Jamie’s Little Allotment: Gayton-based gardener discusses best timing for watering plants and seedlings

In his weekly column, Gayton-based gardener Jamie Marsh discusses the best time to water your seedlings and plants…

Once again I start my weekly gardening column by talking about the weather, but as a gardener, it’s a really big part of your life.

Not just because you would like to know if you're going to need your hat and coat or your waterproofs and wellingtons at the plot but also we need to know if we need to water or not.

There’s nothing worse than watering the allotment than that night, you have a torrential downpour, not only is it a massive waste of water and your precious time, but also it’s not great for the plants to have waterlogged soil.

On the other hand, if it’s been raining, make sure it’s enough for you to be able to not water, even the hardest shower probably won’t be enough in the middle of the growing season.

A good way to check is, when it’s stopped raining, just start to scrape away the soil and you will clearly see what depth the rain has penetrated too, and I can honestly say you will be shocked how deep it has actually travelled, after the first few millimetres it will be dry again.

So just because it has rained don’t think you don’t have to water, especially your veggie plot.

So since we’re talking about watering, and the sun has decided to show her face again, I’ll tell you how I water my plot.

Obviously, as I just said above, I keep an eye on the weather forecasts, if there’s none or little predicted, I will water the plot, and because my plot is quite big, I have to use a hose pipe, if I were to use a watering can I would be there for hours.

I’m a big believer in trying to not have any wasted space, which means as little bare soil as possible.

So when I water with the hose pipe I use the soaker setting, not the shower setting.

I get the head of the hose lance on the soaker setting and put it right at the base of each plant and let the water run until it starts to pool on top of the soil, then pause for a few seconds and then give it a little more, the idea is to give enough water so it seeps deep down to the roots rather than just sitting on top, then move to the next plant and repeat.

It’s the same principle if you're using a watering can but you just have to keep making trips to the tap.

I’ve seen lots of people using the shower setting on the hose, which is ok I suppose but I rarely use it because it waters the bare soil as well, where there might lurk a weed seed just under the surface ready to suck up some moisture and spring into life.

There are some exceptions to my shower setting rule, first is if I’ve directly sown seeds into the plot and also once the seeds have germinated and the tiny seedlings are coming through.

In both instances don’t let them dry out, seeds and seedlings need to stay moist, when they are big enough to not be washed away by the soaker setting it’s time to change.

It’s so much better to do this deep water a couple of times a week in the summer than sprinkle the surface every day.

So what time is the best time to water?

There are lots of theories about this, I always try to water first thing in the morning, the main reason for this is because it’s cooler and there’s no blazing sun on the plot at this point.

So many people say don’t water when the sun is on the plants because they will scorch.

I don’t agree with this at all, if the only time you have to water is midday just do it, the reason why I try not to is only because some of the water will evaporate before it has a chance to soak in.

You don’t see farmers only watering their fields in the morning, they have to use their massive irrigation pipes 24 hours a day sometimes, to be able to get everything watered and they don’t get scorched.

So a little roundup.

Ideally in my opinion water in the morning, before the sun hits the plot, at the base of every plant, let the water puddle and soak deep down.

Only spray from a height when you’ve sown seed or have seedlings popping through.

And last of all take this time to make plans of jobs that need to be done and check plants for damage or disease.

Drop me an email about your garden or plot and let me know how you water.

Jamieslittleallotment@gmail.com