Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: vegmandan on May 22, 2010, 22:34:29
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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.
(http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/DSC04992.JPG-for-web-normal.jpg)
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Yes the earth is like sand, never thought i would be begging for rain here in Essex. ::)
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Yes, this is my first year on the allotment. Funny how your opinion on wet weather changes.
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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. :)
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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'.
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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...
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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.... ;)
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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'
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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..... :) :) ;)
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26.8 degrees in York (via metoffice) at 2pm today... and we've not got to the hottest part of the day yet...
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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.
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lovely heavy downpour after lunch!
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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
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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.
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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....?
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I have several bags of grass clippings waiting to be used - that is waiting till it rains here ::) ::) ::)
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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!
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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 :(
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I am in mirfield west yorkshire
So is my ex partner-she has/had a plot going down to the river. Who knows?
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South facing patio type area and everything cooking at the mo.........
Please may be have a little gentle overnight rain. :)
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It's gone quite dark here- could this be it?? (Not holding my breath!)
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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
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It's gone quite dark here- could this be it?? (Not holding my breath!)
Nope- not a drop! >:(
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the forecast for Wednesday is for heavy rain.......... :-\
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Yesterday our local weather forecast said rain on Wednesday and heavy rain Thursday. Today it says Sunny Intervals right thru till Friday........no rain here then......off to water the plot.
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Got a few spots of rain this morning. Heavy rain forecast for Friday when I looked this morning but now it's changed to sunny intervals. ::)
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Been very dry here only a few showers since Easter. They have not been enough to fill the water butts from the roof. They keep forecasting showers but change it. Our next window of opportunity is tomorrow evening but I will not hold my breathe.
I have some cabbage which are ready for planting out and need a good dose of rain.
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I'm in the Wiltshire dustbowl with no water on site, and local farmers are all watering like mad.
How annoying is it that the weeds love it and flourish
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We have had practically no rain for a while. We had a good downpour about a week ago but nothing since. But as I type there is a big rush of water pouring down from the sky! And it should keep up tomorrow too. My water barrels are completely dry..
This is a good time for it to rain, the potatoes and onions will be forming!
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I've just been digging, and the soil's as dry as a bone except where I've mulched it.
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Looking at the radar the rain should be arriving in birmingham in the very near future. Please leave some for me.
There is a big patch of rain to the east of newcastle now what use it that there is plenty of water there already?
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My psb are looking dreadful. They've been growing fine for late summer / early autumn cropping, but this last week they've taken a nose-dive
We've watered them the same as the peas, and beans. They just haven't coped as well.
I'm hoping the other, later psb (rudolph) will do better. Also if it rains maybe they'll be saved...
Alison
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hurrah! We finally have rain for the first time in weeks in Leeds, it's properly pouring it down at last so my garden might resemble something other than a dust bowl come morning, you can almost see the plants breathing a sigh of relief! Now all I've got to worry about is the likely onslaught of slugs!
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Its been dry here in S Wales for weeks , I went down the patch yesterday morning to pop my Runner Beans Plants in and while I was there watered my onions and shallots, What a waste of time that turned out to be,I went to my shed for a brew up, and with a half hour a big black cloud came over and it rained like stair rods for over a hour.
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After a couple of hours of drizzle we had a very hard shower and I was so pleased to find that the soil was wet all the way down. I squashed loads of slugs and snails early this morning.
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We've finally had some welcome rain here in Hartlepool, but sadly several of my newly planted French marigolds have been chomped through the stem, I'm guessing by slugs/snails. They didn't eat the foliage, just bit through the stem- what a waste! I wouldn't have minded as much if they'd been hungry and needed to eat them!
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I've been able to count every drop that came down last night.... ::)..and didn't even need all of my fingers.... ::) Oh well..watering cans are out again...but roll on Saturday...there is 'flood' coming... ;D ;D..and about time too..all buts are empty and getting hose it just too early in the season...and bother too...I'll try to avoid if possible...
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It rained a tad last night, nothing to write home about though and it was a very fine spray today, my 5 year old summed it up when she said, Daddy Jesus was spitting today. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Hasn't rained for weeks here but as I only have to scrape back about ¼" of soil to see moisture on my plot I haven't watered anything other than the plants in the greenhouses yet. My soil has been improved considerably over the years though.
Hasn't stopped my water going down though a combination of hosepipes & drill powered pumps has resulted in my 8 IBC's full of rainwater going down to just over 2 full & numerous neighbouring plots having full waterbutts despite the lack of rain & no mains water on site. Heavy rain due on Saturday & more on Monday night/Tuesday morning so shouldn't take long for them to fill up again.
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rained here last night too but even through the couple of weeks without rain an inch down and my soil is nice and damp still.
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hurrah! We finally have rain for the first time in weeks in Leeds, it's properly pouring it down at last so my garden might resemble something other than a dust bowl come morning, you can almost see the plants breathing a sigh of relief! Now all I've got to worry about is the likely onslaught of slugs!
