[jsgreen89]

Since I'm severely short of free time at the moment, I skidded into the allotment this morning to do a bit of watering. I currently have courgette plants (just starting to flower), runner beans that are starting to climb, and some leek and onion sets that have been in for around 3 weeks-ish.

My neighbour (who has a ridiculously well-kept and successful plot) says I really don't need to bother, even this week. He says I should just water the courgette plants as they need the water, and the rest I can just leave. Is this really true? Even if it's sunny all day and there's no rain for over a week??

Thanks!

[Goosegirl]

I would say that, to a certain extent it depends on your type of soil and its water retention properties. I'd stick my finger down into the soil to see if it feels damp below. I know that insufficient watering can encourage roots to reach for the surface so I would spend a visit giving everything a jolly good soaking and mulch the lot with whatever you have - compost, grass cuttings, newspaper, cardboard etc. That will help so much if your plot is away from home. Onions don't need as much water when they begin to mature or you could encourage rot. We haven't had any decent rain for about 3 months, except for one day which ended up sunny!  :blink: