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Automatic watering - little and often or infrequent drenching?

AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 335
edited July 2022 in Tools and techniques
For those with automatic irrigation, which do you go with? A bit of water very frequently or a lot of water less frequently?

Automatic watering - little and often or infrequent drenching? 9 votes

Little and often (daily or twice daily)
33% 3 votes
Infrequent drenching (every few days/week)
44% 4 votes
Something else (please comment)
22% 2 votes

Posts

  • pinutpinut Posts: 190
    It depends.

    For most of the plants that I grow (mostly fruit and veg), I prefer to alternate between drought and deep watering for young seedlings in order to condition them to establish strong root systems and become more resilient plants.

    Once they reach a certain level of maturity, say, when they produce flowers which need to be pollinated in order to produce fruit, I change the watering regime to keep the compost/soil as constantly moist as possible - so little and often.

    For growing super hot chillies, I revert back to the deep watering/drought regime once a certain amount of fruit has set and past a certain size where there is no posibility of them being aborted by the plant.


  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,580
    I don’t have an automatic watering system so I don’t have a dog in this fight. However I have learned something about drenching.

    Last week I bought three beautiful, healthy, plum/purple dahlias from Tesco. They were unnamed (but I’m hoping they might be the variety Lazarus) and just £3 each. As the soil was bone dry I watered them in copiously. The next morning they had flopped and were forlorn. Three days later they were dead. 

    I have just had a £9 lesson in the perils of drenching.
    Rutland, England
  • FireFire Posts: 18,140
    edited July 2022
    Why would drenching kill dahlias? Shock?
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,120
    Depends what it is. Hanging baskets and small-ish containers need watering often particularly in hot dry windy weather because they dry out so quickly - mine are on drip irrigation twice a day. I start off at 10 minutes when I put the timer out in late May/early June and increase or decrease the time/frequency depending on the weather. My tomatoes are on the same system but there's an inline valve so I can stop the water to them if I don't think they need it.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 14,632
    Doubt it had anything to do with the watering.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,580
    I think it was the shock of ample cold water.
    Rutland, England
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 8,750
    I've found 7 minutes is enough to get water dripping through the bottom of pots and baskets.  With the current weather it's set for twice a day.  If things cool back down I'll reduce to once.
  • DaveKearleyDaveKearley Posts: 130
    KT53 said:
    I've found 7 minutes is enough to get water dripping through the bottom of pots and baskets.  With the current weather it's set for twice a day.  If things cool back down I'll reduce to once.
    At what flow rate please?
  • dappledshadedappledshade Posts: 1,011
    As others have said, it really does depend on the plants you have.

    I see my Gardena as a way of bridging the gap when I’m away for a week or more, but otherwise I find that there isn’t a one setting fits all on the programming.

    It’s  better than returning to dead plants, but isn’t a long term solution week on week, as many plants need a less frequent, but good soak, whilst establishing or very tender ones may need daily watering.
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