Didn't last long though, did it? ::)
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I've left a washing out all day while I'm at work, should do the trick!
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We had quite a shower Wed night but by the close of play yesterday the surface had well dried out. Went out this morning to dig over an area in the garden for some more beans and found it was remarkably dry quite deep. And yes there has been 25 years of compost dug into it.
But this morning Saturday has been upgraded from one spot to two on the Met office website.
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I foolishly thought my nearly empty water butt would have been replenished by the recent rain but the level hardly seems to have risen at all ::)
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We had the odd light shower overnight, but the Himalayan balsam on the railway embankment is still wilting.
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I was down to my last couple of gallons in a jerry can and a 2 litre milk carton or two but we had enough (West Wales) to fill a dustbin under the downpipe overnight. The empty bin is under the downpipe just in case :)
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Nothing at all yesterday things looking very dry again, tomorrow looks promising but rain coming in from the west and we are in some kind of rain shadow from that direction so I am not very hopeful.
Might see if hanging out some washing does the trick ;D ;D Or planning a BBQ party.
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My raspberries are looking pitiful.
We did have a shower last night , but only a third of a barrel from the roof. So not much fell.
:(
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Have already emptied three water butts already over here in north west Leicestershire. Had taken to only watering the edible crops so consequently all the hanging baskets etc were looking wilted.
Neighbour saw what was happening and promptly offered me access to her external tap and hosepipe (she's on water rates, I'm on a meter). Not only has everything in the garden and the baskets perked up but neighbour has also fille all my water butts for me!!!!
I think I now owe her several bottles of wine and tithe from my produce by way of thanks!!!
CC
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Over in South West Birmingham we have had one really wet day in the last seven weeks. The weather men kept predicting rain but it seemed to miss us or at most we got a millimeter or two. A very drying wind as well. Getting fed up with watering.
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Hooray- proper rain this morning, and hopefully more on the way! Now i'm worrying about the bits of my plot covered in plastic- should I uncover them to let the rain in?
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Proper rain in Staffs today.
Well it is Bank Holiday ;D
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:D It started to rain down here at about 4.00am this morning and it`s still raining "Horray" (10.06 am)
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Us gardeners must be the only ones this weekend glad its raining 8)
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Plenty of rain at last the plants have perked up a lot since the rain came down. 8)
Only trouble is the weeds have too :'(
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He Heee! Its rainin' its pourin'....6hrs of the loooooverly stuff....can't wait to get down the plot tomorrow...no dust!....them there beans an' tatties will be in their element..... ;)
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WOO HOO!!!!!! I will b able 2 dig again, was putting some seedlings in yesterday i was tempted to get a pick axe the soil was so dry. It has been raining on & off all day here in Birmingham. Cnt wait 2 get bk down the garden now!
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It has been dripping off and on all day. It has not filled the waterbutt, it has not gone down more than 4 inches. The top of the soil is damp but down below is totally dry still. There are completely dry patches under some plants. Better than nothing but only just but nowhere near enough. Only a couple of ten minute patches of real rain.
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We had a few hours' light rain, maybe 1/4 inch or so altogether.
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Was suffering here in Leeds a bit - however it has rained all day here today and given the garden a right good soaking. ;D
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Had a brill day got house cleaned and down stair's loo painted, but best of all got allotment watered. Rained most of day at Thirsk. ;D
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We've had rain here in far sout west - but harvested some new pots today, and the earth was still very very dry - the rain didn't penetrate too far down.
We could do with some more please, pretty please :)
Alison
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Welcome to the site, chris! Not far from me, and yes it was good to get some rain yesterday at last!
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Welcome Chris. Glad you had some rain but it did not cut the mustard here. I over estimated with four inches and now after a lovely day of sunshire and a brisk but warm wind the top has dried out again and I need to water my newly moved brassicas.
Next rain opportunity early on Tuesday and that is due to move up from the south rather than west so we might get lucky. Keeping mhy fingers crossed got lots to plant out but it is easier at the moment to water it in the pots.
Had to use a watering can of water to moisten the soil to do some digging this morning. Patches are like concrete still.
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Thank god 4 that rain yesterday!! I finally managed to dig over & weed some of my beds 2day & i got my cabbages out of the nursery bed & in2 the ground!!! The poor buggers looked rather limp an hour later tho!! Please send more rain (but not to much!)!!!
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To all you drought stricken lotties,
A few years ago I bought some of those water retention crystals, they hold 100 times their size in water. I emptied all my pots at the end of the season on a part of my garden that needed a bit of fibre. The gel is still there after 2 years.
I was lucky enough the find end of season reductions at Hitchens store, I have used this in planting holes this year, but it is very expensive. I was talking to a seasoned gardener a few weeks ago and he said wallpaper paste works in a similar way and he uses it instead of crystals. I am going to try this in a couple of pots to see if it works. After all it is only starch and if anyone out there knows if it is detrimental to plants I would love to hear from you. It is so cheap that it could be used on allotments. I live near Manchester and I too would like to see a good thunderstorm.
