out on the plot I feel I have about right.

[LilacSandy]

I never water my onions, only Toms, and squashes and have always had a good crop, however I do have a clay based soil that holds onto the water, at the bottom of our field they garden on a sandy loam and have to water often.

[devonbarmygardener]

Now I do water onions. And I always grow them at the bottom of the plot - or the bottom of the top part so the water runs down to them.

I always seem to do well with them - lovely swollen juicy roots

[peedee555]

if it helps to dispell any fears about the need for watering have a look around and see how well the weeds are doing pretty sure no ones been watering them 

[J_B]

it depends on teh soil, sometimes a little watering is needed given the weather last week but otherise not really since if u water u get the plants used to it and then u cannot stop