[f&vlady]

Hi everyone, guess what? I have masses of flowers on my spuds,bags and bed seem to be flourishing despite the bashing they got from a bad storm a while back. With newly acquired knowledge (how I love this site!) I believe this is called "critical watering period" as the tubers are forming, I'm watering like a crazywoman using 7 litre can, is there a general rule of thumb as to how much water?especially to the bagged ones. I'm getting dire warnings from hubby(who, I might add,knows even less than me about gardening but I have to admit he comes in handy for all the digging and donkey work,lol) he insists that I'll rot the lot with all the water,so any advice please?(wouldn't do for him to be proved right, I'd never live it down!!). I'd just like to add, I think this is a fantastic site,especially for a beginner like myself and I've found any advice I've gotten to be very helpful and encouraging. Thanks all.

[Liparis]

Your potatoes in bags are going to need water sooner than the ones in the spud bed. water to ensure even moisture through the bag, top of compost to bottom. A 7 litre watering can to water spuds in the garden is a bit like piddling against a rainstorm. My first head-gardener gave me one serious rollicking when I suggeted getting the hosepipe out to water the veg during a hot spell.
Plants, like humans take the easy route if offered. Stand there with a hose pipe, never mind a watering can, and your never ever going to get the water down to the required depth. You will wet the surface, perhaps an inch or two at best, the roots of whatever remain close to the surface and cook each time you get a hot spell. Make the roots work and go downwards for what they want, you'll get stronger, healthier plants. When watering is needed then run out a drip irrigation system, you can buy them from most garden centres for around €20 and you can leave that running for a few days, save water and prevent excessive water run-off. It produces drips at certain intervals along the length of the pipe which soaks into the ground instead of running off and away.
To date, I haven't watered anything in my gardens and with the use of mulching I haven't yet got any drought problems. Lifting my spuds the last 2 weeks I can see there is plenty moisture still in that soil.
Start watering too soon and you will have to keep it up, daily. the secret is mulch, mulch mulch.
Bill.

[f&vlady]

Hi Bill, thanks for the reply, feel a little like the carpenters apprentice looking for the glass hammer now lol. Will be going to garden center for drip thingy first thing in morning! Only started compost bin recently so no material for mulching, at the risk of sounding a complete idiot lol would straw be ok to put around base of plants as protection against drying out and would I lay the drip on top or under it(straw)?Thanks again.

[Liparis]

It's been done. People have mulched with straw and covered the straw with a thin layer of soil etc to stop it blowing away, it would help add humous (eventually) to the soil making it more water retentive. Anything like that at all of an organic nature makes good mulch, including grass clippings that haven't been treated with weed n' feed etc.
Bill.