Tonight on "Blighty" they had a Gardeners World one hour special, presumably from years ago as Monty Don presented it. On it, an allotment holder planted seeds (Coriander) into a dry drill, he also stated he never watered anything ever (I know it sounds surprising). The camera scanned his plot and everything looked great, potatoes and other crops, he said there was enough water in soil for anything to grow, has anyone else heard of this?
He also left stones in and amongst his crops as he said they retained water and heated up the soil for early planting (before May). Again, is there any truth to this as I remove all stones when I dig them up. He ground Coriander seeds until they split in half and said they germinated twice as quick.
If only
When plants self seed, they don't water themselves do they?
It all depends on the soil and where he is etc.
I only water my plants when they are transplanted; after that they are on their own.
The plot was in or around Birmingham.
we dont water much either,pretty much only seedlings just been planted,and the greenhouses of course.thats unless we have quite a few dry days back to back. we used to water everything every day until our treasurer said he didnt bother,so we tried it and our crops were just the same amount of fails and sucesses
I rarely water anything I always maintain if the ground is well manured this will hold all the moisture plants need.
In recent years I have had to water soon after planting out because May has been a very dry month over the last two or three years. But when my plants have developed their root systems into the humus that's the end of the watering.
The only watering I do then is containers and stuff under glass.
Then there is the other reason...........I absolutely hate watering!
Could the stones be acting as a mulch,at least the big ones. I know every time I lift a big stone it is always damp under it and the worms seem to hang out there because it is damp.
Then when you consider stones are porous,could they be puling moisture up to the surface through capillary attraction. Meaning any plant with it's roots under the stone could be well supplied with moisture.
Just a thought ::)
Quote from: Tee Gee on September 06, 2010, 23:20:21
I rarely water anything I always maintain if the ground is well manured this will hold all the moisture plants need.
In recent years I have had to water soon after planting out because May has been a very dry month over the last two or three years. But when my plants have developed their root systems into the humus that's the end of the watering.
The only watering I do then is containers and stuff under glass.
Then there is the other reason...........I absolutely hate watering!
Could the stones be acting as a mulch,at least the big ones. I know every time I lift a big stone it is always damp under it and the worms seem to hang out there because it is damp.
Then when you consider stones are porous,could they be puling moisture up to the surface through capillary attraction. Meaning any plant with it's roots under the stone could be well supplied with moisture.
Just a thought ::)
And a good thought TeeGee, he did state that he had done all the work the year before, think I'll put the rocks back..lol.
Some of that programme was filmed at our allotments :)
Did you see the chap who showed his raised strawberry bed and water containers and the woman from Brazil who grew plants for dyeing? It was the first summer I had a plot and there was a fleeting glance of my onions drying on a fence! I think it must be one of the most repeated GW programmes ever because we still get visitors asking to see the plots featured in it.
The site where the man was growing coriander is the Uplands and I think it is one of the largest in the country. It's about a mile away from our site.
As for watering, I decided not to water a row of Sungold tomatoes just to see how they did. When I planted them out I gave them a good watering, put a very thick layer of mulch around them, and then never watered again. They've been fantastic, much better in fact than the ones that were watered regularly.
QuoteHe also left stones in and amongst his crops
My soil is very very stoney. If I removed the stones there would not be much left. I do not find that it has any detrimental effects on the crops. I have been very surprised at the carrots and parsnips coping with it very well.
According to studies by Darwin worms move material above stones and so they gradually sink. I hope this is true since I have also heard conflicting opinion on the subject.
Tony likes to remove the big stones as he digs but leaves the rest
I remove any stones I come across simply because it annoys me (and possibly damages/bluntens my tools) when I strike one when cultivating/planting/harvesting.
As for watering, I'm religious about it ... virtually every day, if it hasn't rained.
Certainly established plants may well "survive" without watering, some may even cope quite admirably, but fruiting plants will have a much lower yield, weight-wise, with no water in their fruit. I've known of whole fields of commercially-grown courgettes produce virtually nothing because there was insufficient rain and it was uneconomical/impractical to provide water.
My patch (it's too small to call a plot) is on a slope, surrounded by trees and very free draining. Any unwatered areas (where there's nothing planted for the moment) will turn to dust to a depth of a couple of inches or more in a day or two of summer sunshine. A couple more days like that and stuff visibly starts to wilt ... I have tried ... in the meantime I'll continue to incorporate as much composted vegetable matter as I can produce, mulch wherever possible, and water water water :)