Vegetable Garden Irrigation is Best Done in Early Morning
Vegetable garden irrigation tips and plans; how often and how much do you need to water your vegetable garden?
When is the best time to water a garden?
Healthy gardens need adequate water, time for the foliage to dry out, and good drainage in order to flourish.
Design Your Own Vegetable Garden Layout Using our Free "Vegetable Garden Planner" Software!
Which Watering Method to Use
Are you planning to install a drip irrigation system, or will you be using a sprinkler, hose, or watering can?
Allof these methods will work for your vegetable garden depending on howlarge it is.
However, hand-watering can be rather time-consuming whentending a large garden!
Watering Container Gardens
Container Gardens Need Frequent Watering in Hot Weather
Container gardens are easy to water by hand with a hose or wateringcan if you will be home every day.
Container gardens are especiallyvulnerable to drying out quickly during very hot or warm windy weather.
A drip system on a timer works well if you will not be home each day to do the watering yourself.
It is not difficult to install a drip system if you are at all handy with basic do-it-yourself projects.
Vegetable Garden Irrigation : Watering a Raised Bed Garden
Hand-Watering With a Hose and Wand
A single small to medium-size raised bed vegetable gardencan be watered by hand fairly easily with a hose with a wateringattachment.
It can also be watered with a lawn or garden sprinkler, ordrip system.
Whether you amend your garden soil by double diggingor with a tiller, be sure to rake the plot thoroughly after you arefinished.
Remove any rocks and break up any remaining clumps ofdirt.
Raking smooths the surface and levels the ground, which aids inwater retention.
Leveling a garden site before planting saves youextra steps from possibly needing to build terraces later to correctdrainage problems.
In-ground Vegetable Garden Irrigation Drip Systems
Simple Drip Irrigation System for a Garden
Permanent watering systems make caring for a vegetable garden easier by ensuring that plants receive adequate moisture according to a programmed schedule.
Installing an in-ground vegetable garden irrigation system requires only basic tools and is surprisingly easy to do.
Benefits of drip systems:
1. Save water
2. Doesn't wet plant foliage (prevents mildew and other plant diseases from occurring)
3. Convenient; Can be set on a timer to provide regular start and stop times
Planyour vegetable garden irrigation carefully by using all the helpfulinformation offered online and at your local hardware store or gardencenter.
Allow for any future expansion plans you may have for your garden site.
How to Install a Drip System in your Vegetable Garden
Drip System in a Square Foot Garden
Follow the simple guidelines below on how to install automatic irrigation in your vegetable garden.
• From your water supply line and backflow prevention valve, trench and run 1 inch PVC pipe.
Schedule 40 pipe to control valve location.
Install a ¾ inch reducing bushing at the valve.
Mount control valves below grade where freezing temperatures are likely.
• Installa separate control valve for each water circuit.
Between each valve andthe lines running to the drip emitters or sprinkler heads, use a ½ inchreducing bushing.
• Using a PVC pipe-cutting tool, cut pipe tolength.
Then join sections using adhesive and a two-step primer.
Allowglue to dry at least 24 hours.
• Where each irrigation head is planned, install a 90 degree ell fitting, with a threaded coupler to the riser and slip joints to the pipe.
• Install drip-system hose couplers or sprinkler spray housing atop each riser.
Use Teflon tape around each threaded fitting.
• Turn on the gate valve and sprinkler manifold to clear line of debris.
Then turn off and install spray heads and drip lines.
Finally, set controller.
Adequate Water and Good Drainage are Essential for a Healthy Garden
How Much to Water Your Garden?
The green rule of thumb is to supply an inch of water to the vegetable gardensoil with each irrigation.
Water less if your soil is clay-like ordense.
Avoid over-watering that creates a runoff.
Good vegetablesgardening practices mean conserving water.
With an in-ground vegetable gardenirrigation system, you can adjust the amount of time and the flow tosuit your garden‘s watering needs.
Always adjust the system to supplymore water as outside temperatures climb.
Watering Vegetable Garden with Sprinklers
When your vegetable garden has grown taller, stand your sprinkler on a platform or riser so that the water will go over the garden.
This will help insure that all the plants receive adequate water.
Irrigate for 20-30 minutes per day during hot weather, allowing water to completely penetrate the soil.
When you believe you have watered the garden bed sufficiently, test thesoil.
Dig some earth from the area close to your vegetable plants, tothe depth of the roots.
If the subsurface is dry, continue wateringuntil it is uniformly wet to a depth of 4 inches.
Watering Lettuce Plants with Small Sprinkler
Watering a Garden with Hose and Watering Wand Attachment
Hand-Watering Strawberry Plants
If your garden is fairly small, or if you just love watering yourgarden by hand, a hose with a watering wand attachment works great!
Just be sure that you have an attachment with a gentle 'shower'setting; you don't want to blast your little plants to smithereens!
If you water with hoses or watering cans, times of drought and heat must be tackled with more frequent watering.
Whichever method you use for vegetable garden irrigation, check the soil every few days.
Adjust the watering patterns according to the differing impact of heat spells or rainy periods.
Using a Watering Can to Water your Garden
Child Watering Garden with Watering Can
If you have a small garden or a container garden, a watering can works well for watering your garden.
Most watering cans have an attachment that provides for a gentle showerof water.
This is the safest option, as plants can be damaged, and soilcan be dislodged, by a forceful stream of water from a hose or wateringcan.
If you do not have a source of water near your garden, you can store water in plastic milk jugs near your garden.
However,it is best to use the milk jugs to fill your watering can, as wateringdirectly from the jugs is difficult without damaging your plants, orwashing the soil away from the plant roots.
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