Watering -Might be a silly Question -New girl at it again!!!!

[Settle]

Hi again just a bit of advice now the weather is hot..... How often should I give my newly planting seedlings a good water? So far I have the following planted and just wondered when I go each evening in the warm weather if I should give everything a good soak with the hose pipe or not?

Peas
broad Beans
beet root
carrots
Cauliflower Seedlings
broccoli Seedlings
cabbage Seedlings
Sweed Seddlings
Onion
Leeks
Radish
Potatoes

I just don't want yo over water or under water and being new I'm a let tile unsure?

[muddled]

ah! If you ask 10 gardeners, you'll get 10 different answers!

But I can give you some theories and you can choose your favourite?

I think the one thing most of us will agree is that you water in seedlings thoroughly as you plant them. After that;

Some people feel that you shouldn't water most veggies in case the act of putting water at surface level encourages the roots to stay shallow. It's also possible that lots of regular watering leads to fast, tender growth of the sort most appealing to slugs. They believe that unwatered (except in times of drought) plants grow slower but sturdier and with deeper roots.

Other people believe that daily watering promotes even growth and bountiful harvests. The old boys on my site water daily for long periods and their crops are certainly impressive! Mind you, they mainly grow F1s and they make liberal use of weedkillers and they are there every day which might also have a lot to do with it!

My personal (and totally unscientific) approach is that I don't water unless the plants look droopy. I mulch heavily to keep the soil from 'capping' and becoming parched. I feel that too much water leads to tasteless veg but again, that's just some quirky idea I've picked up....I don't have any evidence to back it up. Also, I don't go to my plot every day and I don't want my plants to get used to a watering regime that I can't maintain.
There are certain exceptions... My greenhouse plants are watered every day, sometimes several times..and courgettes in full production are watered every day with weak comfrey or nettle tea because they're like olympic athletes with the amount they produce.

[veggiechicken]

Like muddled (and we do!) I water the GH & water in seedllngs/plants when planted out but after that, unless they look droopy, they're left to fend for themselves.
There's no mollycoddling here

[Jay-ell]

Outside I like to give the plants a good soaking when sowed or planted out.

After that I water when needed if it's a hot dry spell and I like to water once and deep rather than often and shallow.

Fruit bushes may get watered more often as they're new last year.

Giant pumpkins I way water more frequently plus additional watering with feed added.

[Settle]

Great replies guys, I really don't want yo have to go every day all summer, I don't have a greenhouse at allotment but lots of young seedlings so I'll make sure on warm days until established I will water daily but I never really knew about mulching so I'll have a read up for when the plants are bigger.... Great helps guys thanks

[Bren In Pots]

Another one who only waters when plants need it then i water early morning that way its dry so wont encourage overnight slugs as much, not sure if thats true but i like to think it is.

[Greenleaves]

My mentally is make them look for water, if you keep watering the roots are shallow and susceptible to getting cooked

[Bigmallly]

I give a good soaking when planting out, cover with chippings, then only water when they start sulking.

[spamvindaloo]

Worth mentioning that anything in raised beds will dry more quickly than anything straight in the ground and anything in pots even more so these will need extra watering compared to anything straight in the ground.

[Cadalot]

In the greenhouse on the allotment I use gravel trays (without the gravel) and water from the bottom for my toms and plants and seedlings are grown in the Self Watering Pop Bottle Propagators see YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMj6PMIaEes nothing worse than finding dead dried out seedlings.

In that way I only need to visit every other day in the height of Summer (when we get one) or mid week when the weather is nice but not too nice.