Date: Fri 23-Aug-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: CHRISL

Illustration: C

Quick Words:

Bleach-Water-Conserve-Gardener

Full Text:

(Gardener column on conserving water during summer, 8/23/96)

Suburban Gardener-

Conserving Our Most Basic Resource

By Anthony C. Bleach

Despite record rainfalls in July, the ground is now dry and we need to

consider watering the garden again.

As eighty percent of all water used in the United States is used in

irrigation, we have an obligation not to waste a drop. Here are some ways.

Improve the soil. Organic matter in the soil in compost, peat moss, leafmold,

sawdust and manure acts like a sponge. It needs to be added every year and

must be decomposed.

Connecticut's Experiment Station research showed decomposed leafmold increased

vegetable yields 15 percent but partly decomposed decreased them 17 percent.

Mulches will prevent evaporation and runoff. They are the gardener's first

line of defense against drought. Weeds that compete for scarce water are also

suppressed. Finally, as they decompose they add organic matter.

Wind screens and shading. Shading alone will reduce water loss from leaves by

thirty percent. Screening plants from hot drying winds or planting in ditches

will help too.

Patio plants. Mulch pots but do not water the mulch, which absorbs gallons;

water the plant. Bury a small pot or pipe near the plant and bypass the mulch.

Plastic pots use less water, and white plastic even less than green.

On very hot days some gardeners supply cold water with ice cubes. This slows

down growth of roots and the transpiring top growth.

Individual water basins. A basin dug around young shrubs or trees will direct

water to the root zone. Filling a buried milk carton, punctured with small

holes, beside the plant will act in the same way. It will save time too.

Cut fertilizer use. Use fertilizer low in nitrogen. This will stop growth of

water transpiring top growth. And use less fertilizer: Soluble salts

accumulate to dangerous levels when there is little rain to wash them away.

Insecticides, particularly systemics, should be used cautiously; too much can

be absorbed too rapidly in dry weather.

Water at critical stages. Late summer is critical for shrubs that form flowers

and leaf buds for next spring. The critical stages for vegetables are at

germination and at fruiting time.

Crops like beans must have ample moisture from flower buds to maturity. For

peas, too much water during the vegetative phase before flowering actually

reduces yields.

Root, bulb, tube and head crops need water most from the time they start to

swell; asparagus, just after harvest when vegetable growth is developing for

next year.

Best time to water? In the evening. Less will be evaporated in the cooler

nights and water pressures are usually higher.

But water lawns in the morning to allow the leaves to dry. Leaves wet for long

periods attract fungus diseases.

Watch the wilting time to know if plants need watering. Many wilt during a hot

day but will usually stiffen up at night. The danger signal is when they are

still limp in the morning, or go limp soon after.

Lawns do not wilt. They lose resilience and footprints remain as the sign of

trouble.

Spray or soak? Sprinklers waste a lot of water because so much is evaporated

or runs off the surface before the root zone is reached.

Soaker hoses and other forms of drip irrigation use eighty percent less water

and improve yields tremendously.

A thorough, deep soaking once a week was once the recommended practice. But

soil structure is usually so poorly developed that water runs off the top

instead of percolating down to the roots.

Research shows that shallow watering twice a week, or even once a day, may

provide optimum growth and maintain the stability of the pore spaces.

(Anthony Bleach coordinates the horticulture program at Naugatuck Valley

community-Technical College in Waterbury. Landscape Maintenance and Advanced

Greenhouse Management are courses are still open.)