- Hose-end sprinkling lifts the water into the air and splashes it over the plants and soil. Although this is the inexpensive way to water your garden, even if you are doing it in the morning, it is still inefficient. About the only times you want to water the garden with airborne water is just after planting while the seedlings are in the top inch or two of soil, or when you are trying to knock bugs off your plants.
- Proper watering involves pouring the water over the soil, not the plants, usually once a week to the depth of 6 inches. Most of the vegetables in your garden have roots at least at this level if not much deeper. It does not help them if you water the garden every morning for a few minutes and saturate the top inch of soil. The only plants that benefit are the weeds just starting to grow. Drip irrigation works well for this. If you can situate a grid of drip hoses over the surface of your garden, one morning a week you can let water seep deep into the soil for a couple of hours.
- Soil types can make a major difference in the amount of water you use for your vegetable garden. Sandy soil percolates the water quickly down into the lower levels of the soil but leaves the top layer dry after a few hours. Use thick layers of mulch to hold moisture within the top 6 to 8 inches of soil and work compost into the soil to make it loamier. This type of soil might need a deep morning watering twice a week, but dig into the soil to make sure it is dry before watering.
- The flowering stage is critical in vegetable gardening. Check the soil each morning when the plants are starting to flower. Use a small hand shovel to pull up a soil sample. The vegetables will need consistent moisture to produce flowers, especially if they are still young and their roots are still shallow. If there is not enough moisture in the top 6 inches of soil, add an extra watering morning into your schedule.
Hose Sprinkling
Method
Soil Types
Flowering Stage
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