When to water?

[Georgie]

I overheard someone saying today that they have a gadget which seems to be some kind of probe you can put into pot grown plants to see if they need watering.  Now given that I have many pots, all topped off with an inch or so of gravel this seems like a good idea.  So, three questions if I may.  What is this device called?  Is it reliable?  And if so, where can I get one?

G xx

[Georgie]

[Roy Bham UK]

Moisture metre from any good garden centre better still get one with a light metre and soil tester 3 in 1 ;D

[Georgie]

Cheers Roy.  Do they work?

G xx

[tim]

If you supply the common sense, yes!

And I think I am right in saying water not little & often but well & wait. Preferably from the bottom.

[Svea]

LIDL currently have them in stock - welll, they did on saturday when i got one.
works very well indeed :)
and i agree with tim on the watering with common sense, too. it's just a relief to know that there IS moisture under than top 1 1/2 inch of dried up clay......

[the_snail]

When my plants are established like my brassicas and beans etc. I like to mulch them with well rotted manure. This will retain the moisture and will suppress the weeds also!

[Georgie]

Thanks everyone.  I agree with the water well and wait method for soil grown plants (and using a mulch) but in my experience, most container grown plants seem to need watering almost every day during the growing season here.  But the weather is so strange  at the moment, I don't want to overdo it.

G xx

[Robert_Brenchley]

When my plants are established like my brassicas and beans etc. I like to mulch them with well rotted manure. This will retain the moisture and will suppress the weeds also!

What thickness do you use? My veg have a habit of rotting off when I do this, but I may be overdoing the thickness. It's dead leaves and grass cuttings which are dumped on the site.

[the_snail]

Not very thick. It depends on the type of mulch. I like to use VERY well rotted manure or homemade compost at about half an inch thick. Make sure the mulch is well rotted and the plants are tall and strong enough to take the mulch. Unrotted grass clippings and leafmold is bad because it can drain the soil of valuable nitrogen thus meaning less leaf growth.