Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: squeezyjohn on April 19, 2017, 20:35:04
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It's not a serious question but it does feel like it's been 40 days and 40 nights now ... definitely over a month now and it's normally pouring down every other day at this time of year. I'm seriously starting to run out of water on my site and seeds simply won't germinate. I started off watering my asparagus to help the crop, but it uses a lot of water and I've stopped now as I need to water in all the things grown in modules in the greenhouse if they're to transplant properly. My blueberries are all in flower, but the foliage has taken on a distinctly autumnal reddish hue which I hope is due to the drought and not a problem with the pH or nutrients.
I saved 1000 litres in an IBC container from the winter rain ... It's two thirds empty now!
Can't we do a rain dance or something?
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I tried rain dances a few years ago and ended up with flooding!!
Very dry here too. I use mulching and it seems to help a lot. Anything that has been mulched is doing fine.
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I remember that year! The day after Thames Water put a hosepipe ban in place it rained every day (or seemed like it) for the rest of the summer. That was April too!
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Soon we hope.
Lots of things are still OK at the moment, indeed most look pretty healthy, although I have some carrots and beetroot that are proving very slow to germinate probably due to lack of moisture. Another week and I suspect some crops will start showing stress.
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Never mind the crops, we are getting stressed! Likewise here, no significant rain for at least a month. :BangHead:
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Fine drizzle here at the moment. Soil also very dry now and have been watering for a while now. Could do with a water stores refill as less than half of water left. We have been using grey water some years, not quite there yet. :wave:
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Had a bit of rain in the night here but not enough to make much difference. Glad I've made a late start with sowings this year so not having to do too much watering.
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Shhhhhh!!
Careful what you wish for,some of you may recall that April /May were in reverse last year I.e. We got our "April Showers" in May.
In my case it has not been needed as I have nothing planted out to water, apart from my seedlings in the greenhouse, although I have to say my water barrel is now only about one third full.
When I planted out my potatoes a couple of days ago the soil was quite damp from about 2" down.I put this down to preparing my soil in October / November allowing the manure to soak up the winter rains and rot it away into rich humus.
We must have had a shower overnight as the ground was quite damp this morning, which is good because I absolutely hate watering!
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Just had a little drizzle for about half an hour. Nothing got into the waterbutt expect the lichen and moss has had it all. Leaves wet but do not expect anything got to the roots.
Things very dry here. People who have rotavated seem to have created dust bowls. Where my plot was dug in autumn and covered in manure it is damp only a couple of inches down. Moved the compost bin left a small pile behind and yesterday planted out a
few beans, the soil was perfect.
Getting frustrated seeing people watering, using a rose and casting it all over the place I expect most of it evaporates.
Tuesday looks like a possibility.
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As Tee-Gee says "be careful what you wish for". There is still time to have a few frosts and some snow, never mind the bl***y rain. The ground is still damp about 2 inches down so do what you can and leave the rest. You can water too much! when you see weeds dying due to lack of water that is the time to worry.
Bill
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no rain for 6 weeks here on the sunshine coast last rain was for two hours 8Th march however crops seem to growing steadily and yes its damp 2" down and still cutting the grass on the plots twice a week getting another greenhouse tomorrow so its bound to rain the weekend as i want to erect it and finish the pumpkin house as wife has a major opp on Monday some rain is forecast middle next week and some chili nights so the fleece will be out how ever its forecast for 4 degrees so should be OK with the fleece the sea breezes keep up the temperature being only 3/4to a mile from it
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Looks like Tuesday to Thursday will be cold. Wind due to come straight down from the North Pole on Thurday and then suddenly turn
I agree with TeeGee I think that it will be a lot wetter in May, but hopefully no frost.
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I keep wishing for rain too. Planted my news plants on Sunday, 6in+ down, it's bone dry. Really hard to dig as well. It rained yesterday evening. Started raining good proper rain, I thought "oh good!" then it stopped 5 mins later. No water at all in the trays on the patio.
It's April. Where's the rain? It's really blooming cold, though, needed my winter coat again today, and gloves!
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Rain, snow and hail today but still not a real soaking.
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Soon! Spent yesterday trenching in a 20mm alkathene feed from the "landlords" mains supply. Just need to make up some trickle hose and a lawn saver sprinkler or pulsating head. That will probably bring on the next Ark event!!
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Today I planted up a potted rose I got for my birthday. Digging the hole showed just how dry the soil is, had to water the bottom of an 18in deep hole before I could put the rose into it. :crybaby2:
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still no rain last rain was the 8th march
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We had a little thunderstorm last night, but the rain only lasted for 45 minutes or so. Still it's better than nothing!
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We've had a couple of short sharp showers here today - as you say, better than nothing.
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Nothing down here for weeks, after complaining about a long wet winter we are now desperate for rain. Water butts empty and the ground like concrete.
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one shower of hail today that lasted 3 mins :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
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Same here in Yorkshire as we have had no water for the last 5 months on the allotment due to a leak under some council containers in a nearby car park which flooded quite a few of the allotments Yorkshire Water cant repair it until council removes the containers which they said would be April now its gone to May and with no rain it is getting frustrating as I have got a lot growing in my greenhouse, but knowing our weather once it rains it does not know when to stop
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Yup, eye dry here, I've had to put the hosepipe into a couple of my butts at home.
Had several bursts of hail, in the last 24 hours though, not very useful really.
