To get started, till your soil and work in plenty of good rotted compost. Lightly rake the row. Mark off your row after you decide how far apart your plants should be and carefully rake a two foot square pretty flat. This is especially important if you, like me, have a hillside garden. You want your little tipi village to sit level, or the first good wind will blow them downhill. Pick out any sharp rocks or roots.
Wall O' Water are made of plastic and will puncture. I usually wait until the spring weather has settled quite well before I plant my plants. (But the manufacturer has said to set the Wall O' Waters out even earlier than I do while the temperatures are still freezing, as the Wall O' Waters actually warm the soil and allow you to plant that much earlier. In a few days the soil is warm enough to plant and sprout your seedlings, even though the surrounding landscape is still frozen.)
To plant, I dig out a nice hole and set my plant in, firming the soil nicely around it. Then sit an upside down four or five-gallon plastic bucket over the transplant, centering it over the plant. I slip the Wall O' Water sleeve over the bucket. I line up the seams of the sleeve with the places the bail attaches to the bucket. It's easier to lift the bucket off later on. With a garden hose or watering can, fill the tubes. A helper at this point is really handy. If one person opens the tubes, it's easy to insert the hose (without sprinkler nozzle) and fill the tube. It's harder to open the tubes and run the hose by yourself.
Fill all of the tubes, nearly to the top. You won't gain anything by filling them all the way full, as some water will spill when you pull the bucket out. With two hands, reach into the Wall O' Water and grasp the sides of the bucket and gently haul it straight up and out. As you pull the bucket, the tops of the cylinder will collapse against each other, making a tipi instead of a cylinder. This provides even more plant protection.
I use both overhead sprinklers and drip irrigation in my gardens. I use the sprinklers when the plants are young and small. This allows me to thoroughly weed around each plant so the rows are weed-free when we put the drip system into place. If you want to use your drip system from the start, simply lay it out on your row after it has been tilled and raked. Then when you plant your transplant, simply take a finger and dig a shallow trench on both sides of the Wall O' Water to keep the bottom flat on the ground, despite the drip pipe.
Once you get the hang of using them, the Wall O' Water's are easy to use and will surely save those early starts for you and put you will ahead of the season once spring kicks in.
No comments:
Post a Comment