On 20 June, 09:44, "Jeff Layman" wrote:
"Dave Hill" wrote in message

...

How do we conserve soil moisture?
Mulches are OK, but in this hot dry weather water well so that the
water goes down below the root level so the roots follow it down, then
hoe the soil to break the capilary action that would cause the water
to syphon out again.
If you keep the soil surface hoed you will not only get rid of weeds
butwill preserve most of the moisture.

I would have thought that hoeing the soil would increase water loss by
increasing the surface area, particularly when it is windy. *On clay soil,
the hard pan resulting from soil baking dry would be a pretty effective
barrier to water transport - it stops rain entering well enough, which just
runs off!

Mind you, have you ever tried hoeing concrete-hard clay? :-)

--

Jeff

The air moving accross the soil surface draws the moisture to the
surpace by capillary action, by breaking the surface when you hoe you
break the capillary so the moisture is no longer drawn to the surface.
If you have a heap of sand, just dig in a few inches and you will find
it is still damp, the loose surface freserves the moisture in the
heap.
David Hill