Watering allotment

Yes Jwk your right I was just thinking if it was me been silly watering thing when some was saying not to be watering I will not be going silly but will water two or three times a week when it's like this
Thanks guys I will look into water buts too

 

I have a similar problem, my allotment is 12 miles from where I live and I get comments from the older gardeners about them never watering their plants. I've tried to point out that as I've just taken over an overgrown allotment, and rather than leave it fallow until next spring I've cleared about a third of it and am planting seedlings as I progress. The downside is that planting out now does mean the seedlings need regular good watering whereas their spring planted crops are well established with root systems that can stand a few dry days.
To avoid the shaking heads I've bought myself 4 camping collapsible water containers, they hold 20 litres each, fold to nothing and cost under £4 each. I take these each time and what I don't use I put into an old tank I have there.

If your allotment isnt fully planted you could sink a water butt into the ground and surround it with sileage sheet that would drain the surface water strasight into the butt

 

Ignore them, they are talking out of their wrong end (or trying to mislead you deliberately, or possibly with good intentions - have they asked you for a "Sky Hook" yet, or to go and get a "long weight"? ...)

Of course vegetable plants need watering during dry conditions! Mature, perennial, plants may have got their roots down deep enough to ride out a dry spell, but even they are going to crop much better with sufficient water. Anything sown from seed this Spring is going to benefit from additional water in a dry spell, and anything recently planted is going to suffer miserably without water (at best) or snuff it (at worst) :(

You do need to avoid making the plants dependent on regular waterings, so it is very important to water well, so the water soaks in and in effective is "below" the roots - the roots will then grow down to where the water is. A quick surface watering will have the opposite effect.

 

No mains water at my plot, so no self-appointed water monitors.

 

Must admit I've not watered anything on my allotment yet, re. onions, spuds, spuds, beetroot etc.
I dug in some decent manure last year and its holding moisture well.

Cant understand why others would tell you not to use the water though, if you are paying for the privileged via the rent.

There is no water on my site so you cant anyway, but I can reach it with a hose from my garden.
I fill the water butts with the hose for my potted plants.

 

I dont have any courgettes or runnerbeans and I would be very careful planting such things on a site without water.
When I did grow runners I must admit I watered them quite well, as for marrows, they always got water from the butts that had warmed up a bit, unless we were having a heatwave.

But then in a summer like last year there would be no problem, apart from rot.

 

We don't have water on the allotment site other than what we can save in baths. Some years the soil is already like dust by now, but this year the soil beneath the surface is still damp so I am not watering so far, except for newly planted stuff. Trouble is, the bathwater rapidly evaporates in this heat.
Considering that this is a sub-optimal situation, to put it mildly, we still manage to produce some edible stuff each year.

 

I planted a dozen newly acquired plants in the ornamental garden last evening. We are on heavy clay, but have had very little rainfall for a couple of months, or more. After scraping back the 2" or 3" of mulch it was rather pleasing to see that the soil was still plenty damp enough. The young plants will need some (irrigation) help to get established, but the established plants are a long way from needing any help

 

Ash seedlings always impress me with how hard they are to get out. And when you get them out they just seem to have a single, straight, relatively pathetic root. I think they are taking the Mick!

 

I water mine day be fore yesterday and it took me an hour and half lost count of the number of trips back and forward with two cans

 

On our site we are only allowed to use a hose pipe to fill tubs etc,I pay £22 for my 1/2 plot,(just given 1/2 of my plot up this year) this is £2 water charge,£2 membership to the allotment store,and £18 1/2 plot rent.I have a 16ft long greenhouse with baths at each corner,this year is the first time in 3 years that I have had to fill up from the tap.We have some people who show veg etc and they use a lot of water which can cause a bit of a problem with some plot holders as they pay the same as every one.I was the allotment secretary for 7 years and I use to ask the older chaps if they would use the taps only during the day so that anyone who was at work had a chance to fill up tubs etc this worked for a time sadly ending in a rather nasty incident.So we said right half of you use the taps on odd days and the rest on even days,this seams to have work at the moment.
Ian

 

Im amazed at this problem. I got my allotment a couple if months ago, no waiting list for it. Costs £11 a year, and every 2nd plot has a water tank that tops up whenever we use it. The only rule about water is no hoses, which seems fair enough