Which plants to water??

[Bramble_killer]

Right, I have bitten the bullet and will have to water plants in the ground. We've had nothing (not even a sprinkle in a longgggg time, my memory tells me about 3 weeks) and no rain forecast for next week. I've been doing everything in containers daily but left the ones in the ground to fend for themselves. We have clay soil which means I don't have to water as much when it's been raining.

Do I water everything, a good soaking with the hose this evening or should I be selective?

In the ground are onions, garlic, sweetcorn, courgettes, tomatoes, tomatillos, potatoes (flowering!!), beans, peas, parsnips, celeriac, baby beetroot, squashes, pumpkins. I'm planting some brassicas in so they will get a good drenching when they go in. Do I water the soft fruits as well? The raspberries and goosegogs and currants?

And what about the jerusalem artichokes?

[Mrs Dobby]

I wouldnt worry about the fartichokes, we've never watered them, and they always do well!

The toms, courgettes, pumpkin and squash are all very thirsty, so give them a really good soak, peas and beans want watering if theres not been any rain, as does lettuce. Watering onions will help them swell larger, same for soft fruits, without water you will get a smaller harvest, but generally look at the plants and see how they are coping, if they are wilting and under stress, then water them, but give them a really good soak! A light watering will soon evaporate and wont penetrate the soil to any depth, making your plants grow shallow roots, whereas a good long soaking will sink in deeper and should get your plants sending deeper roots, which will help them in times of little or no rain!

HTH

[Two_Sheds]

We've not had a decent rain for about 3 months now: today my potatoes and strawberries collapsed (despite mulching), so they've had a good drink.