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Watering your intensive postage stamp survival garden should be simple
and easy. But it is also absolutely crucial to the success of your garden. The truth is that water-or lack of
it-can sometimes create remendous garden problems. Without enough water, bean pods produce only a few seeds and the
rest of the pods shrivel, beets become stringy; radishes get pithy, cucumbers stop growing well, and more. Once started,
vegetables must grow rapidly, without interruptions or slowdowns. Stop growth by checking the water suppy, and you really
set your vegetables back.
Agronomists tell us that when a plant isn't getting enough water, it's
under "water stress." And although this may be useful for flowers, since water stress can induce blooming,
it nearly always sets vegetables back. Once you do this, they never seem to recover.
How
Much to Water and When
An ideal soil for plant growth contains 50 percent solid matter and 50 percent
pore space. About half this pore space should be occupied by water, and that's the object of your watering program.
The general rule for watering the intensive postage stamp survival garden is this: Water thoroughly, regularly,
and infrequently. When you soak the soil thoroughly, you add water until it reaches "field capacity"-that
is, roughly all the water that the air spaces of the soil can hold. And you want to keep your garden between this condition
and the point at which moisture is so scare that plant roots can no longer take water from the soil.
Whenever you
water you must water the beds thoroughly to a depth of about 3 feet. The length iof time that it takes to water this
deep will depend on the type of soil under the bed, but it will usually take at least an hour or two. A good rule is
to simply water until you can easily sink a stick about 3 feet deep. After thoroughly watering your beds, don't
water again until the soil has almost dried out to a depth of 10 inches.
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