irrigation system

[piegirl]

Since we are in the middle of a serious drought (1/2" rain since before Mem. Day) I decided to take a lession from my Afgani neighbors. I believe they garden in fairly harsh conditions. They hoe out trenches between rows of plants and fill with water. I have been trying this for about two weeks now. Not able to get as close to some toms as I would like because of the cages. The water wicks over to the plants. The results for the cabbages and peppers - amazing, think the cabbages grew 6 inches in a few days. Has anyone tried this method? I water every other day so the soil is always moist. The plants are blooming like crazy, setting fairly well, although my first twelve have gone down to BER (Big Beef and better boy)even tho my watering is consistent. Expecting a big heat wave next week. Let me hear your thoughts. Could this cause BER. Thanks - Piegirl

[Worth1]

I do it and have had great luck but if you wait too long to put the trench in it will cut up the feeder roots, not so good.which MAY be the cause of the BER as this will change the uptake of nutrients for the plant.
Am I right on this folks tell us if I'm wrong. :wink:

Worth

[landarc]

When I was a kid, this is how we watered my Grandma's garden and it worked very well. It is also how my cousing still waters his feed corn, pretty much, except for the automatic gates and timers he has.

I use a drip system now, but,t he trenches work very well. I would put the trenches in at the time of planting, essentially treating toms as row crops. I could see where waiting until roots re in could cause the water uptake to change slightly at first. I susoect the BER is just a temporary issue.

[QAGuy]

I'm thinking that the BER could have been caused by the conditions before you started the trench watering?

If, indeed, the BER is caused by inconsistant watering, this could be the case.