Wherever you garden in the U.S., you are almost bound to face a summer that brings one or more dry spells. In some sections, you must garden through long-lasting droughts, summer after summer.
Rainfall Map
A rainfall map (see USDA Yearbook 1941, “Climate and Man”) of the eastern states shows that only a few small areas receive over 20” inches of rain during the 25 weeks from April to October, and even this is not evenly distributed, that is an average of less than an inch a week.
Let it rain less than an inch a week, and most gardens, depending on the nature of your soil, the plants, and the climate, will need to be brought up to that amount.
Sandy soils, soils low in organic matter, sensitive crops (like cauliflower, celery, lettuce, peas, spinach, onions, potatoes, root vegetables), warm, sunny, dry days, call for more water than loamy soils rich in humus, plant camels, and moist, humid weather.
So if you want your vegetables to yield to capacity, to have the finest texture and flavor, and to reach maturity promptly so you can make second plantings, you’ll have to water.
You cannot water your garden unless you have water to use—plenty of water. But lacking this, conservation helps:
- Curb run-off
- Build up organic matter in your soil, and
- Use mulches of various sorts. (See Kunigunde Duncan’s “Make Your Little Climate,” December 1956).
Metered Water
Your water is very likely supplied by your municipality. Metered water commonly costs 20 to 25 per 100 cubic feet, which is 750 gallons.
This, 750 gallons, is equivalent to an inch of rain or a week’s supply for a vegetable garden 30 x 40 feet (a nice family size unless you go in for potatoes, squash, and pumpkins).
If water from your hose flows through a sprinkler at about .6 cubic feet a minute you can apply an inch to your 30×40 plot in less than two hours.
To Find Out The Rate of Flow
- Note how many seconds it takes to fill a 5-gallon can, a 10-quart pail, or your 8-quart sprinkling can; or
- Watch your water meter while water runs through your hose (with all other openings and faucets closed). Your meter has a little dial for 1 cubic foot, which is very handy for a test of this kind.
Using Sprinkler
If you use a sprinkler, compute the rate of flow through it. It makes a difference through how the water flows.
Once this is known, it is relatively simple to figure how long to let the water run to get an inch of rain, the equivalent of a nice, steady, half-day rainfall, a rough allowance for a week on most soils.
The danger of watering as you stand and spray with a hose and nozzle is that you tire before you soak the soil, or your water faster than the soil can take it, and the excess water runs off and is wasted.
Two Easy And Efficient Ways To Water
The first simply let the water run, with the hose laid down in a little furrow between rows, moving it along as necessary so it wells out to soak the length of 10, 20, or 50 feet of row, steadily and evenly.
For example, if your rows are 3’ feet apart and 25’ feet long, you will water an area of 75 square feet. This needs a bit over 6 cubic feet of water to make an inch of rain.
If you know that your hose runs half a cubic foot of water a minute, let the water flow for 12 to 15 minutes, seeing that it is absorbed evenly. Your row is then watered for about a week, barring the hottest, driest weather.
The second way calls for sprinklers which, though they waste a bit of water by evaporation, are a great boon, the easiest, best way to the water. There are, as the cuts that follow the show, many good types on the market to choose from.
Variety Of Sprinklers
Oscillating Type Sprinkler
Sprinklers that cover a rectangular piece of ground are fine for vegetable or flower plots, watering right out to the corners.
The oscillating type, with a little water motor that turns a perforated pipe, sweeping a fan of water back and forth over a rectangle 20 by 30 feet or more, is one of the best.
It supplies water evenly, does not require you to overlap much, and knowing its watering rate, you can leave it unattended for the proper length of time.
Perforated Hose Sprinkler
Then there is the perforated aluminum piping with a hose connection in 10- or 20-foot lengths. The perforations are arranged to throw water near and far as the pipe lies quietly on the ground. Perforated plastic hose sprinklers or soakers work on the same principle.
Rotary or Whirling Sprinkler
Rotary or whirling sprinklers throw water in circles. Some are engineered to distribute water remarkably evenly. Others apply more water at one radius than at another.
You can compensate for this by moving them, say a half diameter at a time, overlapping the circles. Still, others spray through rings, crescents, and so on.
To find the distribution pattern of a sprinkler, set out cans here and there in the area you are going to water, let the sprinkler run a while, then compare the depth of water in each of the cans.
How Fast To Water Depends on Your Soil
The best thing is to water no faster than the soil can drink it up without run-off. If big puddles develop, you are going too fast and losing water in run-off.
Pay NO attention to people who tell you not to water when the sun shines. There is no evidence that it’s a bad idea. Water when you can. In a bad drought, commercial growers run their equipment 24 hours a day.
Water by design, not by impulse. Remember the obvious principles, and you will save time and water.
44659 by Paul Work