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From the Voice of Experience—The Oregon State University Extension Master Gardeners
Avoid over watering with this inexpensive and time-saving suggestion: Drill a 1/8 inch hole in the side of a five gallon bucket. Fill it with water and let a gentle stream of water flow next to the plant roots that need watering. You can also add fertilizer and other nutrients to the water in the same bucket and have a controlled means of dispensing it!
Monitor your garden daily to determine watering needs throughout the growing season: Rather than developing a watering schedule based on calculations and charts. Consider your soil, your plants and recent weather.
Reduce evaporation with mulch: Spread a 3” layer of mulch (e.g.: bark dust or compost) to conserve moisture and reduce watering requirements. Using black plastic mulch is another way to reduce evaporation in vegetable beds and, at the same time, heat the soil. With tomatoes and peppers, red plastic has the added benefit of improving yields. Warm soil is a key ingredient to successfully grow vegetables in our climate.
Deep watering verse frequent shallow watering: Deep watering throughout the root zone encourages deep rooting and sturdy, healthy plants. Frequent, shallow watering keeps roots from growing deep and makes plants susceptible to drought. Over-watering can drown plants by filling up soil pores with water, leaving little or no oxygen for plant roots. Also, excessive watering leaches away nutrients and can contribute to groundwater contamination.
Soil type: Clay soils are slow to absorb or to give up water. So, even though you may need to use several on-off cycles to thoroughly moisten such soil, you can water relatively infrequently. Sandy soils allow water to run through quickly but will dry out rather rapidly. Loamy soils are somewhere in between. |
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 Get into the habit of measuring water depth and soil dryness on a regular basis. Let the soil dry out partially between waterings to allow oxygen to re-enter the soil.
Water early in the morning when the air is cool, wind is low, and water pressure is higher on municipal systems.
Avoid over-fertilizing seedlings and young plants by saving the water left over from steaming or boiling vegetables, transfer it to a clean spray bottle and spritz it on leaves once a week for a light foliar feeding.
Additional Water Wise Tips-- |
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 Water Wise Tips - for Summer Garden Watering
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