GYO Wants Your Advice on.... Using Water in the Garden

[Hans Mum]

(I don't use butt water on seedlings)

just wondered why you dont TS?

[pigletwillie]

just wondered why you dont TS?

Neither do I Hans mum, the butt water may well cause damping off as its likely stood for a fair while. Whilst ok on plants, small seedlings are not worth risking it on.

[pigletwillie]

The best water saving tricks are the ones that help you not to have to water in a dry spell.

Try to get your soil to hold as much water as possible by adding compost or manure. If you grow beans, dig out a bean trench and fill it with veg peelings or even just layer it with newspapers and cardboard before backfilling with topsoil.

Mulch, mulch and mulch some more, especially around fruit bushes and larger plants. Use grass clippings about your sweetcorn or outdoor tomatoes, it keeps the moisture in rather than evaporating and warms the soil too.

Try heritage varieties of veg that have some drought resistance.

Save as much water as you can either in barrels, ibc's or via a dipping pond. A dipping pond is a wildlife pond that is topped up by rainwater from your shed which is then used in dry weather to water crops with. Try to maximise the storage capacity of your rainwater, even a couple of thousand litres of water will only see you through a short dry spell.

If your water butts are over flowing in the winter, use the excess to water inside greenhouses and the like to keep the soil moist before you plant crops in spring and the rainfall drops off (we hope), also fill up your watering cans.

Put a lid on your water buts to help stop evaporation, it also stops animals and birds falling in and polluting your water.

Water in the evening and water well, the water will then penetrate the soil before the sun comes up in the morning.

[lainey lou]

instead of using expensive water retaining granules (the type that swell up when wet) buy a pack of cheap shop brand disposable nappies, rip them apart into a bucket and add water, the resulting gel when mixed with compost is just as good at retaining water, i use it in a windowbox and in large pots in the greenhouse, result = less watering.

Alternatively, buy cheep sponges and cut them up and use in the same way!

[rustylady]

When you transplant seedlings/young plants (cabbage, leeks, squashes, etc) do what my Grandad did and "puddle them in". Dig the hole, pop the seedling/young plant in, and fill the hole with water. Let the water soak away, repeat. Then firm the young plant in and leave it alone. When you do have to water in open ground give it a really good soak so the water goes deep and the plant roots go deep too, looking for the water. Watering little and often encourages the roots of plants to stay near the surface and this causes no end of problems when we get a hot dry spell.

[Protea]

WIth water hungry crops like sweetcorn and outdoor tomatoes i make a saucer shaped depression around each plant with a 'moat wall'. This way you are restricting the water to just that plant rather than watering all the weeds and bare soil around it. Its also easier to water as you just fill up each 'moat'. This technique is used by farmers in Africa a lot (particularly with things like fruit bushes) which is where i first saw it.

[Kirsty]

Thanks for your tips, they're all really helpful! I appreciate it.

Kirsty
Editorial