Hand watering vs. Drip Irrigation

[ninnymary]

I was going to put my mulch down but then I thought...wait a minute...do I want to install a drip system? If so, I need to do that first and then put my mulch down.

I have a very small veggie garden and watering by hand would not be a problem. I have plenty of time to do it. My problem is that I tend to water too much or too little. In the past, I have had to water almost every 2 days. I did not use mulch.

I have amended my soil so hopefully now it is less sandy and will use mulch. I am hoping that I won't have to water as often. My summers are cool so I don't have that much evaporation.

What should I do? Hand water or Drip?

Mary

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I live in Southern California on the coast. Sometimes on occasions, it can get hot. I have just retired and I am new at gardening.

I personally like to hand water with a can. :watering Not only am I getting muscles, am I able to monitor each plant in the garden. It only takes a few minutes because I do not have forty acres to do.

I think the monitoring is important. You can almost hourly see changes. I know that most of you will not have the time like I dobut I find this very rewarding. :weight

 

[hoodat]

I know drip systems save water but it is a lot of fuss and expense to set up. There is also something in me that does not like neat straight rows. That isn't how Mother Nature does it and she's been gardening for millions of years. I just plunk plants and seeds in where room opens up and the mood strikes. At the end of the season my garden is quite a hodge podge but a comfortable one. Actually I should say seasons since in San Diego when the Summer crops start petering out it's time to get the Winter crops in.

 

[patandchickens]

I'd suggest hand watering. It is easier to tailor the am't of water to the needs of the particular plant, and (importantly) you LEARN from it. It is perfectly fine to make some mistakes, that is how we *find out* what a plant looks like when it really DID need to be watered after all, or what soil looks like when (it turns out) you should not have actually added more water Plus, when you are hand watering regularly, you end up "seeing" your plants better and more often, and will learn more about them and be able to spot problems earlier.

Drip irrigation is fine for landscaping for people who are really not into plants, or for *large* gardens where it'd be too laborious to hand water.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Speaking of water, I bought a water gauge at Home Depot for about $7.98. It takes three measurements, one for water, one for light and one for PH. I was just curious to see how it worked. I have raisied beds.

The light is of no concern, and PH leaves me puzzled, however, I am concerned about the how much water to use. The needle on the gauge keeps telling me that below the surface it is wet. It has three settings on the water gauge...dry....moist....wet. Wet is
"waaay" to the right on the gauge.

I only water when the ground looks very dry, and I sometimes poke my finger in the dirt. Then I just hand water a little bit. Now I am not sure how accurate this thing is, but it sure looks great. Does anyone have any experience with things like this? Am I overwatering? :watering

 

[ninnymary]

I decided to go with hand watering. My husband was to lazy to install a drip sytem. So, I've mulched but I think I need to add some more as I still see a few little weeds coming through.

I am concerned with my hand watering since I am wetting the foliage. I know to water in the mornings to reduce the possiblity of getting pests/diseases on them.

Mary

 

[patandchickens]

I am concerned with my hand watering since I am wetting the foliage.

Just poke the end of the watering can or hose or whatever down to the base of the plant and you *won't* be wetting the foliage Not meaningfully. Works just fine

Pat

 

[dickiebird]

Speaking of water, I bought a water gauge at Home Depot for about $7.98. It takes three measurements, one for water, one for light and one for PH. I was just curious to see how it worked. I have raisied beds.

The light is of no concern, and PH leaves me puzzled, however, I am concerned about the how much water to use. The needle on the gauge keeps telling me that below the surface it is wet. It has three settings on the water gauge...dry....moist....wet. Wet is
"waaay" to the right on the gauge.

I only water when the ground looks very dry, and I sometimes poke my finger in the dirt. Then I just hand water a little bit. Now I am not sure how accurate this thing is, but it sure looks great. Does anyone have any experience with things like this? Am I overwatering? :watering

I have one of those gauges and I believe it's quite accurate, at least in the light and moisture settings. The only reason I'm not sure about the PH reading is I don't have a baseline to figure from.
I've been very happy with mine!!!

THANX RICH

 

[lesa]

I do have weeping hoses that I usually set up in the veggie garden- way too much to water by hand. But...last year I set the whole thing up, timer, etc and I swear we never used it once!!! It rained, and rained and rained. I am too superstitious to hook it up this year!! We'll see what mother nature has in store for us!

 

[hoodat]

Speaking of water, I bought a water gauge at Home Depot for about $7.98. It takes three measurements, one for water, one for light and one for PH. I was just curious to see how it worked. I have raisied beds.

The light is of no concern, and PH leaves me puzzled, however, I am concerned about the how much water to use. The needle on the gauge keeps telling me that below the surface it is wet. It has three settings on the water gauge...dry....moist....wet. Wet is
"waaay" to the right on the gauge.

I only water when the ground looks very dry, and I sometimes poke my finger in the dirt. Then I just hand water a little bit. Now I am not sure how accurate this thing is, but it sure looks great. Does anyone have any experience with things like this? Am I overwatering? :watering

You have to learn to interpret it for your own conditions. Clay soil will almost always read as wet unless it is baked into adobe. Sandy soil can read dry when it really has plenty of water.