Watering

Well 84 cans later we watered the potatoes and bless her sister carried on and watered the rest of the plot while got on with planting the last of the cabbage and sweetcorn she was on the go from 7am till 9.30 Sunday morning/. Friend did not turn up with straw so mulched all the potatoes with straw manure mix from the communal bins so no more water till end of the week. Interesting though that when planting ( before watering) i I noted that damp soil was 4 ins down.

Quote from: diggerjoe on June 28, 2010, 09:17

Interesting though that when planting ( before watering) i I noted that damp soil was 4 ins down.

I think that's the crucial point.  Established plants will root down 4 inches to find that damp soil, then they will be happy.  When you water every night you are keeping the top inch or two of soild wet, so the plants won't bother developing their root system to find the moisture, and hence the plant will not be as healthy.

Plants by their nature want to grow, so they will find the moisture if it is there.

A noteworthy gem of wisdom..... so all we have to do is balance the watering act with just enough to get the plants to survive long enough to develop those longer root systems without making life too comfortable for them so they don't bother with the longer roots.  :blink:

Hi new poster here...

Thought you'd like to know how they water in my wife's village in Northern Spain.

There is a river running through the village, and each villager takes it in turn to put little dams in the river with rocks, so that the water runs into the fields with the vegetables in.

They get a right good soaking and the frequency depends on the crop. I know that potatoes get watered every 2 weeks or so, and the garlic never gets watered, leaving it to the rain.

As someone said earlier, my mother in law believes its better to give them a big soaking occasionally rather than little and often, and the proof is that her veg tastes wonderful.

Chris