Auto watering

[gingerneil]

mornin' all.
We moved house in July last year, and I have just put the finishing touches to my new raised beds in my nice new garden.... I have 2 that are about 1.5m x 1m, and one a little smaller that is about 80cm square. There are also a fair few pots dotted about (blueberries etc). I'll be growing toms, chillis (both in pots / hanging baskets) carrots, onions, garlic, parsnips, turnips, strawberries, potatoes, PSB, herbs, and probably a few other bits and bobs as I usually buy to many seeds! Some are in and doing well (carrots just peeping out!), others will go in as the first are harvested (ie PSB).

I brought all of my automatic watering setup with me when we moved - mainly hozelock, consisting of a water timer, a load of tubing and a good selection of sprayers and drippers. In the past, I have had this rigged up so that it just sprayed the raised beds for about 20 mins each day and dripped into the pots. Is this the best way to do it ? I figured that the spray would simulate normal rain - and thats a 'natural' way of doing it, right ? Or wrong ? Should I be using more localised drippers and sprinklers to get the soil bed, rather than just spraying the leaves of anything growing in the beds ?

Also, I live in east anglia - ie 20mins a day too much, too little, or just about right ? I also read somewhere that you should water in the evening so that it doesnt just evaporate on hot days. Is this sensible ?

Sorry for all the questions... but this is the first growing season in the new house, and I am keen to do the best job I can!

[Nicos]

Hi there- I've moved your post to a different section as growing techniques is a general advice section and not for specific questions

[Kristen]

I water (by hand) 2 or 3 times a week, and give a good soak. If you water often the plants develop surface roots (i.e. where the water is) and are then dependant on the water - during the day the sun dries that top cm or two and the plants gets stressed.

Rather than time I think it would be better to measure the volume of water that a dripper provides. Although I am not sure how much water I would give - it would depend on how dry the weather had been, and how big the plant was.

Watering the soil near the plant will be better than spraying. Spraying will damp the surface of a larger area, which will be more inclined to evaporate, whereas localised watering (from a dripper) will penetrate and get down to the root.

[gingerneil]

Thanks for the reply. I think I'll have a go with a network of drippers - getting the water to the roots is obviously the aim, and a good soaking every few days rather than a light sprinkle every day seems like a logical approach.

[chris]

I bought the same kit, with that ac digitial timer thing - not used it yet, but decided i'll use it for the greenhouse, and then connect up another timer to a soaker hose if/when needed. I have that hozelock 4 way splitter that comes off the tap - you can fit two timers on that if that's any help. The drippers are fine for pots - but when I was looking at the throughput of them they didn't seem that great. There's something in the instructions about measuring the volume from your tap too, to calculate the amount of watering needed.

[gingerneil]

Chris - thanks for the reply. The drippers I have are either variable or fixed. The fixed ones are about 4l per hour - which is a decent amount depending on the side of the pot. My main concern was whether or not I should be dripping or spraying. I think I'll try and avoid blanket spraying as in the past this has weighed down the folliage of things like carrots. However, getting a decent coverage from drippers will also be hard - I fear I'll be left with a few big puddles, rather than a nice damp raised bed.

[Kristen]

You could use leaky-hose - which "drips" all along its length - or what I think is called "irrigation tape" (or something like that!) it has constant-flow dripping "slits" somehow incorporated during manufacture. They come in various spacings, somewhere between 3" and 6" spacing, from memory, and obviously won't be exactly next to a plant, but I reckon if you install them in your beds in a serpentine fashion - across the bed, U-bend, double back across the bed - that would provide pretty even watering, but would be "concentrated" at each slit, and thus penetrate to lower in the bed.

One other point about watering from above - it creates wet foliage (obviously!) which can encourage fungus, and diseases like Blight require damp foliage in order to gain entry tot he plant. So best to water direct onto / into the soil (including avoiding splashing water onto the plant). Of course when it rains everything gets wet anyway ...

[chris]

Ah I see, I miss understood. The risk with spraying (regardless what other people say ) is scorch - I've done it, so now I water early morning, or late evening depending on what I am watering/when I'm available. Of course, watering around those times is fine heh. Spraying I guess can be wasteful too.

You could give it a go, if your outside plants are wilting, then adjust the drippers as need be. I guess it'll be a try it and see approach. I need to sort mine out this year, as trusting people to water and not drown plants is a nightmare!