Regards Queenbee.
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Just make sure your paste don't have any fungicide in it..some of those do have it against moulds....
Your plant will be truly glued to the spot... ;D
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We've had a bit of rain over the weekend and are expecting lots more tomorrow (Hartlepool)- am thinking that Wednesday morning might be a good time to do some weeding!
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Well that was more promised rain that did not happen just a heavy drizzle for a couple of hours, water butt still not full and soil only damp for about an inch. I do not think that the griound underneath the logan berrues is even wet. First time ever I will have to water them, they are covered in fruit and I dod not think they will swell.
No where near enough. Just beeb playing the radar sequence and somehow it dvides right about us. We are a little to the south of the middle of the triangle of the M4, M5 and M40
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/index.html
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at last !!!! been raining quite heavy here all morning
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Don't worry folks! Plenty of showers forecast next week with sunny spells too 8)
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...which can only mean one thing .............BLIGHT!!! :-\
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not here lol been chucking it down the last 3 days :) love it :)
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No drought anymore...we've got river flowing on street.. ::)gutters cant take the rain...oh...why it cannot come down steady...instead pouring down by the bucket..no..lorry load.. ::)
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Things are still very very dry here. It poured yesterday for all of five minutes it was not even enough to come down from the roof into the water butt. The moss soaked it all up.
We are getting very desparate. It is as dry as a bone as far down as I can dig. Watering is becoming a very tedious chore. Rain due today so keeping every thing crossed. There is a big blue patch coming our way on the Met Office Radar map but have a nasty idea it will fizzle out again before it gets here.
Just going out to do a little rain dance.
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Despite heavy rain yesterday the ground was still dry this morning. Just had another downpour but it only lasted about 5 minutes.
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definately not anymore.. ;D..we had so much rain that manhole covers were popping up from the preasure... :o..all buckets are full and everything is truly sodden now...potatoes are just coming to flower.. ;)I'm going to get best ever crop out of them... ;D
..and there is more to come...I'll have to go and fill all watering cans to give waterbutts some more room.. ::)
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The ground looked slightly damp today, but no more than that.
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We are getting a good top up now... should bring the spuds and the blight on a treat.... :-X
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There is at last a slow trickle going into the water butt. I am just so worried that we will not have enough rain to really wet the ground.
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We are getting a good top up now... should bring the spuds and the blight on a treat.... :-X
ssshhhhhhhhhhhh ;)
lots of lovely rain her on the coast - the ground is nice and damp :D
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We have finally had some real rain, light all night and then a bit stronger early this morning. but I have found that about three inches down things are still totally dry. I have finally managed to fill up the water butts at home but down at the allotment the rain will do nothing to keep the well running since it will all be soaked up by the soil.
It seemed rather sad to have to let the water run back into the pipe once the butts were full though I did managed to spread quite a few can loads around the garden.
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You're not alone! Earth is huge to count those currently experiencing a drought. My personal experience should tell you that here in Brisbane, my herb garden seems like a dessert after a 3 consecutive days of rain. Now, I'm trying to cultivate and dig some herbs.
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Welcome to the site Craftsmaster. I guess that when we talk about drought we know nothing compared to you. We have only had three showers since April but for much of the time it was damp below the surface, but suddenly with a bout of hot weather things dried up very quickly. I think that the weeds sucked it dry. ;D
I have a lot of mulching going on and that keep things moist for longer.
Being the UK now it has started raining it will probably forget to stop.
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Drought starting to kick in again. Apart from one night of very light drizzle we have had no rain since 7th June and that was the only real rain since Easter. The other couple of showers were in the better than nothing category.
I have lots I want to do on the allotment but keep having to spend a lot of time watering things. I have a lot of brassicas that need moving and I usually like to do that in the rain. It is very difficult keeping them alive once they have been moved.
I have managed to source a lot of grass clippings so everything is being mulched.
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I thought this thread might be back- my water butts are just about empty again and it's very hot today. Should have got more mulch down before it dried out again. :(
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yep and no taps on our site :o
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My soil is bone dry, I actually watered some plants today other than lettuce and tomatoes, something I normally avoid doing.
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I started to dig a new bed, and when the hoe hit the earth, it made a ringing sound - I thought uh-oh, sounds like there's concrete under there! I scraped a load of soil back, looking for it - nope. It was just the soil! ::) ::)
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Drought here in Delaware. Didn't know we shared the same weather 8)
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I thought this thread might be back- my water butts are just about empty again and it's very hot today. Should have got more mulch down before it dried out again. :(
Mine's empty on the lottie and I had to borrow a canful from a friend to water my blueberries :(
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D'Day All,
Thanks for welcoming me Digeroo. Bad experiences aren't bad at all. I discovered that Echinace plant can survive droughts and very hot summers. It begins to bloom in the spring and continues to spread throughout the summer and lasts into the fall months.
