We all know that plants need a sufficient supply of water to stay healthy. This is especially true of plants that produce fruits and vegetables. Generally, a veggie garden needs watering every day during the warmer months and every 2-3 days during cooler weather.
More than just a drink
Locked within the humble straw bale is a haven of micronutrients and healthy bacteria just waiting to be released. The secret? Just add water! Teamed with BaleGrow’s treatment system, your straw bale garden now has all the goodies to help your plants really thrive.
Locked within the humble straw bale is a haven of micronutrients and healthy bacteria just waiting to be released. The secret? Just add water! Teamed with BaleGrow’s treatment system, your straw bale garden now has all the goodies to help your plants really thrive.
How much water is required?A lot of people ask me whether straw bales require more or less watering than a traditional soil garden. The simple answer is both. Certainly, during the conditioning phase – where you are preparing your bales for planting – you’ll need to give your bales a good soak most days for around 2 weeks.
However, once you’ve planted out, your straw bales do a great job of holding water and will require only the same amount of water as a soil garden. In fact, it’s important to not over-water your straw bale garden – we don’t want to wash all those amazing nutrients away.
And in the true spirit of sustainability, eventually your bales will decompose into beautiful mulch, which will help retain water throughout the rest of your garden!
Watering made super easy
While watering your garden by hand with a hose is effective and can be quite therapeutic, you might like to considering installing a simple irrigation system. A soaker hose (available from garden centres) and a timer switch is all you need to create the lowest of low maintenance gardens. Not only will a soaker hose target the water exactly where it needs to go – towards the roots and away from the foliage – using it on a timer provides consistent, regular water to your plants. Somewhere between 8-10 minutes a day during summer and every 2-3 days during cooler weather is perfect.
While watering your garden by hand with a hose is effective and can be quite therapeutic, you might like to considering installing a simple irrigation system. A soaker hose (available from garden centres) and a timer switch is all you need to create the lowest of low maintenance gardens. Not only will a soaker hose target the water exactly where it needs to go – towards the roots and away from the foliage – using it on a timer provides consistent, regular water to your plants. Somewhere between 8-10 minutes a day during summer and every 2-3 days during cooler weather is perfect.