Garden Watering Schedule

This is my first year gardening.

After talking with my mother in law I discovered that the only thing I was doing successfully was drowning my plants (well maybe not the ONLY thing).

I went through my notes and found that from the class I went to, I had actually written down EXACTLY how much each plant needed and how often.

Naturally I wasn't smart enough to figure that all out BEFORE I started.

Oh well.

Obviously, watering is going to depend on your soil and the temperature, but this is a good guide to go by to get started.

 Watering with Drip Lines:

• Use a 1/2" drip pipe with pressure regulated ohmmeters placed every foot.  You can purchase pipes with them in place already, or you can insert them yourself.
• If you do them yourself, get the Rainbird brand - pressure regulated to 40 lbs (or 2 gallons per hour). 
• Goof plugs can be purchased to plug up holes that were punched in the wrong place.
• The water should shoot out about 1/8" from the ohmmeters.

Placement:

Run drip lines on the side of the plant, and turn it around and run it back on the other side (the number of plants in between will depend on the plant and how much room they need).

How much water do the plants need?

This depends on the distance between the two drip lines:

• 16 - 22": you will need to water for 45 minutes - 1 hour before the bed is soaked
• 26 - 30": 1.5 - 2 hours
• 36": 3 hours

 More tips on watering:

• Keep notes of what works (how long it took to completely soak the bed, etc.).

• Keep in mind the weather (temperature and season could change watering times).

• You must water the root system, not the actual plant.

• Water in the morning so plant leaves have an opportunity to dry; that way mildew and fungus won't occur

• Plant crops together according to their watering schedule