Topic: Hosepipe Ban - Which veg would you grow?

[Tulipa]

In Hampshire we are to have a hosepipe ban from April 3rd.  I just wondered what other people are planning on growing allowing for this.  Most of us are going to be in this situation this year so I thought perhaps having a thread would be useful. 

I know E-J posted once about what she grows with no watering but can't find the thread now.  Just off out to dig a load more compost in to help with water retention!  Have a good day.

[amphibian]

A hosepipe ban does not worry me, we have a cistern rather than a tap.

What worries me is that our water board are applying for a 'no unnecessary water usage' order. I am very worried for my container plants; fruit trees, blueberries, peppers, tomatoes.

[supersprout]

I am planning now and aiming to grow my veg without a hosepipe. I used the hosepipe three times last year, and would like to do without it altogether - I just believe it's the right thing to do. All the water my plants get this year will come out of a watering can!

The logic is that unlike market gardeners we're not trying to bulk up veg to sell fewer to the lb, just giving them enough water to thrive.

This seemed to work last year:

Watered copiously when planting/sowing, then waited til after a rainy spell and mulched heavily to keep the water in. I'm lucky enough to have spent hops, which are pale in colour and deflect the heat from the beds
Covered small plants with enviromesh or fleece tunnel - I'm convinced this helps minimise transpiration thru the plants' leaves
Make the most of autumn-sown overwintering veg, to take advantage of winter wetness and miminise risk of bolting. My spinach and purple sprouting broccoli have done really well with no watering, so I'm branching out into overwintering Oriental veg.
Plant offset on beds, so there's no bare soil showing. I can't prove it, but I think this will minimise water loss from the soil.

I'm going to do a little more this year:

Have built a greenhouse and shed to get run-off into water butts as well as for their 'main' use
Last year I mulched some beds heavily in the Autumn and the soil has retained moisture much better than when I didn't. So none of the beds will be bare over winter - they'll either be growing winter crops, or covered in mulch over winter.
Cover the paths with a thick layer of spent straw in summer, to miminise evaporation from bed edges.
For thirsty plants like runner beans, I will make a trench with fresh plant material for them to grow into, and go for 'extreme mulching' (6")
Put upturned, bottomless plastic bottles into the root area of squash/cucurbits at planting time to get the water directly to the roots from the watering can.
Start some sort of comfrey or manure tea cistern - if I'm watering from a can, the plants may as well have a feed too.

Perhaps people who run drip hoses off their water butts might chime in here?

Last year I didn't need to water brassicas, potatoes, alliums, beans apart from sowing or planting time. I didn't grow tomatoes last year, but I think these and the cucurbits will always need a bit of help.

It would be ideal to plant thirsty plants the shortest distance from the water butts to miminise fatigue. Now, how to get this to fit with a tall and short rotation ??? :P

Your choice of veg might not be restricted, but you might consider modified growing methods to a) conserve the water in the soil, b) maintain your own water supply, and c) to minimise transpiration from the plants. There may also be varieties of seed that are more drought-hardy than others - Franchi Seeds of Italy varieties seem to do very well with this treatment!

I do think that it's right to use water thoughtfully tulippa, thank you for starting this thread.

[Tulipa]

I have lots of containers with perennial plants in and fortunately have a new border to fill so will incorporate most of them in the plan.

I tend to be of the thinking that the weather is getting drier and so if a plant can't survive I will try something else hopefully better suited.

I never use my hosepipe for watering, just a watering can from the water butts so won't miss it.  I was just thinking of my planning of what to plant and whether I should make any changes if we are going to have such a dry year, but last year I didn't water at all in the veg patch and everything was fine.

Just wondered what anyone else is thinking of doing....

Just posted this but found yours Supersprout, thanks you some more for me to think about.  It is just about to rain here and we have it forcast for the next five days so at least my water buts will be full!!

[supersprout]

I've just taken on maintenance of the communal flower gardens at the back of my flat tulippa, you've reminded me to return to Beth Chatto to decide what to plant for the long term (when budget allows). She's had a demonstration dry garden for yonks, have you come across her? http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/.

This year's budget :-[ means strewing Tall and Short Mixed Annuals only (and some swapsies, thank you Georgie) ;D

[Georgie]

I grow all my fruit, veg, salad and most of my herbs in pots and I also face a hosepipe ban from 3 April.  So this year I'm going to line the terracotta pots with plastic to reduce evaporation, use container compost which has added water retaining gel pellets and added John Innes, and grow as many of them as possible in semi-shade.  Not looking forward to lugging the watering can backwards and forwards but no choice.

G xx

[moonbells]

Humph. I've just found out by reading around that we too have a hosepipe ban from 3rd April.

My water company hasn't even bothered to tell householders!!! I only found out because I read it on the net...

