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Ct

If, for instance a plant needs one inch of water per week, how do you measure that while watering? If I'm watering with the hose, how do I know when I've given them one inch of water? Or with a watering can , for that matter.

5/1/2009 10:34:23 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Tremor posted this a few years back;

All of these quantities are for ONE INCH of water. First figure out your rate of flow with a bucket. See how much water you get per minute. I get 4 gallons per minute or 240 gallons per hour.

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.

5/1/2009 5:27:40 PM

New Hampshire, USA

2 gallon watering bucket for every 3x3 feet...jim

5/1/2009 11:57:02 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Good advice for when they are small Jim but 2 gallons per 9 sq. ft is only 222 gallons per 1000 sq ft which would be on the light side during peak months by my count.

5/2/2009 11:27:56 PM

Whidbey Island

Glen,
What do you shoot for in inches per week (or cm, since you are in Canada) for this climate?
Lee

5/2/2009 11:34:32 PM

Fl

I've wondered what the best way to water is also. Currently, I am going by the 1-2 inches per week. However, that is very vague. It doesn't seem to take into account differences in temperature, plant size, the optimum frequecny, or the optimum time of day.

As for how much to add in volume, just do the conversions. This is how I did mine.

Take the length of the area times the width of the area. Then, multiply the the height (1 inch of rain/water).

Length x Width = Area in units squared

Volume (cubic units) = Length x Width x Height


My volume. I have 18 gallon container. It is about 21 inches by 18 inches.

21 (length) x 18 (width) x 1 inch (water) = 378 cubic inches of water needed

Converted to gallons, it is 1.63 gallons per week.

http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm

5/4/2009 10:49:05 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Perhaps the old tuna can offers the simplest solution. Set a few randomly in the patch before rain or irrigating.

5/5/2009 1:58:21 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Ahhh...the old tuna can!!! I got a bucket full of them from years past...but w/new drip system...I guess they go to the recycle bin!!! Peace, Wayne
PS...Thanks for posting the #'s Glenn, I think I need to get a couple more 55 gal barrels!!!

5/6/2009 12:46:05 AM

Ohio

as long as you go by feel of how wet your soil is you will never have to worry about the math part on getting the right amount of water on your patch. I dont think there is no rule of thumb that a patch needs so many inches a week cause everyone's patch soil holds water differently. Do the feel test on your soil everyday cause you could be drowning your plants.

5/6/2009 4:57:37 AM

Midwest

brooks
What would the soil feel like? Would it barely hold together when squeezed? Would it still fall apart when squeezed? How far down do you dig for the soil to test?
Greg

5/6/2009 1:42:50 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Lee, sorry I missed your response on this. I'm kinda like Brooks on this topic and let the soil and plants tell me when they want water. My soil is well drained so in the dryer times in summer I water for 1 hour (240 gallons) every second day. Works out I guess to about 1 1/2 inches of water for 1000 sq. ft. per week.

5/6/2009 8:17:18 PM