Topic: The value of rain

[nodig]

As you all know rain is made of water, and when it rains the allotment gets watered.  Now an average allotment of 250 sq m will get about 250,000 litres of water from the sky free of charge every year.  The equivalent amount of water bought from the water companies would cost you about £500.  Not quite sure of the point of this posting except that the rainfall here on the Norfolk coast has stopped a no rain predicted.  Imagine the cost of vegetables if we had to buy water for our allotments. 

[Plot 18]

Doesn't bear thinking about, does it?

On our site you can see a huge difference between plots near a standpipe, which can easily watered and those further away. No hoses allowed, luckily I have one of these - but it's still hard work.
https://www.sam-turner.co.uk/easy-pull-garden-barrow.html?fo_c=602&fo_k=248ec618b2e9a8246537bd932f263fa3&fo_s=gplauk&gclid=CjwKCAjwyMfZBRAXEiwA-R3gMyBwg-nXjBWIesYlMfdw5n5R8V8_r8aiVSbWcb28c7xwlTgoBNpcNhoCwHYQAvD_BwE

[tricia]

With six, now empty, water butts, no rain for weeks and none forecast my water bill will increase considerably this year  .

I am only watering vegetables in containers and my raised bed of celeriac - plus the tomatoes, peppers and aubergines in pots in the greenhouse. Nevertheless, one water butt has had to be filled with tap water this morning which I shall try to use as sparingly as possible.

Tricia

[picman]

Worcestershire , no rain here either ... veg are disappearing down cracks in the soil !

[johhnyco15]

the water on our site is drawn by handpump here on the sunshine coast we are used to no rain we only get 20" a year in this part of the country  so most people put a lot of manure in the soil so we dont have to water so often i only water my potatoes in tubs and my greenhouses everything else fends for itself

[squeezyjohn]

Although the lack of rain is a cause for anxiety for me too ... I have had to learn to try and do everything to avoid much watering at all.  I know not all soils are the same, but where I am we have deep deep soil over a clay which holds moisture for a long time which is good in conditions like this.  We have no water supply on my plot and can only store so much rain ... I'm definitely thinking about investing in a second 1000L IBC at the moment!

But knowing I can't water when I like (I run out most summers at some point) - means I have to garden differently.  I grow as many perennial forms of veg as I can as perennials, once established have a big complex root system.  I try to only sow or transplant annuals when a rainy spell is forecast.  Deep watering (like a very big watering canfull per plant) at transplanting - then leaving them to their own devices unless it's a clear emergency - only ever watering at night - muching anything which is shallow rooted - burying sewer pipe lengths next to plants likely to need watering like pumpkins and courgettes.  Of course this course of action is easy to follow now when it is droughty conditions ... but to get good deep-rooted plants you need to garden like this ALL THE TIME!  If the water is below ... your plants will make roots downwards where the water is likely to be - if you water little and often, your soil will look nicely hydrated, but your plants will have all their roots at the surface and real drought will finish them off.

The best tip I've been given is to start your tomatoes off early and let them grow leggy (by restricting their light) - when it comes time to plant out, you can take off the lower leaves and plant it much deeper covering most of the stem with soil ... tomatoes and some other things (including all brassicas) will tolerate the stem being buried and even form roots from it once underground.  That way you can plant out tomatoes with their roots over a foot under the soil where there is likely to be much more moisture for them.  Try it ... the only downside is that they sometimes try to make flowers at ground level ... just pinch them off if they are too low.  My outdoor tomaotes are currently looking healthier than my daily-watered greenhouse ones at home - and I haven't watered them once.

[BarriedaleNick]

I dug out my broad beans yesterday to make way for some squash and the ground was as dry as it gets.  It hasn't been watered all year and the BB were just about hanging on and my clay was solid as a brick.  I had to water the ground just to get a fork in it luckily at the mo a lot of folks are in watching the footie so there was no competition for the taps.
I think I'd pay for a decent downpour about now..

[ACE]

One way they used to cope before irrigation was widely used was to trap the moisture in the ground. Packing it hard after the wet winter to form a crust slows down evaporation when it gets hot. In the Canary Islands they use black volcanic dust which draws moisture up at night. Perhaps something black like weed membrane might do the same here. I noticed that a compacted path I dug up was damp 3 inches down but the cracked soil on one tended bed turned to dust.

[Tee Gee]

One way they used to cope before irrigation was widely used was to trap the moisture in the ground. Packing it hard after the wet winter to form a crust slows down evaporation when it gets hot.

 

I trap the moisture in my farm yard manure by digging it in before winter sets in then a crust forms as you say so I give the beds a quick aeration in spring by running a tiller over it.

In the Canary Islands they use black volcanic dust which draws moisture up at night. Perhaps something black like weed membrane might do the same here. I noticed that a compacted path I dug up was damp 3 inches down but the cracked soil on one tended bed turned to dust.

Black attracts / holds the heat rather than say white (or lighter colours) which repels it, so there is a good chance for condensation to form under the mulch (volcanic dust) or membrane.

[ancellsfarmer]

One way they used to cope before irrigation was widely used was to trap the moisture in the ground. Packing it hard after the wet winter to form a crust slows down evaporation when it gets hot.

I beg to differ.
 A 'crust' allows capillary action right to the surface,allowing loss of groundwater to evaporate. A broken ,or dusty layer, prevents this. This is the beneficial action of hoeing, achieving the top dusty layer, while killing and therefore removing, competitor plants(weeds). I agree that surface mulching is important for the same, and mutually non-competitive reasons.
It also allows any rainfall received to permeate and return to the groundwater level below, rather than running off the surface, eroding top-soil and causing 'flash flooding'.
It is true that the planted root level and below is best to be firm, not consolidated, and ideally rich in humus to act as a sponge. The best soil profiles may be rich up to 400mm deep, or more, as found in Fenland and do not respond well to mechanical cultivation

[johhnyco15]

i agree with ancellsfarmer however black weed represent membrane stops evaporation and  thru capillary action draws moisture to the roots and cuts out weeding , weeds again use precious moisture  a go hour hoeing is worth 3 hrs watering