Depends on your soil! Clay soil has a slow infiltration rate and does better with something like a Dramm water-breaker nozzle than a hose at full presssure. The water is delivered more evenly and does not displace the soil, and it's more likely to be absorbed than to run off. Water breakers are the heads typically found on watering wands, but I like to use the breakers by themselves or with an on/off attachment at the end of the hose. As Ray says, this allows you to deliver water directly to the root zone. With cages and barriers, I've found it's easier to use a breaker without a wand.
Without any nozzle, the water pressure from the hose alone is too high and always creates furrows or holes in the soil unless it's turned down to a trickle. Also, those of us who have to provide our own hoses do incur the significant expense of a hose. On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 1:52 PM, Ray Schutte <[email protected]> wrote: > Water by hand, with no sprayer Get the nozzle as close to the ground a > possible. It is very efficient . See the attached. > > Ray Schutte > www.rayschutte.com > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Community_garden [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of tanya > Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 12:00 PM > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Community_garden] what's better... watering by hand or drip > irrigation ? > > 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 > -- If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. -- Cicero -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20140115/fa5fb824/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
