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Gardening 2023
- Thread starter MRockwell
- Start date
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We had nearly 2" of rain a little over week ago.
Still, I just moved the hose around the garden sprinklers for the last 3 hours.
I put in a drip hose in each of my beds this year. Didn't think I'd be using them in May. Hot, low humidity and a steady wind is making it necessary.We had nearly 2" of rain a little over week ago.
Still, I just moved the hose around the garden sprinklers for the last 3 hours.
I even put some water on the yard Sunday morning.
Mine had turned the corner and was headed that way. I'm usually sick of mowing it by the end of July, so when it goes dormant in August I'm ready for it. I wasn't ready to put the mower away yet though. I'll probably keep watering for a while, at least until I get the next water bill. I miss the well at our old house.
I just finished my underground lines in my raised beds. My beds are about 50 feet from the back of the house and I have a buried 3/4" black poly pipe from the house to the beds, with a hose bib at each of the two rows of beds. To that I added another buried line that goes under both rows of beds with a plastic hose ball-valve in the corner of each of my eight beds. Now, I'm putting together soaker and drip lines for the beds. It was a lot of hand digging last week, but I'm really excited to be able to have drips set up without having hoses laying on top of the ground.
It's hooked up to well water now, but I also picked up a new shallow well pump so that I can hook that up to my rain water tanks and drip irrigate with rain water.
It's hooked up to well water now, but I also picked up a new shallow well pump so that I can hook that up to my rain water tanks and drip irrigate with rain water.
Pics?
Sure, I'll get some tomorrow.
A few had asked me for details on my drip system, so here are a few pics. Above are my raised beds, and if you follow the line of dirt on the right, that's where my main water line from the house runs. You can see that there's a hose bib in that first bed, and the pipe continues under that bed, to the far bed, where there is another riser and hose bib. That main line is about two feet deep (it all gets drained and blown out each fall). There is another line, buried just about six inches deep that runs across the ends of the two rows of beds (I replaced the sod when I buried that line, so you can't see where it is). If you look, you can see the short risers in the corners of the beds. That line isn't connected to the main line under ground, the next pic shows the connection. That is the drip supply line.
Here you can see one of the two risers with hose bibs on the main line, and there is a pressure reducer with the short piece of hose to supply the drip lines. The blue fitting on the riser has an adapter to connect a garden hose for the drips in that bed. I plan to get some pressure-treated 2x4s and make a proper stand to attach the hose bibs, maybe put a hose rack on too. Please excuse my weedy turf.
Here's a pic of the drip riser in another bed, with the valve and connection to a buried soaker hose. I have it running with well water now, but I have about 900 gallons of rain water storage and a shallow well pump that I still need to get set up.
Everything seems to be doing pretty good despite the lack of rain .........Have watered about every other day and had to add some shade cloth already to our lettuce ,broccoli and cabbage .
Our strawberries are in a bit of shade which has helped them to survive . Onions are looking good but no signs of bulbing out yet , The garlic looks great ( dug down on a few and they are starting to bulb up a little . )
Have ate quite a few helpings from our 1st bed in the row ( we call it the salad bowl ) Mix of cabbage , lettuce , kale, swiss chard and misc garlic and onion chutes .
Our strawberries are in a bit of shade which has helped them to survive . Onions are looking good but no signs of bulbing out yet , The garlic looks great ( dug down on a few and they are starting to bulb up a little . )
Have ate quite a few helpings from our 1st bed in the row ( we call it the salad bowl ) Mix of cabbage , lettuce , kale, swiss chard and misc garlic and onion chutes .
spencer rifle
Grandmaster
Drought not helping. Most plants are up and going slowly. Voles still a problem, possibly aided by rabbits.
Only a few peas so far. No okra this year (YAY). Took apart the greenhouse for storage.
Watering a lot. We used drip irrigation for years, but every other year we had to replace emitters, as our horrible water clogged them up with iron and calcium. Had to give up and use sprinkler and hose.
