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  • From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
  • To: "E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>, Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] irrigation?
  • Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 12:05:13 -0700 (PDT)

It is best not to irrigate at all wherever that is possible. I was
born and raised on my grandparents farm in the North of Germany
in the 1950s. My grandmother grew most of our food in an
extensive vegetable garden which she never irrigated even once.
She didn't owe a watering hose nor even a watering can.
 
Alas, in the South of Portugal, where I live now, we normally don't
get a drop of rain from May through September with temperatures
peaking 40 deg. C in July/August. Under such circumstances,
nothing edible will grow without irrigation. However, most people
would be able to reduce irrigation by as much as 80 % or more by:
 
- increasing Soil Organic Matter
- keeping the soil covered at all times
- leaving the organic web intact by never disturbing the soil
- growing as much as possible during the wet season
- using different types of plants for increasing root mass
- leaving all the roots in the soil (except the edibles of course)
- creating as much shade as your plants will tolerate
- planting as closely together as possible (I trail most veges
on poles, some as high as 3 meters, with hardly enough space
to squeeze in-between)
 
By the above means, I have reduced irrigation from once or twice
a day to once or twice a week. This has meant that I can irrigate
the entire garden with the available surface water resources without
pumping a single drop from the aquifer. In addition to saving
precious water, I also save a lot of time since it usually doesn't take
more than 1/2 hour in the evening for watering each plot in turn for a
garden of at least 1000 square meters. Rather than work, this is a
pleasant and cool way of concluding a hot day.
 
In the past, I experimented with every imaginable irrigation system
from large sprinklers to mini- and micro-sprinklers to drip systems
and drip lines. Apart from the prohibitive cost of these systems,
most also require considerable time for installation and maintenance.
And no matter how finely you adjust an automated or semi-automatic
system, there will always be areas that don't get enough water, while
in other places your vegetables start to rot because they get too much
water.
 
Manually watering your garden, on the other hand, allows you to give
just the right amount of water to each plant. By making the rounds
while watering you also notice disease and pest problems earlier
than you would otherwise.
 
I have since got rid of all those fancy irrigation systems.
 
Another point is: all vegetables need sufficient water for germination
and early growth; however, once established, most can survive on very
little water provided they can access nutrients in a rich, loose and deep
soil. This is obviously different for each plant; while cucumbers need
regular watering all along, beans, onions, etc. can survive on very little
water once they are established. It may even be argued that plants
develop deeper and bigger root systems and that some vegetables,
like tomatoes, develop a richer flavour when watered sparingly.
 
Dieter Brand
Portugal

"E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net> wrote:
With so much flooding in the country's middle, we haven't been watering much.  Your situation, and that of the West and Southwest is different.
 
That said, I have been drip-irrigating my container nursery for years, and have concluded that not much of it is very good.  In my opinion, the problem is dispersal.  With drip irrigation, and especially in containers, the moisture develops a path, or pattern, downward, and the upper portions of the soil do not stay evenly moist.  Roots don't grow well where it is too dry or too wet (as at the bottom of the container), so I spend a lot of effort refining the soil mixture and the method of application.  Currently, I'm testing 2gph spray stakes with a 160 degree spray pattern and 2gph emitters with four microtubes and stakes.  This latter arrangement allows me to (for example) use one tube for a 1 gal. plant, 2 tubes for a 3 gal. plant, and 4 tubes for a 7 gal. plant - a very flexible arrangement for a nursery area.
 
For irrigation of raised beds I favor soaker hoses just under the mulch layer.  A 50' hose can make two passes in a 25' x 4' bed.  Drip emitters or spray stakes are too localized and, being above ground, waste water.  They also have the drawbacks mentioned above, as well as a tendency to clog.
 
I really think that the best "answer" for watering is the same as every other soil question - more organic matter!  With better water storage in the soil, watering methods became less of a problem.  Further, I believe that mycorrhizal fungi can play a significant role in carrying moisture to plants.  Mulching (especially with woody matter) and no-till practices encourage development of fungal hyphae so, once again, we're on the right track.
 
E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 12:04 AM
Subject: [Livingontheland] irrigation?


I've been trying watering seedling pots with manure tea, and experimenting
with drip methods. I'm not satisfied with any of it though. Anyone have
questions or experience to share on garden irrigating? I don't see anything
about watering, on any of the lists I see. Yet it's not so simple, is it?
Is it like nobody can have problems with watering?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net



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