Happy gardening to everyone!
_______________
Removed link
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Everytime there is rain in the forecast it somehow dodges us. It was supposed to rain last night and not a single drop. It is supposed to rain tonight and I have just seen the latest forecast and yet again it looks as if we are going to be a miss.
Somehow the rain belts come up through cornwall and devon and then head north and west but by the time they cross the M5 there is only a few spits and spots left and but the time it gets here there is nothing as all.
Another hot and humid day. French beans and courgettes looking good but runners looking very sad.
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On my local weather map they predicted Tues/Weds rain, they've changed it to Thur/Fri now. :-\ :-\ :-\
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Manchester area living upto it's name not stopped raining since last Wednesday morning when I did a rain dance on the plot "" Oh be carefull what you wish for" my little plot is more than watered it's blinking flooded.Wish the hosepipe was lifted could have connected you all up to Manchester x
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Finally got a good shower this morning but now the sun is out again! Still I think it was at least as much as if I had watered with the can! And all the plants got some, not just the lucky ones! The pumpkins will appreciate it.
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more like 'suffering from floods' here!
>:(
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Wish the hosepipe was lifted could have connected you all up to Manchester
Unfortunately our hosepipe is not quite long enough.
Just a few drops last night. The met office got it wrong again. Gorgeous morning though. Plants seem to like a little sprinkling of water on the leaves.
Seems bizarre that we have the drought and you have the hosepipe ban.
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Not enough rain on the lottie but walked into the back kitchen this morning to find water pouring through the ceiling. Turned off at stopcock and opened all the taps but its getting worse. Must be from bathroom rather than loft as there is no water in bathroom whatsoever now. After turning stopcock off it reduced slightly but now is pouring through again. Can't understand where it is coming form. Its been pouring through for a good few hours now.
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Don't talk to me about no rain! I got back from the plot today and was so wet my trousers felt like they weighed about 7 stone!
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Bloody sweltering today, 8) Sunny all day with a few clouds for cover, its got to be nearly 80 degrees, we'll see if the rain comes tomorrow, I doubt it. :-\ ;D ;D ;D
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Bloody sweltering today, 8) Sunny all day with a few clouds for cover, its got to be nearly 80 degrees, we'll see if the rain comes tomorrow, I doubt it. :-\ ;D ;D ;D
I hate you!
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Sawfish there's a queue and I'm afraid your have to join it. ;) ;D ;D ;D
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Its been pouring through for a good few hours now
What about the central heating system.
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you can have some of our rain my tatties have learnt how to swim!
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An internet friend reporting floods in Wales, The Aussies wishing Headingley was not covered but here? Rain? what rain?. Oh OK it tried for about 15 minutes late last night.
I want some rain please miss :'(
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Over here in South West Birmingham its more like Arizona. There's an amazing split in the weather. There is a line between Gloucester and Lichfield. Everything North of it is being drenched and everything South of it droughted. Its been like that for weeks. Must be something to do with the jet stream!?
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Dundee, Scotland: Just back from a trip to the allotment - the rain has just poured down from the hillside just behind us, and has created a river, not even a stream, down the side of the communal shed, right down the path down the middle of the plots. Some plots have some pretty large puddles on them - I guess we are lucky that our plot is on the higher side of the site, so we are relatively safe from flooding.
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We got a got drenching here yesterday.
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We had a shower this pm - at last! Thunder storm really heavy for all of 10 minutes. Sooooo dry here, and hot. Keep trying to sow things but cannot go to plot every day so they keep drying out. And too hot for lettuce etc to germinate. But some things are doing fine so mustn't complain ;D
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It has finally rained in West Deeping ;D First a 20 minute shower and later a torrential thunderstorm.
Cleo is not daft-I put the covers over my cold frames this morning. Had I not all my seed trays with the late crop potential would have been washed out
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We had a great downpour this morning it was very welcome and has been dripping on and off since. I sowed some pre sprouted carrots seeds yesterday to the rain is particuarly good. It arrived just after I spent a consierable amount of time watering. Filled up the water butts.
I have been germinating things (lettuce,beetroot and carrots)on kitchen roll on a north facing windowsill so they get started well before I throw them outside.
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A few light showers, but Sunny spells the rest of the day, Thundering in the distance as I type. :-\ ;D ;D ;D
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Heavy rain here in Liverpool for almost a week. OH went to the lottie yesteday and stepped into mud up to his knees ;D
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Hopelessly dry here in East Sussex. All promised rain passes us by. Lifted my onions today - teeny tiny things. You can't water a whole onion bed out of milk bottles (no water on site). I'm watering young peas and beans, and I've achieved a few blueberries, but basically it is rather disappointing on that site (I have HUGE potatoes and lots of them on another site where we have dip tanks, and I set up a syphon with a long hose pipe every time I visit).