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How do you grow your runner beans ? By using Monty's frame or wigwams etc ? do you rotate your beans or keep then in the same place and remove a trench of soil each year and fill it up with green waste over the winter Just interested in how what your preference's are and each way of growing on advice this year I grew my beans with the "eye " of the bean facing down almost all shown their roots before turning the right way
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How do you grow your runner beans ? By using Monty's frame or wigwams etc ? do you rotate your beans or keep then in the same place and remove a trench of soil each year and fill it up with green waste over the winter Just interested in how what your preference's are and each way of growing on advice this year I grew my beans with the "eye " of the bean facing down almost all shown their roots before turning the right way
i dig trenches a new one each year so after a few years the whole plot gets a trench so this boosts the soil strange i always put the bean up the other way and they seem to grow no matter what way they are up i grow mine up m frames and a frames and french beans up wigwams
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Had a few reasonably heavy showers today and a steady drizzle right now :)
It means the washing hanging about on the airer though, oh well - can't have everything, and the garden really did need some rain!
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Had a bit more rain here, but now followed by a drying wind.
Annoyingly I recently replaced a drippy tap on my biggest water butt, only for the new tap to have a worse drip.
So need another, better quality tap now.
And no rain forecast for the next week here.
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Had a bit more rain here, but now followed by a drying wind.
Annoyingly I recently replaced a drippy tap on my biggest water butt, only for the new tap to have a worse drip.
So need another, better quality tap now.
And no rain forecast for the next week here.
Will a new tap washer solve your problem?
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Barely half an inch, maybe a little more to come. Well it's better than nothing :wave:
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BBC forecast said rain this morning here but we didn't get a drop! :BangHead:
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We had more rain last night, and quite a few heavy showers today :)
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We had some steady light rain in the early hours of Monday, with heavier rain from 7 till 9 in the morning.
Checked the allotment and it had soaked in well, wetting the top 15cm.
Looks like it's going to be a fairly dry May for most of us. Latest 30 day forecast here. http://www.gavsweathervids.com/terryscholey.html
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light rain forecast for early morning tomorrow lets hope its a little more than that as march 8th was the last rain here on the sunshine coast :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
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Rain yesterday morning but dry and sunny in the afternoon.
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today at last rain real wet stuff falling from the sky puddles of the stuff the ground and plants are taking on a fantastic colour not seen in these parts for months really its raining its like winning the lottery my backs better well almost normally id be dancing in the rain but due to said back problems its more like a soft shoe shuffle hussar hussar hussar hussar
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happy for you but very jealous!
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No rain here in South Yorkshire I cant remember when it last rained here we could do with some of the showers that some of you have had because everywhere is so dry and dusty. Well we can hope !!!
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real rain here in East Anglia - downside is it's freezing cold.
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real rain here in East Anglia - downside is it's freezing cold.
Missed us - faint drizzle and yes, very cold and a sharp wind :wave:
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Fingers crossed for those waiting for rain, hope it arrives very soon.
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Nothing significant here ... lots of grey skies and threatening clouds, but they just give us the lightest of sprinkles every now and then and stop. It's been about 7 weeks here since the last downpour.
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Hi Ya, Well we had a spot or two of rain here overnight, measured 1/2" on my rain gauge and there are more heavy showers forecast for this evening and overnight. we needed rain but it could of come at a steady rate over time. Driving to work the ground is so dry it cannot soak the level of rain we've had in. It has caused some large puddles on the roads and still people drive like loonies going to fast they seem to have no idea what it's like or consideration for the conditions. Oh well can't win them all.
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It's p**ing down here today ... we've had a few decent spells of rain now ... the weeds love it!
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18mm here last night
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Tipped it down here last night - no need to water anything today!
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We have had some rain here, the ground is wet. Today it has been raining since 8:30. Did manage couple of hour at lottie. Been raining solidly. Looks like it will be doing it for some time. We are in the middle of the rain band on the radar and it stretches down to the bay of Biscay. I think it only stops there because it is out of range.
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Heavy rain here currently.
Water butts still not quite full though.
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It`s been raining here non-stop for the last 24 hours, 53 ml so far in may, that follows no rain for 7 weeks. The allotment plants (and weeds) are loving it. Talk about cabin fever, thank goodness it went off an hour ago, so I have managed to get a few things in the ground and move some net covers. My clothes are in the wash but I am glad I managed to get there for some fresh air. Must watch the forecast now, no point hoeing if we are going to get more rain. Its going to have to be hands and knees weeding
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You'll never get them dry now ... bloody rain! :toothy10:
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lovely rain last night and this morning stopped around 10 so finished planting out runner beans put some dahlias and antirrhinums in the flower bed watered the greenhouses and pumpkin house then it started again fantastic tomorrow afternoon ill finish planting out my tomatoes then the weekend butternuts will go in along with second wave of beetroot and spring onions lettuce and the like next week celeriac seed my swede and winter cabbage its so relaxing this gardening lark lol
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Mega heavy rain here both 100 litre water buts now full (were nearly empty) pond which we had half filled is now up a few inches.
I have nipped out between showers and scattered a bag of grass seed out over grass as its due to get warmer - i hope :)
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Another 12mm yesterday and overnight.
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No rain today but still feels like it wants to rain. I have filled up my watering cans to free up some space in the water butts so if it rains i can get a little more :)
The Ponds up quite a bit and the fish are happy as its not tap water :)
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Expecting a lot more tonight and tomorrow which while welcome, is a pain as I was going to have a day off down the plot. Might cancel that plan although there may be a dry spell in the afternoon.
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Some rain yesterday evening and it's been tipping it down most of today. That's enough for now thank you! :happy7:
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It never rains but it pours
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Its raining here in not too sunny Enfield.
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Another 20mm ! That's enough to be going on with!!
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Some rain yesterday evening and it's been tipping it down most of today. That's enough for now thank you! :happy7:
I agree!
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Some rain yesterday evening and it's been tipping it down most of today. That's enough for now thank you! :happy7:
I agree!
The rain gods thought otherwise. Light showers on and off so far and more heavy rain forecast for later and possibly tomorrow as well :disgust:
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:icon_cheers: :blob7: TODAY