On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:58:23 -0400, "Hud"
wrote:

Anyone have an idea how often and how long I should water a 7'x8' vegetable
garden? (carrots, green beans, tomatoes and peppers - not planted yet)
Common sense tells me the best times to water are in the morning before the
sun heats things up and early in the evening when it gets cooler. Is once a
day enough? I'm also not quite sure how long to water. I don't want to
over-do it. I'll be watering with a hose that has a sprinkler head on it.
I'm thinking a few minutes of watering is plenty for such a small garden.
Am I on the right track? Sorry if this seems like a silly question to those
of you with a lot of gardening experience. Prior to this year my closest
experience to gardening was buying vegetables at the grocery store. Lol
Thanks


Jeff Cox says in "Your Organic Garden" that most vegetables need 1/2
to 1 inch of water a week.

It is better to water less often and do it deeper. To measure the
amount of water you are getting for normal rainfall and hand watering,
put can or pot in the garden, make sure it is level and stick your
finger in to check. To the first knuckle is about 1 inch. Heavy clay
soil holds water better than sandy. Keeping the garden mulched helps
too.

I believe that you said you were in Ohio. I do not have the
impression that Ohio is really hot and dry so you may not need to
water very often.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)