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Little rain today, nowt to write home about. I'm not bothered really, just keeps the diseases away.
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There is a line between Gloucester and Lichfield
I blame the M5 myself. ;D The rain just does not seem to be prepared to come across it.
Rain forecast on BBC this morming, was it 10 spots or 11. No more at the moment on rhe radar.
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Rain was forcast here, we had about 4 showers that bearly wet the surface. :'( :'( :'(
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We had showers too, mostly heavy drizzle, not enough to damp the top inch. We do need rain here, badly.
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At last we had some rain. Rained really hard but only for about 30 minutes, first heavy rain for a month. Need more badly but not for next 2 days as the new fences are being erected (I hope!")
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We have had no real rain or good steady rain for the past couple of months now.
All the water butts are dry and plants have shown signs of drought all round the garden.
Cauli's have given up before they started, lettuce have bolted as well as the cabbage.
Spuds are in the ground still and have had to water them on a daily basis.
Sweet corn is growing,but not any height nor has any cobs coming as yet.
gooseberries have withered as has the cherry. Strawberries are now over and there are very few runners to take. Broad beans and runners are not so good either.
The only real plus is the carrots, massive crop of them.
I shall have to see if the other crops have to shout their song of harvest to me later on.
Oh for the sweet sound of rain dripping on the ground to help the plants grow.
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We are getting rain without it being forecast :). Dull & overcast was the forecast but perhaps the radar can't pick up on drizzle ;).
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The last time we had a good shower was on Bastille day, July 14. Since then we have had a couple of patches, about 15 minutes worth but that was it. It has been cloudy and stormy all week but not one drop of rain, believe it ir not.
I am watering everything by hand, well, almost, the smaller more vulnerable plants get it more regularly, but the squashes, tomatoes and beans only get once or twice a week. I am just leaving the spuds in the ground and I will see what I get as the foliage has completely died off, even on the maincrops. Not a good spud year for me, except the earlies which were fabulous.
I am watering from the pipes, as my two rain barrels are now completely empty.
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It's not so bad right now, but the stream's dried up again, and another week without rain will leave us very dry.
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Last time we had real rain that went down deep was 7th June and before that Easter though a shower last week greened up the grass.
Some idiot left the tap running so there was no water at the lottie this morning. We certainly have not had any rain which has not been forecast, for us it is the other way round they forecast rain but it does not materialise. They forecast cloudy and the sun comes out and tries to cooks my newly planted out brassicas.
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It's still hot and dry here. ;D ;D ;D
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Hot and dry here to. We have had a couple of downpours that alas only lasted 1 hour max. Apparently two days of rain forcasted for the weekend. :)
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That line again Digeroo. Cracks you can get your fist in. My worst year to date. Working lots of overtime due to (other staff ) sickness and holidays. So much for my part time job. Seriously thinking of paying for some help for the autumn dig this year just to give me a fighting chance. Would need a jack hammer at the moment. Sorry if this sounds a bit moany, just very tired.
Regards to you all,
Taurus
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Same here. It is nearly impossible to get the potatoes dug. Ground rockhard and with huge cracks too, where I haven't been filling in.
Watered a squash plant yesterday, which was ailing and not thriving. Suddenly the soil around the plant sunk 2-3 inches! The squash had been sitting in a bit of crust and the clay soil underneath it had dried out and shrunk. The squash had a watering bottle by its side which kept it alive, but I guess most of the roots were hanging in air! Today it had grown an inch!
We have had bad years before, but this is pretty grim. My stored water is long gone and we are on a meter. Now that sounds whingey too, but I really despair sometimes and it is good to get it off my chest.
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I have only just gone over to metered water so I was rather dreading the bill. But I have just had one and even with watering it was still considerably less than before. The water from the butt filled up in a shower about 10 days ago but it seems to go so quickly. So they are more of less empty just keeping a little for my lemon.
I am hoping to use rainwater to flush the toilet in the winter and so balance out my summer use.
I just hope we get some rain in the winter or we will be in deep trouble next year.
The weeds seem to managed very well without much water.
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1976 comes to mind.
That was a serious dry summer, this year certainly has been with hot periods.
I hope though that when the rain comes it won't be like '76 - didn't stop for 3 months!
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I remember 1976, I fainted pushing a pram with baby and shopping up Chingford Mount!
It's SO dry here though, can't keep up with the watering, using as much mulch as I can but the fruit is really suffering. The trees are fine but bushes and canes need water and there's only so much time available to water, and it's all by can. I'm fairly sure it's drier than any other year I've known, and one thing I haven't seen before is the street trees here shedding leaves, you would think it was autumn to look at the leaf litter.
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This is a lot cooler than 1976, and we are at least getting some drizzle!
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Robert you may be getting drizzle, sorry we are getting downpours :). OH has a big Winter jumper on & I'm going to have to put some socks on ;).
