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| Hints for water use in the veggie garden |
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EUGENE — Oregon’s summers are quite dry compared with other parts of the country. We are heavily dependent on watering our gardens, rather than waiting for rain.
The OSU Extension Service’s Master Gardener Program has worked for decades with home gardeners to help make them more successful in the garden, including teaching them to use water more efficiently.
Here are some of the ideas recommended by OSU Master Gardeners to help people use water more efficiently in their yards and gardens during dry Oregon summers.
n Try to concentrate watering in the plants’ root zone. The less water you apply between the rows where roots can’t use it, the less water lost to evaporation and into the ground. As much as 25 percent of the water applied in overhead sprinkling is lost to evaporation, especially during the hot part of the day, from noon to 6 p.m.
To help keep the water in the root zone, try these ideas:
n Take the top off, then punch holes in the bottom of an empty large juice or coffee can. Then bury the can in the ground so the bottom of the can is adjacent to, and at root level of the plants you want to water. Pour water in the open top and it will reach the roots with a minimum of loss. This works well with squash or other plants grown in a cluster or hill.
n Irrigate individual plants like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in the same manner, using a slightly smaller can. Punch the holes in the can only on the side next to the plant. Check the soil around the plants, an inch or two under the surface every two days. It should feel damp. If it doesn’t, your plants may be thirsty. A “trickle” or “drip” irrigation system permits water to ooze from a continuous soaker, or it emits water at a given location. You can buy kits with various components to supply water in this fashion at garden stores. Canvas soakers, or inverted sprinkler hoses near the plants, perform the same function. These types of delivery can save you many gallons of water and are easy to install.
If you use sprinklers, help minimize water loss by these methods:
n Sprinkle the garden, not the surrounding area. Water early in the morning when the air is cool, the wind is low and the water pressure is better on municipal systems.
n Keep an eye on the water. Is it soaking in or running off? When it runs off or pools on the surface, the ground may be saturated. Stop sprinkling. Place used tuna cans around the garden to see how much you have sprinkled. Oftentimes, especially with finer textured soils, an inch per week is enough.
n It is better for your garden plants to soak the soil to a depth of 6-8 inches and do it less frequently than water lightly and more often. With fairly mature plants in cooler weather, a five- to seven-day interval may be enough. But with younger plants or hot weather, more frequent watering will be necessary.
nAfter watering, it is crucial to monitor how deep the water has percolated. Take a shovel and see if the moisture has seeped as deep as the root zone of the plants you are watering. If the root zone is still dry, your plants need more water. Adjust watering time. Eastern Oregon sandy soil is much more porous than clay and loam soils of western Oregon. And water will penetrate clay and loam more slowly than sandy soil.
n Try planting in closer rows. A smaller area gardened more intensively will produce more vegetables relative to the amount of water applied. You can grow quite a few vegetables much closer together than traditional 2 1/2- to 3-foot rows. You can place radishes, onions, beets, carrots, etc., in wide rows, minimizing pathways. This way, you make better use of the water you apply in the root zone. In addition, a shaded soil loses less water by evaporation to the atmosphere and will help shade out pesky weeds.
n Remember, container planting of vegetables will use more water than the same plants grown in the ground. Containers dry much faster than garden beds and rows.
n Applying organic matter to your soil and mulches on top of the soil help the soil retain moisture and keeps weeds at bay.
For more information about efficient watering, the OSU Extension Service offers “Conserving Water in the Garden” (EM 8375-E), “Growing Your Own,” and “Eastern Oregon Vegetable Gardening,” (EC 1491). These and many other gardening publications are available online at: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/. Click on “Gardening,” then “Vegetables.”
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