Allotments 4 All

It might sound a strange question but do you water the whole plant or just the main part that has been planted?

Neil

I plant the pumpkin in a 'dip' and water into that while it is still visible.  Once the plants start to grow and cover the ground I don't water any more. The ground where they grow is heavily mulched and doesn't dry out easily.

If you have to water and  you shouldn't as Squash says, just water the root area. XX Jeannine

I've made a mound of horse manure, comfrey and cardboard and planted the giant pumpkin in the middle with a dip for watering. The GP looks very healthy at the moment, i'm clearing the patch of carpet at the moment and wanted to know how people watered as I was going to lay a soaker hose over the patch, but now I know I don't need too.  Thanks for the info :)

Taken 14.05.10




It's know about 4x the size ;D

Neil

I've got ten squashes in the ground.  I planted a pop bottle - with the bottom cut off – with the top pointed at the roots next to each one.  Every other day I give them all a good watering through the bottle.  I do not know whether I am doing it right but my plants look very healthy and are growing at a good rate.  I am also using this method for my courgettes and again they are growing great.

Julie

I thought they needed bundles of water and I water as per Julie with the upturned bottle feeding two plants. :-\  ???      ;D ;D ;D

Quote from: cornykev on June 06, 2010, 19:35:38
I thought they needed bundles of water and I water as per Julie with the upturned bottle feeding two plants. :-\  ???      ;D ;D ;D

That's what I thought too!

I'll give you a tip on this one.

Stick a cane into the ground where the plant has been planted because in a month or so time you won't know where the point of entry is once the plant has spread, particularly if you are growing a few plants!

Then when watering; water the cane and you will be sure the water is going to the root system not a point a few feet away from it.

Quote from: mpdjulie on June 06, 2010, 10:25:26
I've got ten squashes in the ground.  I planted a pop bottle - with the bottom cut off – with the top pointed at the roots next to each one.  Julie

I've done the same with the tom's but with milk cartons and left the lid on, stabbed loads of slits down the side of the bottle that is closest to the plant. I then filled with comfrey leaves,  they should rot down and settle at the bottom(top) of the bottle then when i fill it with water it should water the whole of the root system.

Quote from: Tee Gee on June 06, 2010, 19:47:40
Stick a cane into the ground where the plant has been planted

Great tip TeeGee ;) I plan on training the GP down the 7' wide bit of ground between the fence and potatoes, it's about 20' long so I should be able to get to the main plant to water and have plenty of growing space.

Neil

Maybe it depends on the soil whether you water or not?  My soil is average but over the past few years I have added lots of compost and manure to the area where I grow squash and pumpkins.

When I plant them, I mulch heavily all around them so they look as though they are in nests  ;) I water them for a week or two until they start growing and then that's it - no more watering. 

. Maybe I wasn't clear here.I am talking about mature plants that have good root hold and have taken off, I have never had to water after that unless a very very dry prolonged summer or I was trying to raise something huge, but for regular plants they should be able to get to the waterline themselves. With half a lottie full of squash  in full leaf I would have a hard time finding the start to do it regularly.

If a newly planted plant then yes it will need to be watered.

Quote from: Tee Gee on June 06, 2010, 19:47:40
I'll give you a tip on this one.

Stick a cane into the ground where the plant has been planted because in a month or so time you won't know where the point of entry is once the plant has spread, particularly if you are growing a few plants!

Then when watering; water the cane and you will be sure the water is going to the root system not a point a few feet away from it.

Oh yes! I should have thought of that before! I have a huge squash patch going and I know that in previous years I have never been able to work out where they start from! I will be down there tonight sticking sticks into the ground! Thx TeeGee!

If you use plastic milk cartons to water into, you can put the cane into the handle!

Pictures of my sticks;

July



August



By the way my plants are on top of the compost heap!

I plant a sweet pepper beside each of the pumpkin/squash plants, this acts as a 'marker' to indicate where to water the squash plants