Watering and Irrigating Plants
In this section, learn about watering vegetables and choices for garden irrigation:
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- How, when, and how much water plants need.
- The signals plants give to start and stop watering.
- Methods and techniques of hand watering vegetables.
- Choices, options, and demonstrations of how to install labor-saving and automatic watering systems.
- Tips on buying garden hoses, nozzles, spray heads, watering wands and more.
Choices for Watering
After preparing your plots and installing your plant supports, it’s time to consider how you’ll provide for your plant’s water needs. Success with vegetables means regular waterings.
Even if your vegetable garden is in a locale with regular precipitation all through the growing season, natural rains may be sporadic. Intermittent rains mean you must take up the slack by irrigating your drought-prone plants.
Furrow and Moat Irrigation
The simplest irrigation system is using a hoe or rake to furrow watering channels beside plants in rows or raise circular moats around hills planted with vegetables. These methods serve most level sites. It’s best to install furrows and moats prior to sowing seeds or planting transplants.
With moats, furrows and a garden hose, fill the irrigation channels with water and allow it soak into the soil at the growing plants’ roots [see Watering Techniques].
Drip Irrigation
The popularity of achieving better water conservation and customizing individual plant care make drip irrigation a choice for many home gardeners [see Laying Drip and Soaker Hose Irrigation].
Drip systems have the advantage of limiting the growth of weeds to the watered area and, when used with a covering of mulch, generally will eliminate the need to cultivate.
Soaker hoses are ideal for providing water to rows of vegetables. Since they are flexible, you can loop them around hills or large perennial plants.
Often controlled manually, either easily may be automated. Add a timer and control valve; they’re a boon for those with limited time to water. Automatic irrigation provides your vegetables reliable, regular waterings without requiring your personal attention.
Soaker-Hose Irrigation
Compared to drip irrigation, soaker hoses require less time, effort and expense to install. Prior to the onset of drip irrigation, soaker hoses delivered water slowly to vegetable plants and avoided constant hose tending.
Soaker hoses work best in level sites and gardens with simple, straight rows of vegetable plants. Choose hoses that weep water, avoiding those that emit spray and wets the plants’ foliage [see Laying Drip and Soaker Hose Irrigation].
Connect drip hoses to your household water supply using one or more regular garden hoses to reach the hose bibb.
After installation of drip or soaker hose irrigation, run the system for a timed period in order to gauge how much water reaches each plant and adjust the controller or timing as needed.
Hand-Watering Vegetables
In areas where natural rains are common throughout the vegetable growing season, hand supplemental watering supplements natural precipitation only as needed.
Hand watering also is a common choice for many gardeners that tend small home vegetable gardens or have container plantings.
In arid regions with long dry spells, or in regions where drought requires strict water-conservation, however, most gardeners use automatic watering systems, either at-plant or subsurface drip irrigation.