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California Gardening

How much to water in zone 9a?

5 years ago

I have a few raised garden beds. I'm in Sacramento, CA. What's a good watering schedule for the kind of heat we get here? It's been in the 90s lately but Temps mays drop to high 80s this week at least until it shoots back up into the mid to high 90s again. I'm growing eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, beans and corn. Currently watering 3x a week with drip for 5 min each. Thank you!

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Comments (5)

socks
5 years ago
Watch for wilting. No wilting,you are doing ok.
JXBrown (Sunset 24, N San Diego County)
5 years ago
Stick your finger in the soil before the sprinklers start (no need to run out in the middle of the night, just check in the evening, if they run at night). Is is damp a few inches down? Is it dry down in the root zone? Adjust accordingly.

Add a couple of inches of mulch on top of your soil to slow evaporation.
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Nil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Many plants will wilt in the heat of the day regardless of how much water you dump on them.

Here's the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) table for Sacramento. This is how much water a lawn needs per month in inches of water. https://www.qcode.us/codes/sacramento/view.php?topic=15-15_92-15_92

Since the recommendation for lawns is typically an inch a week, it is a good stand in for vegetable gardens which also typically have a 1" recommendation. You need to lay down about 2" of water per week in June because of your climate.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years ago
It's impossible to be specific about the volume of water to apply. Too many unknown variables factor into the equation :-) But the one inch per week rule of thumb is a good basis to follow. What you want is to have the root zone (6-8" deep for most veggies) to remain consistently moist (not wet!). And it is always preferable to apply the required watering all at one time rather than in dribs and drabs more frequently. The watchwords for any sort of garden irrigation is "low and slow".

5 minutes from a drip emitter is insufficient for water to penetrate to the desired depth unless your soil is extremely sandy
Babka NorCal 9b
5 years ago
I have some drip emitters that do 1 gal/hr, some that do 2 gal/hr, and some that do 4 gal per/hr. I run them 1 hour a week. How many and what volume do you have on each plant and soil type and sun exposure and tree roots and, and, and..... Water what you "think" is right, then do the finger/trowel test to see if they really are getting watered. Every yard is different. Good luck. NOTE: If things aren't dying you are probably doing it right. Plants normally show you when they want a drink. They get floppy. Better to err on the dry side than soggy rot side.

-Babka

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