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A little drizzle overnight but hot sunny & windy here in West Sussex
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Robert you may be getting drizzle, sorry we are getting downpours :). OH has a big Winter jumper on & I'm going to have to put some socks on ;).
I wish we could have one!
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I wish I could send it for you Robert. We could do with getting on with the jobs we couldn't do because it was to dry, now it's to wet ::).
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we're the same hasn't stopped raining for weeks!
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Whereabouts are you Jazzidoodle?
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It's very variable from place to place, isn;t it!
Today in Hastings we had one of those strange sea mists that make everything wet without quite actually raining properly. The top of the soil was dark. I felt pleased that everything would have been watered. But when I weeded I realised the soil underneath was dust.
I was soaked meanwhile!
Very funny weather.
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Totally droughted out here :( Didn't realise how bad it was until I went to plant out brassicas on Friday.
Beds with crops in are OK , but where they've been waiting for a second crop they're either concrete or gravelly dust. Even the badger's given up trying to dig up my carrots, they're locked solid.
I scooped out big planting holes in the gravel and literally poured bucket loads of water into them - could hear cracking noises all the way down.
It's pretty annoying because I had planned to put out quite a few things in August too, but doesn't look remotely feasible.
Always heavy rain on the radar (now they say Friday) but it never comes.
Note to self!!! Sow green manure after lifting crops next summer. Last year was a similar problem but not as bad as this.
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Still no rain, but at least I haven't had to mow the grass for several weeks.
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I have been watering the brassica beds for several days before I plant them out. I have also had to soak the seed beds very thoroughly as well in order to get the seedlings out. I found I was just breaking off the roots. I am also finding that standing the seedlings in a bucket of water for a few hours and even overnight seems to increase their recovery time.
I have planted out some more french beans and had watered them well in but I am worried that underneath it is as dry as a bone, it is like growing things in pots.
Heard on the weather yesterday that some parts of wales have had twice the normal rainfall ( 300 plus mm) while parts of East Anglia have had only 5mm. I am rather hard pressed to remember as much as 5mm. I do not think we have had much more than this since the beginning of June.
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Totally droughted out here :( Didn't realise how bad it was until I went to plant out brassicas on Friday.
Beds with crops in are OK , but where they've been waiting for a second crop they're either concrete or gravelly dust. Even the badger's given up trying to dig up my carrots, they're locked solid.
I scooped out big planting holes in the gravel and literally poured bucket loads of water into them - could hear cracking noises all the way down.
It's pretty annoying because I had planned to put out quite a few things in August too, but doesn't look remotely feasible.
Always heavy rain on the radar (now they say Friday) but it never comes.
Note to self!!! Sow green manure after lifting crops next summer. Last year was a similar problem but not as bad as this.
Same here. Ive not sowed followon crops or successions of anything or green manure becuase the ground is too hard and dry. Digging up potatoes, they have boulders of soil attached. Cant remember the last time we had rain, its forecast but then passes north or south and we dont get any.
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For what it is worth, tomorrow the Extended Winter Forecast comes out.
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Sounds good for a laugh. At the moment they cannot get today and tomorrow correct. So much rain has been forecast and so little has turned up.
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Still no rain, but at least I haven't had to mow the grass for several weeks.
What grass?
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You've cheated & seen my "lawn" - OK, I mow weeds & even they are not growing.
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It is difficult to know what to do with concrete beds right now, they'll get no better lying there bare and crisp but I'm worried if I mulch them now I'll just be trapping the desert conditions underneath and I can't sow anything to rectify the situation. Been waiting for a proper downpour to mulch, but it just never came.
What would you do? I very much dislike having bare, exposed earth.
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Saw the forecast last night. Got really excited. Loads of rain forecast. Got up early only a few spots overnight. Went down to lottie - dark cloud looming up. Very excited now. Three minutes of drizzle. But wait! it is drzzling right now. Oh no! Stopped already.
What really worries me is that when it starts to rain it will never stop.
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It's been drizzling all morning. It's not as bad as it was, but it's still pretty dry. We had a little rain the other day, and the stream was still dry the following day.
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I'm just about to go out for the third time this morning to clear the rain off the chickens roof. So still plenty of rain in Cheshire.
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It is no wonder the British weather forecasters word everything so tentatively.
It was fun comparing their wording style to our American forecasters for the extended outlook into Fall ;D
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Blimey - it just rained! In London! For a whole ten mins...
Ten mins later and the Sun has all but dried it up already :(
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Been waiting for a proper downpour to mulch, but it just never came.
What would you do? I very much dislike having bare, exposed earth.
I would water well by hand and mulch over that. The mulch will help the evaporation and cool the earth.
We had 10 minutes of drizzle this morning, it's just laughable.
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It's just started raining in West Sussex :D :D :D
Ninny
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Hi All
When I hear you all alk of drought I think 'what drought?'. Here in the Wild West we have had three abyssmally wet summers in a row. This year, although we have not had your high temps, it has been a marked improvement. Cooler here, with lovely days, interspersed by wet grey drizzle, and the more than odd overnight downpour.
