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Grittyville, WA

Is anyone trying to conserve water? What tricks/methods work, or dont work?

8/3/2022 6:53:11 PM

Torrance, Ca.

Only at my house, not at the patch because I don't want a small fruit.
Pumpkins need a lot of water, that's one of the only bummers during a drought time.

8/4/2022 9:35:19 PM

50 Acres

I have friends in Bermuda. There is limited fresh water at times. their bathroom rules are " If you Pee let it be, If you poo pass it thru" Shallow wells and drought make it tough for watering plants and pumpkins. Jim

8/5/2022 10:53:36 AM

Grittyville, WA

I just read that excess nitrates cause plants to somehow fail to conserve water.

The source said ammonium or ammino acids are better (up to 3x) in terms of the efficient use of water. I dont know the mechanism, but I do believe it. Im not out of water, but Im interested in knowing all I can from a preparedness and conservation perspective.

8/5/2022 7:49:50 PM

Grittyville, WA

https://youtu.be/yUPLnjoxd4Q?t=519

Link if interested. @ 8:30 or so. But he doesnt go far into why this is the case. It sounds like calcium might have the opposite affect.

8/5/2022 8:02:07 PM

Grittyville, WA

@ Jim, I know someone who likes to take epsom salt baths so it would be tempting to divert that warm magnesium water over to the garden. But Im enough of a germophobe to have the usual concerns.
...Already plenty difficult to stay healthy these days.

8/5/2022 8:18:32 PM

Bethlehem CT

No heavy hitter is doing this, but a thick layer of mulch really will help hold and stabilize soil moisture. Dale out in Australia has grown 1500 plus with a thick layer of sugar cane waste, and soy bean hay. His climate is brutal.

8/6/2022 8:12:38 AM

Watlington, UK

Water with drip lines underneath mulch is best and most efficient. Overhead and you will lose a lot to evaporation. Use a moisture probe so you don't overwater. Also use a water meter so you know exactly how much you're using. Measure the rain that falls for the same reason.

8/18/2022 6:11:19 PM

Grittyville, WA

Thx guys. We get quite dry out here in the summer.

8/18/2022 6:51:01 PM

Bethlehem CT

This documentary was made in your neck of the woods. If you haven't seen it, it is worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rPPUmStKQ4

8/19/2022 4:35:12 PM

Grittyville, WA

Yeah thats a good one... I see you are getting dry in the east. I spent some summers over there, and some years your weather is similarly dry in the summer. Some years we get a little rain every week. But this year we have had an inch in the past two months. Which is normal. And the ground was fully saturated in late June, so things are still not bone dry here. I did buy a moisture sensor but it was an impulse purchase and it was not a good one. Underwatering puts on less pounds, but I wonder if besides cutting down the phytophthora it may also help make a more durable pumpkin for display... Raisins last longer than grapes :)

8/19/2022 6:23:01 PM

Bethlehem CT

No doubt dry soils are way better for resisting soil borne diseases. But you are losing pounds too. Not sure about the keeping longer in storage but I can tell you it does seem that winter squash doesn't keep as long if things turn really wet.

8/19/2022 9:37:59 PM

Grittyville, WA

This is crazy, so many scientific tricks are possible, agriculture isnt just throwing a seed in the ground.

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/research-shows-alcohol-can-help-plants-survive-drought/

8/26/2022 4:50:13 PM

Torrance, Ca.

I've heard of this before Gritty but would never try it on my pumpkins. Unless you want a beautiful pumpkin plant ( hopefully ) and surely a small fruit.

That's the one bummer about these pumpkins. They take so much water. The year I tried to use less water to try and help fight disease, I ended up with a gorgeous plant and a 900 pound pumpkin.

The growers in Kentucky sure don't have to worry about water this year.:(

8/26/2022 5:48:47 PM

Grittyville, WA

Yes I'm finally realizing they like water and fertilizer. They arent dainty, rather they seem to eat like teenage boys.

8/27/2022 12:03:40 AM

Grittyville, WA

I dont think I'll try a dryland giant pumpkin anytime soon, if I ever do then it will be after I experiment on my other gardening first. (Corn, potatoes, onions, etc.) Garden veggies like water too, but these non-competitive garden things dont have to be xl sized.

8/27/2022 12:11:38 AM

Torrance, Ca.

That says it all, " they eat and drink like teenage boys " . lol

8/27/2022 10:23:05 AM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

150 gallons per day per plant is what I call being conservative

9/1/2022 5:14:42 PM

Grittyville, WA

Seems to me 50 gallons/day for a 150 plant works out about right. The early am watering Ive been doing lately seems to be the way to go. Well, there's a lot less evaporation anyhow.

9/1/2022 9:28:47 PM