Topic: Anyone else suffering from a drought ?

[vegmandan]

Not something that I'd normally ask being from the Yorkshire Dales but in the last 8 weeks we've had about 5mm of rain.

My plot looks like a dust bowl and as I don't have access to mains water I'm just waiting for my onions,shallots and lettuces to bolt to seed.

Anyone else having similar problems.

Cheers.



 

[rosebud]

 Yes the earth is like sand, never thought i would be begging for rain here in Essex. ::)

[Buckeye Girl]

Yes, this is my first year on the allotment.  Funny how your opinion on wet weather changes.

[betula]

Have moved from an area of good Warwickshire clayto very free draining soil and yes as dry as dust,had the hose on my little plot twice today and misted my pots a few times too. :)

[chriscross1966]

IT's been dry here in Wiltshire too..... I'm trying to sort out autowatering stuff in May, don't usually think about it till Glastonbury comes along..... soon there'll be a dual system... a daily timer doing the tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and chillis in the polytunnel plus the celeriacx, plus a twice weekly timer with a moisture sensor overirde doing the garden.



chrisc

[daveyboi]

My three water butts are just about empty already and they normally keep me supplied with water well into July. Have already resorted to tap water a week or so back.

Still the next rain showing for my locality is of course on bank holiday Sunday and Monday at present lols

[aussiedigger]

Yes - not often people in Yorkshire hope for rain.   :o

Here in the rhubarb triangle, it is very dry.  Have been watering for over a week now - even thr rhubarb was looking wilted.

Perhaps it really will be a 'Barbecue Summer'? ;D

[bruno]

Its been dry in Derby for weeks now. Any recent rain forcasted just has not materialised. Very dry but at least we have water on tap at our allotments in Mickleover.

[sunloving]

Its frustrating that we held off so long to get going becuae of the cold and now when its warmer stuff cant power away becuase its so dry.

My barrels have been empty a long time.

I keep a gardenening diary in one of those old fashioned 5 year diary things and i noticed that this is the third year that weve had a very long spell late april early may of drought. 2008 it was 9 week with no rain, 2009 it was 7  this year most of april here was dry ,we had a heavy shower two weeks ago since then nothing.

Its lovely to be warm and work in the sun and i hate to moan , but really a nice dramatic thunder shower with buckets overnight would be great (but not for the bats)

x sunloving

[amphibian]

I live with an almost permanent state of drought, my soil is so free draining it is dust the day after rain.

The key to growing in dry soil is if you must water do it very heavily, wetting the surface only will make the situation worse by not encouraging root penetration from your crops, plant very deeply if it is a crop that doesn't mind stem burial, and thirsty plants plant at the bottom of a crater, it's amazing the difference this makes, I plant my corn and squash in craters.

April has been dry for years now, it has become a running joke in my household during the cool overcast July and August to say 'well April was nice'.

[mat]

I agree, I wish in North Yorkshire we'd have some rain!!!  Still, at least my neighbour tells me there's never been a hosepipe ban up here, so hopefully I'll be able to continue watering!!!  My garden has been dusty sand for weeks now :-(

It was hotter up here yesterday (and has been quite often recently) than down in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire!!! (where I have contacts) 

I pray for rain each week...

[Digindep]

For the past month or so, been carrying 4 x 5ltr. bottles of water down to the plot...that just does the G/H...7 barrels almost depleted....bit of luck last week a guy from a neighbouring house spotted me carrying water and offered me the use of his hose...one and a half hours later....barrels full, plot drenched..and me ;)..job done....it certainly helped pulling around those tatties Jack got hold of a while back.....
Lets hope he spots me again soon....very soooon.... ;)

[caroline7758]

Yep, I'm in the North Yorkshire dustbowl too! Bought a Tesco water butt about 3 weeks ago and i think it's had about 1cm in it so far! Earlier in the week the forecast was showing a thunderstorm this evening, but not any more.

[suncekoret]

On our site people having been using hosepipes all week.
I'm convinced 90% of the water is wasted, evaporating before it ever gets to the roots.
I dug a bed over yesterday, preparing for fennel and found that under the surface it was still quite damp
Another bed where I am about to plant sweetcorn has been covered with woven mulch since April cultivation is still damp to the surface with the mulch reducing evaporation
And I'm in the North Yorks dustbowl too!

[caroline7758]

I dug a bed over yesterday, preparing for fennel and found that under the surface it was still quite damp
Another bed where I am about to plant sweetcorn has been covered with woven mulch since April cultivation is still damp to the surface with the mulch reducing evaporation

That's what I'm hoping for my allotment, where i've still got some water in butts (no water laid on so no chance of hosepipes anyway!). It's at home where I'm trying to keep pots and seedlings damp that I could do with some rain.

[pigeonseed]

Yes it's pretty dry here. But we're on HEAVY clay, which helps.

It's like glue in winter, and iron in hot weather, but's it's true what that say about clay holding moisture in. I can actually grow lettuces! I've got some in now, sown direct, and I have left them to their own devices and yet even in a hot windy week like this, they're still perky.

My last plot was on very light soil, and even when watering every day in hot weather, many plants couldn't survive. 

I am still going to be using more mulching though to cut down on the need for watering.

I really admire all of you who have no water laid on at all. I was complaining that it's a long way to the tap!

[ginnyknit]

Yes even Manchester is dry, the same as last year. the last of my seedlings are popping up so fast that I have stood their trays in anything that will hold water. Am going to dig a few holes for plastic bottles so I can get water to the roots of my best plants, like they say 'its the roots not the leaves you need to grow first'

[Digindep]

On our site people having been using hosepipes all week.
I'm convinced 90% of the water is wasted, evaporating before it ever gets to the roots.
I dug a bed over yesterday, preparing for fennel and found that under the surface it was still quite damp
Another bed where I am about to plant sweetcorn has been covered with woven mulch since April cultivation is still damp to the surface with the mulch reducing evaporation
And I'm in the North Yorks dustbowl too!

I'm pretty convinced a watering can/bucket gets the water where it should be rather than sprinkling the whole area...and with less posibility of sun burn ect...
other may have other thoughts...and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts..... :) :) ;)

[mat]

26.8 degrees in York (via metoffice) at 2pm today... and we've not got to the hottest part of the day yet...

[Mike J]

Similar situation here in Sussex (near coast), but as has been said still seems damp a couple of inches down. Would agree that heavy duty watering once or twice per week (in early morning or evening) is more effective, plus mulching of one sort or another.