But, good news is
(quote from Three Valleys Water website)

I am an allotment holder, can I water my plot?
Yes, the ban applies to the watering of a private garden and allotments do not fall within this category. However, we would encourage allotment holders to act now to install water butts for collection of water and think about other ways that they can mulch and use biodegradable gel to retain the moisture within the soil.

moonbells

[Mrs Ava]

I have no piped water, so unless mother nature provides, I only have a watering can and water in my water butts.  I water seed drills if the day is dry and sunny - however I aim to sow on damp dreary days.  I water the planting hole of plants, like corn or brassicas, but then never again.  I encorporate as much rough chunky compost and rotted manure and leaf mould as I can lay my grubby little hands on to help water retention.  I no longer bother to try growing spinach earlier in the year, but sow later - late summer time, when the air is cooler and things are less likely to bolt.  I try to overwinter veg - amazing how hardy most veggies are, even runner beans will continue to crop into November!  I also have an area on both plots that is shady for part of the day and that is where my lettuces live.  I don't know if there is any truth to my feelings, but I figure that for example, a tomato that hasn't been flooded with water every day, but has ripened slowely in the sun and had to dig deep for its water, will be sweeter and have a stronger more robust flavour.  I had buckets full of toms last year - with no extra watering, and I still have a wrack of squashes to use, all with no extra watering.  I believe if you start to water plants, you are creating a never ending situation because the plants make shallow roots and will quickly wilt and dry out.

[derbex]

I'd grow Leaks ;D

Well someone had to.

When I took my plot I was warned that I was at the boggy end of the site, so far I think I've one on the deal as I don't have to water much. Like E-J we have troughs and no hoses. My only regret about not haveing a proper shed is that I am not collecting water -although I a thinking about how to do it.

Jeremy

[amphibian]

I have no piped water, so unless mother nature provides, I only have a watering can and water in my water butts.  I water seed drills if the day is dry and sunny - however I aim to sow on damp dreary days.  I water the planting hole of plants, like corn or brassicas, but then never again.  I encorporate as much rough chunky compost and rotted manure and leaf mould as I can lay my grubby little hands on to help water retention.  I no longer bother to try growing spinach earlier in the year, but sow later - late summer time, when the air is cooler and things are less likely to bolt.  I try to overwinter veg - amazing how hardy most veggies are, even runner beans will continue to crop into November!  I also have an area on both plots that is shady for part of the day and that is where my lettuces live.  I don't know if there is any truth to my feelings, but I figure that for example, a tomato that hasn't been flooded with water every day, but has ripened slowely in the sun and had to dig deep for its water, will be sweeter and have a stronger more robust flavour.  I had buckets full of toms last year - with no extra watering, and I still have a wrack of squashes to use, all with no extra watering.  I believe if you start to water plants, you are creating a never ending situation because the plants make shallow roots and will quickly wilt and dry out.

This is my view too, I do not water my plot at all. I am not so concerned for my pot, more for my container plants. My area has been on a hose pipe ban since July 2005, what we now face is a far graver step, meaning all unnecessary usage will be banned completely. I have not saved, nor will I be able to save, enough rain water to get my containers through the summer.

[tim]

Mostly, watering is unhelpful - even counter-effective.

Most growers don't. I don't. Mostly.

[Curryandchips]

Like others have said, I do not have piped water supplies, only water in butts captured from the shed roof. This is a rare resource as a result, and is used only in the greenhouse, and when watering in newly planted seedlings.

[redimp]

I avoid watering by trying to do all of the above.

[moonbells]

Our problem is that the soil here is incredibly free-draining. I wish to goodness I *didn't* have to water 4+ times a week in summer!

For instance, we had 8mm of rain on Friday.

Saturday I was out digging and weeding and sitting on the soil to do so. Mostly dry already.

We shove as much manure in as the local farmer can supply, I've got a bin with leafmould cooking, I put compost into the carrot rows, 4-5 inches of manure in the bean trench and I'll bet anything it *still* dries out come July.

It's infuriating, especially since I really want a no-dig plot! Usually end up putting tons of manure on top as a mulch, too.  But I do have two linked butts fed off the shed roof, and a third in the chain will appear once we've fixed the waterproofing on the sides and there's room to park it :)

moonbells

[tim]

I said 'mostly' - I did water the raised beds last year.

[Columbus]

Hi all,

I can`t imagine not watering my plot. I have four water butts collecting from my sheds which provide for a lot of my needs and I`m doing everything I can to improve my soil.

My site is on a slope with a river at the bottom. Under thin top soil there is sandy silt above a hard layer of flint in chalk. Any top soil above the sandy layer is as good as generations of gardners and allotmenteers have made it, but this site eats compost.

It is basically a neolithic river bed where worked flints can be found. It is  also near a water treatment plant and at some time they buried a huge pipe along the length of one half of my plot which raised all the silt. So one side is worse than the other.

We have four standpipes that are turned off in the winter they haven`t been turned back on yet but there`s no suggestion of a hosepipe ban.

My soil is dry and dusty even today (it rained last night). Everyone here waters and we soak each others plots too. I have loads of hospipe and dare I say it ..... sprinklers, My sprinklers soak the plots on either side too so I do three plots at once. I also use weep hose. This summer hope to be able to spend more time on the plot so I can water in the evenings.

I don`t think I`d grow much of anything without some additional watering but it would be an interesting challenge.

Col

[Svea]

i mostly dont water either.
last summer, i started watering selectively once the clay soil got so dry it started creating huge canyons. the problem is that that means warm air can get deep into the soil and dry it out down there.

my tomatoes etc did very well on about a once a week spot watering. i had to water containers, of course - did this in the evening about every other day depending on day temperatures and wind exposure

i plan to do much the same this year as i did last year.