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Central NY

Hello all,

I have been watering by hand with multiple 2 gallon watering cans with warm water up until this point. I'm currently at 18 days after pollination on my largest pumpkin and have another that is 4 DAP. My plant is requiring more water and I'm just getting tired of running I and out of the house with the warm water. What's the downside now that the plant is very much established to going with garden hose? I will say the water out of my hose is incredibly cold so I've been scared away up until now. Thanks for the thoughts.

7/28/2014 8:41:36 PM

Eganville, Ontario

I've been watering with my well this year until I get my pond pump hooked up. I can't tell much difference with the cold water. I've been watering late morning or early afternoon and on the hot days it cools the plants and I've had very little sunburn.

I think the colder water is still a better risk to take than not watering enough with watering cans. I can't imagine watering my full sized plants with cans.

7/28/2014 9:30:33 PM

Zurich, Ontario Canada

It's got to be better than walking in the patch and compacting the ground!!

7/28/2014 9:42:05 PM

Central NY

Thanks Ryan. Joe, I've got really long arms!

So if I was going with the hose, you'd say it would be better to use it during the hotter part of day vs evening? Thanks.

7/28/2014 10:06:47 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

If you want warm water cheap and easy, fill a black plastic garbage can in a sunny spot by the garden. If you add a little molasses and humic acid to the water, it will turn brown, heat up quicker and supply more nutrition to the plant. One nice sunny day will give you nice warm water.

7/28/2014 10:32:41 PM

BC, Canada

The Iowa guy got it in before me. Get a barrel and put a drain near the bottom and place it above the garden, a stand or a hill. Fill it with cold water one day and then drain it to the pumpkin the next. add some nutrients to the barrel and you've got fertigation.

7/29/2014 12:52:17 AM

Holton, Michigan

Yes to the above I use barrels with a submersiblepump.

7/29/2014 9:33:59 AM

Hinckley MN

Water is a necessity, warm water is bonus. One inch of water over a 600 square foot plant is 50 cubic ft or about 370 gallons. Many growers double or triple that each week.

7/29/2014 3:04:26 PM

Central NY

Thank you all. Appreciate the help.

7/29/2014 5:32:28 PM

We overhead water with normal sprinkler and garden hose here and many times in the evening, it have worked well for us. We live near Green Bay so climate is much similar than what you have I think.

7/30/2014 1:33:09 AM

Lodi, California

Water in the morning, not during the middle of the day. If you give them plenty of water early in the morning the plant cells central vacuoles will fill with water, and essentially increase pressure within the leaf, keeping in erect throughout the day, and reducing flagging when it starts to become hot.

7/30/2014 2:27:23 AM

Muddy Waters

Buy a 10 foot 1 1/4 electrical (grey plastic)conduit at Home depot for 2.52 cents.Drill 1/8 inch holes in it every 6 inches.Lay the pipe between your secondary's,then place garden hose in pipe.You can flood the ground for a few minutes then move pipe to the next row of secondary's.This way your not wearing your leafs out with all this overhead watering.I used to do this prior to drip tape.You can make them longer if you like or buy more then one so you dont have to move them.

7/30/2014 5:17:56 AM

Central NY

Thanks again for the thoughts all. Really appreciate it.

7/30/2014 10:26:34 PM

Cameron

We have been watering overhead with a garden hose for many years. It allows us to water every nook & cranny in the patch at a fairly even rate. Warm your water up in a large drum & then water the plant. We have 2 large drums (1200 & 1500 gal) that we collect rain water off the house & garage. Each tank has it's own jet pump & we always water in the morning @ 8-10 am. That way it allows the top of the soil to dry out a bit before night fall. I know that we have had a few problems in the past using this method, but who doesn't have the odd issue with their plants. All I know is that the success that we have had, outweighs any of the problems that we've experienced in the past. We'll continue watering this way for the foreseeable future.
We wish you all the best. Cheers,
Jane & Phil

7/31/2014 8:42:02 AM