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Indiana

how much water per plant should one water if no rain in the past two weeks? Daily or every other day? This is a drip irrigation question THanks

7/22/2014 9:23:26 PM

Nottingham, UK

Taken from: http://how2growags.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_20.html

Hope it helps!

How much to water

Perfect soil conditions for growing are 50% dirt, 25% air, and 25% water. Too much water will replace air and cause anaerobic conditions which cause disease and rot, and limit the roots ability to take in nutrients. Not enough water limits the nutrients taken in by the roots. 1 inch of water per week, split evenly every day, is recommended starting amount – in perfectly drained soil – to grow to fullest potential. If your soil drains too much more will be needed, if your soil doesn't drain well you will need less or you will have more disease and rot problems. Continuous consistent watering and feeding is essential to get maximum growth. If growth spurts are allowed due to dry and then wet conditions pumpkin WILL crack. This is a very good message thread on watering. Another great article that should be read.



Calculating an inch of water for your patch

Calculate the size of your patch in square feet
length x width = total square feet
total square feet divided by the square feet in an acre (43560) = your size in acres
your size in acres x number of gal to provide an acre with one inch of water (27154) = your number of gallons for 1 inch
your number of gallons for 1 inch divided by 7 = number of gallons daily to equal 1 inch per week

7/23/2014 7:21:53 AM

Williamsburg,KY

Here is a great answer, posted some time back. Read the whole thing..

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=10&p=208645

Here is some great info posted by North Shore Boys.

Great question Kathy and mentioned above, it really depends on your soil structure.

My soil is very high in organic matter for the top 18" and then is very sandy, gravel and rock below that. I don't have alot of clay in my soil so I've actually added it with a product called turface.

That being said, my soil has really good drainage and I need to water quite a bit when it is dry here in July and August.

Tremor posting this awhile back and I still find it very usefull;

Let's boil this down by the gallon & some specified areas.

All of these quantities are for ONE INCH of water.

1 acre (43,560 sq ft) = 27,000 gallons
1,000 sq ft = 620 gallons
100 sq ft = 62 gallons
10 sq ft = 6.2 gallons
1 sq ft = 2.5 quarts

As the roots expand, the targeted irrigation area increase rapidly. The freshly transplanted seedling may only require a 1 square foot area of water for a week. Hence a gallon of water would be overkill.

Given good growing conditions, this area will expand to 4'x4' or 16 sq ft in the second week. So now 10 gallons will be needed to deliver a FULL INCH to the same plant.

If the same plant is ultimately rooted into an area of 600 sq ft, it will then require 370 gallons to achieve the same result.

So, for your garden of 1200 square feet, you would need 744 gallons of water to achieve 1" of water and like most here I would double that to 2" of water per week when there is no rain to help you out. So that would be a little over 3 hours of watering time to get that 1" of water or 744 gallons each time you water.....alot isn't it? Hope ya'll are not on a water metre and paying per gallon.


Hope this helps.

7/23/2014 8:19:07 AM

Lloydminster/AB

One thing to remember is that imperial gallons used in the commonwealth =4.54 liter while USA gallons = 3.78 liters. When we talk gallons with our USA friends we can get numbers that don't quite correspond.

7/23/2014 10:58:23 PM