drip irrigated beds. this expedites nutrient loss into the depth of the bed, which means applying aged manure tea often in the season. do wicking beds bring moisture (and nutients) up from below? i don’t know how i would implement such in my established beds.
i do use seaweed liquid on my orchids, they thrive on dilute kelp extract applied to their roots. all the orchids are mounted to the palm trees on the property, and have massive roots clinging to them. i should see about applying that seaweed soup to the trees and beds .
add: i recall you saying you were moving away from central tx. congratulations on landing in good soil! i look forward to your gardening adventures in your new place!
I am so jealous of the things you can grow down there! But can the “normal” stuff make it? Apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes? Our apples did very well. Medlars are bletting, almost ready. Yaçon did pretty well, but the dry spell midsummer hurt it. Did not get a single sweet potato. Groundhogs ate them back, and by the time they were full there was not enough warm weather left to get any tubers.
that would be five big “no’s” on the “normal” stuff.
root crops? are you kidding? too hot in raised beds and grow bags, and impossible in the hard rock ground. even radishes will make glorious leaves and greens, but the root, if it gets big enough, will split. i grow garlic, ginger and galangal in a very shaded bed that is bricked around. peehaps radishes would like that, but it is already crowded.
which just made me think, i wonder if a cinder block wall around my corrugated tin garden beds would insulate them enough to cool the soil and if that would make any difference in yield?
Y’know… Australia, very hot, dry, invented these a while ago, during The Big Dry.
During the Austin droughts, the only yields I got were from my wicking beds.
Strong recommend! Maximize nutrient uptake! Minimize water budget!
Also: measurements when constructing these contraptions are important, and the dimensions need to be fairly precise.
Finally, a big important caveat: avoid the temptation to use a PVC pool liner… if you must use a liner, use a lead-free liner like EDPM. I avoided all this folderol by using black polypropylene stock troughs:
Many years back, I built a couple of “earthtainers” (the original site appears to be down, but I found info with the PDFs here) which are basically diy self-watering planters built out of a couple of large storage totes and a few odds and ends that seem somewhat similar to those.
They were originally designed for tomatoes, but I haven’t had luck with those at all. On the other hand, I had some ridiculous yields of cucumbers and peppers, and even some corn, using them.
Wow! Had never heard.
Interesting use of synthetic sheeting to retard moisture loss. I’d be scared of cooking my plants alive if I were still in Texas.
I ended up having to spread a 60% shadecloth over much of our vegetable patch, because the heat was just merciless, month after month.
They can be super finicky once the ambient air temps exceed 807°F (26.67°C), even at night. Between their heavy-feeder, water-loving, temperature-persnickety-ness and the wild critters who love tomatoes, I gave up.
I’ve tried tomatoes twice, and both times they’ve grown into absolutely gorgeous green bulbs… but then, as soon as they start turning red at the top, they also start rotting away at the bottom. So disheartening.
Blossom end rot?
Available calcium? compost tea? and maybe getting the soil to “dry out” a bit?
… prevented by having calcium available and watering properly. Water thoroughly and allow a drying period between waterings. Apply soft rock phosphate at about 3-4 lbs. per 100 sq ft. Spraying the foliage and drenching the soil with compost tea or Garrett Juice will also help.
It’s definitely possible, the blossom end rot is actually the only thing I’ve found that sounds similar so far. I’ve tried them in two different kinds of planters, I don’t think it’s the soil wetness, but I haven’t had a chance to try them out with some kind of calcium supplement yet.
Blossom end rot is generally from uneven watering, or better known as “it was dry, and we watered normal amounts, but the rain came as torrential.” Conversely, “it rained a lot, for days, then no rain, and we didn’t water as the rains ended.”
Tomatoes really shouldn’t be our garden Drama Llamas, but it’s gotten harder to keep them happy this last decade (USDA region 6a).
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Also: measurements when constructing these contraptions are important, and the dimensions need to be fairly precise.
