Topic: Anyone else suffering from a drought ?

[Flighty]

I agree with Suncekoret, Digindep and Mike J!  :)

My plot looks very dry but a couple inches down it's damp. I only water a couple of early mornings a week using a watering can.

[Squash64]

I mulched my pumpkin patch heavily with straw in late winter. Last week  I  raked the straw away from where the pumpkins will be planted and the ground was really damp underneath.  I think mulching is the answer (but only when the ground is already wet)

[Sparkly]

33 degrees in the sun in our garden now! (south manchester). Yesterday was similar. The plot is very dry down to about 3 inches completely dry. Ant gave all our stuff a good water this morning, but generally we rarely water. I didn't want everything to bolt though! Rain is forecast here Mon night so here's hoping.

[gwynnethmary]

lovely heavy downpour after lunch!

[cleo]

Dry as dust here on very light soil so the seedlings get watered twice a day-deeper it`s OK.

In all my years I have never seen tap roots as long as some on the radishes I am pulling just now

[landimad]

The plants here are dreaming of a nice cool shower before they dry up.
I have to wait until the sun is off the plants or they will scorch.

[Digindep]

I think it be back in the summer of 76, another lifetime ;)....... ::)
It started ealy May if not before...and was predicted to be long and hot...
Anyhows I wandered off over the local woods, bagged up as much mulch/leaves mainly, I must of covered the garden in at least 6 inch of mulch...
Me being 'fairly' young then, local gardeners we're telling me I was adding to much of this and that trace ellements...and when I was seen to be carrying out 'bath' water as well.....I'll leave you all to ponder the possible comments...
BUT! ;) ;)...who had the best garden in the area?  who didn't loose a single plant?
The point being if you got it Mulch it...only had enough this year to mulch one brassica bed....now being watered, possibly once a week...the cauli's and greyhounds are racing away...... ;) ;)

what pun....?

[compo49]

I am in mirfield west yorkshire and it is the same here very dry like dust as others have said.
Luckily we have a water supply but it dries out in a very short time after watering with it being so hot all day plus the ground is staying warm for a longer time into the evening.
About a week a go it was colder/rain and some frost about now we have these very hot temps and no rain so we cannot win can we!

[Larkshall]

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 use builders black plastic buckets and an A1 tall can as a dipper. Each plant gets a canful  in the evening (the weeds get none). We're on clay so it holds the water provided you keep the surface loose.

[mpdjulie]

We’re in Coventry.  Last night I gave all my outside crops a thorough soaking.  We have three water butts – no water supply at our site – and I used them all up.  We are either going to ask a fellow plot holder to use his hose to fill up the butts, as his house backs onto the site, or fill and 25L jerrican and wheelbarrow it over god knows how many times.

[artichoke]

One of my plots, East Sussex, is on a site with no water so I fill endless sets of milk bottles. I hate to waste a drop after all the effort of filling and carrying them so watering is very focussed. Plants such as corn, courgettes and strawberries have little ramparts of dry soil round them so that they are sitting in a dip which receives the water. I pour slowly so that it sinks in and does not flow over the ramparts.

I'm mulching as much as I can - I've also stopped putting weeds into the compost bin, now I gather them round the plants. They wither quickly in this heat and the soil is fairly damp underneath even where I don't water.

[1066]

I have several bags of grass clippings waiting to be used - that is waiting till it rains here  ::)  ::)  ::)

[aquilegia]

I've got heavy clay soil. We had a good amount of rain a week or two ago for the first time since March. Already the unmulched soil has a thick crust on it, I'm out watering like mad!

[Spookyville]

I am in mirfield west yorkshire and it is the same here very dry like dust as others have said.
Luckily we have a water supply but it dries out in a very short time after watering with it being so hot all day plus the ground is staying warm for a longer time into the evening.
About a week a go it was colder/rain and some frost about now we have these very hot temps and no rain so we cannot win can we!

same in Bradford too :(

[cleo]

I am in mirfield west yorkshire

So is my ex partner-she has/had a plot going down to the river.  Who knows?

[betula]

South facing patio type area and everything cooking at the mo.........

Please may be have a little gentle overnight rain. :)

[caroline7758]

It's gone quite dark here- could this be it?? (Not holding my breath!)

[cornykev]

Scorcher here  in Enfield, its been in the 80's since last week
The top surface is dry, but get you finger down in the soil to see if it's damp
I've been mulching with the council compost and it's keeps the soil damp
I remember EJ saying she takes all her 2l bottles full of tap water all year round to the plot and with the combination of water butts it's manageable
We've got water troughs so it's hard to imagine coping but lotties seem to cope  :o
 ;D ;D ;D

[caroline7758]

It's gone quite dark here- could this be it?? (Not holding my breath!)

Nope- not a drop! >:(

[1066]

the forecast for Wednesday is for heavy rain..........  :-\