Wednesday wasn't too bad a day. After overnight rain it turned out to be a rather windy sort of a day for August and with some sunny spells throughout the day the combination probably had the effect of drying the ground back out again.
The rainfall overnight amounted to 5.0mm. I didn't think that was much given that our plots are now very dry and need a good watering. Our long beds on the plot are 10.0m long by 2.0m wide as shown in the photo taken a couple of weeks ago before our onions were lifted onto chicken wire frames.
Exactly how does 5.0mm of rainfall compare with me watering using my trusty 10 litre watering can. I think I've got the maths correct (if not please put me right) that my 10 litre watering can is equivalent to 10mm of rainfall if I empty the can over 1 square metre of ground. So our overnight rainfall of 5.0mm saves me from pouring 10 watering cans full over one of our large beds.
That’s not too bad on beds where the rainfall falls directly onto the ground but where large crops are growing such as sweet corn, sweet peas and squashes most of that rainfall probably isn't going to get anywhere near the roots where it’s most needed.
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We had half an inch of welcome rain on Wednesday (couldn't care less about millimeters), desperately need more. It would be good to see a survey on the difference rainwater as opposed to tap water makes to various plants, if any.
ReplyDeleteI always think plants grow better when they're water with rain rather than water from the tap. Don't know if I could prove that though. We've lots of heavy rain forecast for over the weekend so watering might be a thing of the past by next week.
DeleteI don't fancy the same calculation using inches, square yards and gallons.
Clever calculations, I like to know things like this. I went to the plot today and the soil was still damp - good enough for me. I did put some water in the compost bins though, they seem very dry and things aren't breaking down enough.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing some damp soil after this weekends rain.
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