Watering by hand is better because while you're watering, you can pay attention to your plants. You can spot insects/diseases and ID them before they become a problem, pull weeds while they're still easy to pull, spot any problems while they're still fixable. Also, if you're watering by hand you are more likely to check the soil first. The weather is often erratic (72F days, 42F nights this week in northern Calif.!) and watering on a preset schedule usually doesn't work here.
I tried soaker hoses one year and did not like them. They had to be moved around as plants grew and checked for overspray. I didn't think they were effective for the variety of crops in a small space that most community gardens have. I did, however, like the flat drip tape (holes on only one side, which can face down) better than the standard thick black hoses. But as soon as you need to turn a corner or curve the drip tape, it creates problems. Watering with drip involves an up-front cost. Some gardens discourage or ban them. At one local community garden, people who use drip tend to be absentee gardeners. They don't check their systems, which are a major source of leaks (and high water bills). At one garden the gardener stopped using drip because of leaks, but the system was still connected to a master hose bib, and occasionally there'd be a geyser when someone turned the wrong handle. Using drip seems to save time, but the gardeners still have to spend time at the garden! I did see drip used effecively in one garden. It came on at 5pm every day, and the gardener visited often and spent lots of time caring for the plants. It all comes down to this: Gardeners must decide how tthey like to spend time in the garden. Do you like to spend time troubleshooting drip systems and running to the garden whenever someone else spots a leak? Or would you rather visit each plant as you water? On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 11:25 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Does anyone have an upshot of what's better....watering by hand with > soaker/irrigator attachment on hose or using drip irrigation ? > thanks ! > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20140115/8ecfe462/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
