One question that a get asked a lot is, HOW DO I WATER PROPERLY? Two of the main reasons plants die come from OVER/UNDER WATERING and WATERING TIMES.
This I can break down into two categories:
Watering for trees/plants and shrubs and then there is watering for vegetables.
If you ask or search WATER CORP, you will most likely see 10 MINS WATERING MAX. This is not good advice, but rather a generic watering time. When was the last time you saw a generic plant? Never in my life anyhow. So the REAL question is, how long and how deep do I water for each type of plant. The length and depth of watering comes from the type of plant, the soil condition and structure and also the weather.
There is something called INFILTRATION RATE, meaning how long and how much water it takes to full saturate the soil or planter. Poor soils and HYDROPHOBIC soils can takes 10x and more, the amount it takes to water good structures soil. More often than not, HYDROPHOBIC soil watering will not infiltrate the soils MACRO and MICROPORES or air pockets and spread evenly, but rather, it will find the PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE and flow straight down and out of the soil or, pool up and bead off and away from the soil. Think of it as a HEART SHAPE versus a STRAIGHT ZIG ZAG line in your planter. The HEAT SHAPE will spread outwards and then inwards towards the bottom and then out of the planter, soil. Whereas the STRAIGHT ZIG ZAG will works its way straight down and out of the planter or soil, leaving almost all of the soil bone dry. Correct SOIL STRUCTURE over SOIL TEXTURE (two massively different things and often poorly explained – I will do a blog on this very soon) will sort thins out and seasonal applications of fully matured compost will keep this in check along with CONSISTANT WATERING.
To work out INFILTRATION TIMES there is a fun way to do this with your children.
Step 1. Get a TIN CAN and remove both top and bottom lids with a can opener or a 100mm PVC pipe cut to 20cm.
Step 2. Carefully mark out with a marker pen, mark out 2cm from the TOP and then at 2.5cm make another mark below first line from the top and then one more below that. Making three lines from top of can to the bottom (2cm, 2.5cm & 2.5cm). With said marker pen, draw along the INSIDE of the can the whole way around starting from the top line and then the bottom lines.
Step 3. Using a 2l empty bottle, fill it with your water.
Step 4. Find the soil area you want to check and gently but firmly push the TIN CAN into the soil up to the BOTTOM INSIDE LINE (2cm deep).
Step5. With a STOP WATCH ready, carefully pour in the water and as soon as it reaches the FIRST TOP LINE, start your timer. Record down the time it took to go from the top to the FIRST 2.5cm inside line. Record that down but DO NOT STOP THE TIMER. Continue timing until the water hits the SECOND 2.5cm line. Record this down. AVERAGE out the two timings (from line 1-2 and from line 2-3)
Using the table provided below, work out the estimated infiltration rate of MM per HR.
HOW TO HARVEST AND COLLECT RAIN:
There are many ways to harvest water from rain. First being your house roof and gutters. Using the gutter system from your roof, you can easily set up a DOWN PIPE DIVERTER to take the water from going down the downpipe and into your sump, to redirecting it into a series of BLUE BARREL 200L/44GAL BARRELS or a 1000L IBC container or bigger set ups like 2000-40000+ storage tanks. Having installed a BALL VALVE to stop the flow once filled and changing the DIVERSION back to the SUMP to avoid backflow and overflow. On the COLLECTION/STORAGE TANKS at the top, make sure to have an overflow set up in case of severe downpours and not getting to your set up to stop overflowing and backflowing.
You can also use an inverted umbrella set up or TARP HARVESTING set up as below.
DIY DEEP WATER SPOUT:
Step 1. Using a length of 40mm PVC pipe (lengths will vary depending on the depth of your tree roots), place a 40mm end cap at the bottom and secure it well.
Step 2. Using a 8-10mm drill, make a series of holes from the bottom to 2/3 of the way up to the top spout end. Drill all around the circumference for more dispersal, drill in a straight line for a more direct application.
Step 3. Drive the DEEP WATERER into the soil on the outer canopy of the roots. Do this when young so the roots have time to re-establish and regrow and not clog your delivery holes.
Blessed Love Ras Mark SUBURBAN FARMER