So it's been a much better year for me here in the Tamar Valley. Although potatoes were rubbish (not ENOUGH water during our June heatwave), and absolutely disastrous peas (not even on the 3rd sowing could I get a crop), everything else doing well. My mother who lives in Essex has a frizzled up and dead garden, she's had no appreciable rain now for 7 weeks. I almost feel guilty looking at my thriving hanging baskets and wondrously vibrant tubs out on the decking, not to mention a burgeoning lottie.
No crowing here folks, it's so terrible to see all your efforts go down the drain (if only), and I really do feel for you all. I hope you all get a bit of the wet stuff soon, an can plan your Autumn and Winter growing.
Regards, Caro
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Stuck in doors, dark clouds, heavy rain, rumbles of thunder I as so happy ;D
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We had a 10 minute spell about 12.45pm, then on the way home from work at 2.10pm it poured down, I ran the last 300 metres home and arrived like a drowned rat, sod that running I wouldn't have been any wetter if I'd walked. ;D ;D ;D
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Me too, just got walked back from the allotment, thought it was only going to be a short shower, but ended up looking like a drowned rat. :( :( Pleased to see some rain, as it saves all that watering. :) :)
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Me too, just got walked back from the allotment, thought it was only going to be a short shower, but ended up looking like a drowned rat. :( :( Pleased to see some rain, as it saves all that watering. :) :)
Post a picture please ;D
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Drought!!!!! I have grown webbed feet in Manchester. Praying for sun to cheer my green toms up! >:(
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I am in the Manchester area and we have not really had a dry day since the day they announced the hose pipe ban. We are trying to empty our pond to clean it out but the rain tops it up every day. At 12noon today the temperature was only 15 degrees, the only consolation is that we can not blame the goverment for the rain.
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Well, that was nice ;D about a centimeter from the look of pots.
But, Friday's heavy rain now demoted to a light shower......... :(
Been waiting for a proper downpour to mulch, but it just never came.
What would you do? I very much dislike having bare, exposed earth.
I would water well by hand and mulch over that. The mulch will help the evaporation and cool the earth.
Trouble is, in beds where I've pulled up crops and not watered for a few weeks, watering only penetrates the top inch no matter how much you put on. I would have to dig holes and water to get any in, but I don't think it's good to dig earth when it's as dry as this.
Maybe I'll stab it with a fork - if possible (concrete!) - and try pouring some in.
I find this a conundrum, same as last year...
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Is`nt it strange how peoples opinion about weather changes when they begin to grow veggies.
School broke up two weeks ago it has rained every day bar two since,
loving
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I wish we had some decent rain you know a whole day of it. We had about 15 minutes of like a tropical storm yesterday and a couple of ten minute episodes at night but thats nothing. Have loads of green tomateos on the vines and flowers but nothing wants to ripen. Lots of growth on the aubergines but no flowers yet. Hardly any runners........getting desperate :(
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Back to the Sunny 8) weather today, a bit of cloud but really warmed up this afternoon, I've just been sitting in the garden in my shorts. :P ;D ;D ;D
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I am in the Manchester area and we have not really had a dry day since the day they announced the hose pipe ban.
Sounds like the water board know a thing or two about comedy timing ::) ::) ::)
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Went to Swindon yesterday and got caught in am amazing storm. For about 20 minutes the skies opened until the water was washing up the curbs onto the footpaths. A bit of rain back at the lottie but not much in comparison unfortunately. Tomorrows two spots on the weather forecast has as usualy been downgraded to one spot and by tomorrow will possibly produce nothing at all again.
Perhaps what we need is a hosepipe ban it seemed to be very effective at producing rain. Have they removed it yet?
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The stream's running sluggishly after yesterday's rain, but it won't last long unless we get more.
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There is some funny wet stuff coming out of the sky. Looked again at the weather forecast nothing there about it.
All the water butts are now full for first time in two months. Though I rather resent the fact that the rain water is now going down the drain while a few metres away it is still bone dry two inches below the surface.
Water is flowing steadily down the road drain and I wish I had some method of putting it on the garden, its off to Thames Water who will charge me to get it back.
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Well, that was nice ;D about a centimeter from the look of pots.
But, Friday's heavy rain now demoted to a light shower......... :(
Been waiting for a proper downpour to mulch, but it just never came.
What would you do? I very much dislike having bare, exposed earth.
I would water well by hand and mulch over that. The mulch will help the evaporation and cool the earth.
Trouble is, in beds where I've pulled up crops and not watered for a few weeks, watering only penetrates the top inch no matter how much you put on. I would have to dig holes and water to get any in, but I don't think it's good to dig earth when it's as dry as this.
Maybe I'll stab it with a fork - if possible (concrete!) - and try pouring some in.
I find this a conundrum, same as last year...