Only a few peas so far. No okra this year (YAY). Took apart the greenhouse for storage.
Watering a lot. We used drip irrigation for years, but every other year we had to replace emitters, as our horrible water clogged them up with iron and calcium. Had to give up and use sprinkler and hose.
I'm running the drip hoses for about 30 min every other morning right now. Will probably go to an hour 2 or 3 times per week to get some root growth.
Mulched everything heavily with straw last week and it's been a big help.
Lettuce and spinach are shot with the heat. I may put some in pots on the deck under the pergola and see if that's enough shade to keep them from bolting.
Mulched everything heavily with straw last week and it's been a big help.
Lettuce and spinach are shot with the heat. I may put some in pots on the deck under the pergola and see if that's enough shade to keep them from bolting.
snapping turtle
Grandmaster
My corn (planted 7-8 days ago have sprouted and popped up. Aug 15 here we come.
I will plant another patch July 4 ish. For a September 21 harvest.
Then I will try for and end of the year crop in the Aug 15 patch around September 1 ish and hope no frost for 75 days. That will give me a last patch in early November which is always a challenge but happens more than one would think. (Fresh sweet corn for thanksgiving is nice.)
I need three corn patches.
I will plant another patch July 4 ish. For a September 21 harvest.
Then I will try for and end of the year crop in the Aug 15 patch around September 1 ish and hope no frost for 75 days. That will give me a last patch in early November which is always a challenge but happens more than one would think. (Fresh sweet corn for thanksgiving is nice.)
I need three corn patches.
The mesclun mix is holding up. eating a salad every night.
the peas and potatoes are blooming.
still watering. Hoeing and weeding a little every day.
all the beans are looking good. The pole beans are forming vines now.
the peas and potatoes are blooming.
still watering. Hoeing and weeding a little every day.
all the beans are looking good. The pole beans are forming vines now.
Earlier this spring, I had gotten 6 yards of good soil mix from a local landscaper to put in some of my raised beds. I'd gotten the same soil last year to fill one bed and my peppers grew like gang-busters in it. So I decided to dig the clay out of three of the other beds and get more of that good soil so that my plants might look as nice as the one in the pictures that you guys post.
The soil looked fine when I put it in. and the tomatoes and sweet potatoes seem fine, but very few seeds are sprouting. I can put water on it as long as I want, but then if I scrape off the surface, it's dry as a bone underneath. First I tried Dawn soap in a hose-end sprayer to act as a surfactant, and that seemed to be working, but I didn't want to use too much of that and risk my plants. Tomorrow I'm going to put a thick layer of straw and leaves over the exposed areas and see if that does anything.
Have any of you ever used one of the commercial soil wetting agents? I know they're popular in the south for use on lawns during hot dry spells, but I've never used them.
The soil looked fine when I put it in. and the tomatoes and sweet potatoes seem fine, but very few seeds are sprouting. I can put water on it as long as I want, but then if I scrape off the surface, it's dry as a bone underneath. First I tried Dawn soap in a hose-end sprayer to act as a surfactant, and that seemed to be working, but I didn't want to use too much of that and risk my plants. Tomorrow I'm going to put a thick layer of straw and leaves over the exposed areas and see if that does anything.
Have any of you ever used one of the commercial soil wetting agents? I know they're popular in the south for use on lawns during hot dry spells, but I've never used them.
snapping turtle
Grandmaster
Long dry spell. Dry equals not as easy for seeds to sprout. Does the first two inches/top layer dry out like concrete.
I have that on top soil in a 4x8 bed. I have been incorporating peat moss into them which seems to help with everything in beds with no sprout issues. Still working on the greens bed to sprout correctly. I threw brussel sprouts in that space when it got real hot real quick. covering with straw ect will help keep the water around longer.
get some peat and incorporate it into the bed soil along with organic matter. Currently I am upping the soil in the areas of the garden to then move into the beds and amending that soil to what I want to grow in the bed. Next bed will have some sand for better root crops.
good luck my garden has been and off again on again affir for like 25 years in this spot.
