Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Islandman on March 23, 2019, 09:21
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I know this may seem a bit of a strange question to ask at this time of year but I live in north Kent and we haven't had any rain for at least a week or more and with no rain forecast for the next week should I water my spuds that I planted on Thursday?
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Yes, not good to let them dry out.
Much the same here, no rain here since the 13th March.
I water my first, second and early potatoes at least a few times a week anyway, unless we get some significant rainfall.
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Dig down with a trowel to where the roots are/will be and have a look to see if it's too dry.
Also do the same the day after watering to check you put enough on. There's no point wetting the top 5cm if the roots are 15-20cm deep, you'll just be wasting water and your time!
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Here, on Kentish Greensand (rainfall drains through very quickly) the soil below the top few inches is still wet, so I wouldn't watering would be needed.
It really does take a lot more than a week or 2 without rain for the lower layers to dry out.
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Depending on your type of soil, content and drainage, once you've given them a good watering-in I'd leave them for a fortnight then stick your finger down into the soil to see if it's still damp. As they're only starting to grow they shouldn't need a lot of moisture.