Working in organic matter over the winter has helped the soil immensely during drought. That and mulch. It used to get great cracks in drought and hard as rock just as you've described. But if you haven't had a drop since June probably any soil would crack.
I hope next year is a whole different story for you. Very discouraging putting so much work and dreams into it then watch it die in drought.
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Not any more. It chucked it down last night.
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We had a good few downpours today, we need a bit more yet though. ;D ;D ;D
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rained today. to little to late. ground still like concrete. lots more compost to dig in over the winter to break up the Swindon concrete ( clay ::)
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WE are getting a little water but I am taking several 35 litre water bottles to the site every day to keep thing watered.
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Maybe the thing to do since it is late for crops is plant a green manure crop to improve the soil for next year.
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Working in organic matter over the winter has helped the soil immensely during drought. That and mulch. It used to get great cracks in drought and hard as rock just as you've described. But if you haven't had a drop since June probably any soil would crack.
I hope next year is a whole different story for you. Very discouraging putting so much work and dreams into it then watch it die in drought.
Thanks GrannieAnne for the suggestions - I do wonder how people in seriously dry summer environments cope. Our problem is we're not used to it and normally it is reckoned that rainfall in the UK is roughly equal to evaporation so no action necessary.
In fact, spring was unusually dry too so it's not just been a summer thing.
So, in my first year I went with the 'no-dig' way (but I don't want to raise any heckles, because it seems very divisive) and although I add at least 2 inches a year, probably twice a year in fact, most beds - that doesn't work well for me when it's dry.
But you would not believe the amounts of matter I acquired from a variety of sources and dug in last year and this spring to prepare for this year - those beds are good, but there's no way I could ever cover the entire plot. Altogether I used 1.5 cubed metres of the allotment manure, the same of racing horse field manure (dug and bagged myself), a pallet of reclaimed peat and several bags of sheeps wool compost to finish it off!!! Plus, I nearly forgot; beds without manure mulched with 2 bales of hay and it's all gone somewhere down there.
Hopefully after doing that for a couple of years it would take less, but I don't know - I hadn't realised until my second year of growing quite how intensive these vegetables' needs are.
I'm building a wormery now to add to the other sources.........
Almost forgot :D it started raining heavily almost exactly on cue yesterday morning (5 mins early) and then lightly ALL DAY!!!! So lovely.
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Working in organic matter over the winter has helped the soil immensely during drought. That and mulch. It used to get great cracks in drought and hard as rock just as you've described. But if you haven't had a drop since June probably any soil would crack.
I hope next year is a whole different story for you. Very discouraging putting so much work and dreams into it then watch it die in drought.
Thanks GrannieAnne for the suggestions - I do wonder how people in seriously dry summer environments cope. Our problem is we're not used to it and normally it is reckoned that rainfall in the UK is roughly equal to evaporation so no action necessary.
In fact, spring was unusually dry too so it's not just been a summer thing.
So, in my first year I went with the 'no-dig' way (but I don't want to raise any heckles, because it seems very divisive) and although I add at least 2 inches a year, probably twice a year in fact, most beds - that doesn't work well for me when it's dry.
But you would not believe the amounts of matter I acquired from a variety of sources and dug in last year and this spring to prepare for this year - those beds are good, but there's no way I could ever cover the entire plot. Altogether I used 1.5 cubed metres of the allotment manure, the same of racing horse field manure (dug and bagged myself), a pallet of reclaimed peat and several bags of sheeps wool compost to finish it off!!! Plus, I nearly forgot; beds without manure mulched with 2 bales of hay and it's all gone somewhere down there.
Hopefully after doing that for a couple of years it would take less, but I don't know - I hadn't realised until my second year of growing quite how intensive these vegetables' needs are.
I'm building a wormery now to add to the other sources.........
Almost forgot :D it started raining heavily almost exactly on cue yesterday morning (5 mins early) and then lightly ALL DAY!!!! So lovely.
Oh my :-[ I really was singing to the choir, wasn't I? You've done a ton of work and must have muscles on your muscles. I hope next year's rain will prove all your hauling wasn't in vain.
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Oh my :-[ I really was singing to the choir, wasn't I? You've done a ton of work and must have muscles on your muscles. I hope next year's rain will prove all your hauling wasn't in vain.
Yes, I'm bursting out of my shirts - it's the weight-lifting not the digging that gets me. It's not the type of exercise I'd ever choose to do being somewhat small.
BTW, I didn't take offense, I asked for suggestions and it interests me what people in hotter climates do.
In fact it's been a fabulous year as a result of all of that, stunning. I'm just focusing here on two duff beds intended for late brassicas. I weazled them in elsewhere and they're fine. But next year, lesson learnt - not to leave beds without plants or mulch mid-summer :)
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Drought - what drought - now we're drowning? That's the UK for you, what fun 8)
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we've had some rain over the last few days, but an inch down and its dry as dry can be - dug the rest of the Mayan spuds today, managed to be able to get the fork in, so that's an improvement :D