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Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15659

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 23 6:42 am Post subject:

Nicky, you might find biochar or charcoal fines are helpful too. As we make charcoal I use them in the raised beds and it does help water retention. We went to a meeting in Devon not long ago and a nursery owner had been working with some charcoal burners and using it in his pots last year found he needed far less water as the charcoal traps the water and releases it slowly. Blackdown Hills Eco-Hub are doing a lot of work on it.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6547
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 23 12:32 pm Post subject:
Just don't do too much in one go, or at least make sure it's been "charged" with nutrients so as to avoid it locking up nutrients in your soil!

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9722
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 23 4:57 pm Post subject:

the thing is I don't water my veg beds as standard, just to settle new plants in . but when we have exceptionally dry spells like last year - and it was so dry our reservoirs haven't recovered by the following April! - then no amount of adding water retentive materials will cut it. my veg beds became dust.

But I am using this as my prompt to increase my rain water collection arrangement. I already have a big juice container, 4 IBCS and one not in use, and 5 barrel style water butts, so a off to a good start! Just could do with having it more in the right place.....

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45646
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 23 7:21 pm Post subject:

having big containers and a pump is a very good start

what we all say about soil, make it more water retentive

your regime with veg etc seems sensible

just keep at it a piece at a time

my best water retaining attempts involved lots of deep litter manure, grow pumpkins, let the worms work, get very nice soil that needs little watering for growing veg, rotate crops and tweak soil conditions to suit the subsequent growings ( spellcheck wanted to delete w and insert p

)
if you condition the soil, watering by rain or irrigation stays where you need it and can be less work long term than watering more often in a dry spell

ps some things are thirsty and need lots of water, plant something else unless watering is not a problem
i looking at you cucumbers, ace, but very thirsty

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15659

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 23 5:57 am Post subject:
Slim, yes it is better if nutrients are added. I find mixing some with the contents of a wormery very good, but also adding it to a compost heap or other liquid manure works well. Recommendation is no more than 10% total of soil.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9722
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 23 4:38 pm Post subject:

back to me putting the wood ash from my woodburning stoves on the compost heap, and the resulting compost on my veg beds then.... which is what I already do.

operation "save rainwater" is progressing, I keep ambling about trying to work out how to squeeze ugly large water containers into the not much space pretty end of the property...

but I have syphoned water off, drilled some holes in IBCs, sworn a fair bit, used sealant and connected the empty IBC to the others, and set up the ability to gather another 1000 Ls using only what I already had.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45646
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 23 4:58 pm Post subject:

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15659

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 23 7:17 am Post subject:

Good work Nicky. As long as you are using new untreated wood, the charrd bits are ideal for the compost heap. You might want to keep the ash in a dry place to put on things as potash later in the season though. It aids fruiting and flowering.

We have been gathering all the partially filled dumpy sacks of charcoal fines that were lying around in the charcoal burning area and putting them together and then down in the log store to dry out. Much tidier and easier to get around now. Bagged the product from the last firing and got 51 bags, which is pretty good. Did another firing yesterday but can't empty the kiln at the moment as our store is completely full. I have an order for 10 bags, and we are expecting more over the next week, but it is still a bit chilly for most people to want to barbecue.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9722
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 23 11:36 am Post subject:

Mistress Rose wrote:

yes, I never burn painted or treated wood - mostly it is home cut wood. Although I do burn scrap - say pine from joinery work around home. I just bung the lot on the compost heap - charcoal ash and all, and the resulting compost heap feeds the veg bed, and greenhouses and I get lots of tomatoes so it is clearly working out.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45646
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 23 12:53 pm Post subject:
a nice way to combine wood ash and charbits to soil is via composting or adding to "mixture" ash and nettles is a splendid combo in either ash reduces Ph, active green ferment pushes it up ash is more powerful so adjust the amounts a bucket of ash to a heaped wheelbarrow of chopped nettle seems to work

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9722
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 23 5:03 pm Post subject:

Annoyingly, it is much cheaper to buy 5 210 L barrels than one 1000L slimline butt. Less than half the price in fact... plus a bigger tank would need more thought about the base, and I wonder if I would be able to manhandle it into place myself.

I guess the pressure re water flow would be better with a larger tank... although it wouldn't be a lot higher.. I can't get my head around that bit..I mean 5 x volume trying to come out of one tap.. but same head height... nope... I cannot compute... either way, there isn't a lot of head height compared to the garden, so probably end up using the battery pump anyway. BUT if I I did have to carry it by hand, it would be closer.

mutter mutter...

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6547
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 23 4:48 pm Post subject:
If you're wanting pressure, could you maybe stack the smaller barrels?

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9722
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Mon May 01, 23 2:14 pm Post subject:
only about 7 ft of height from the roof to ground in the area I am planning on collecting from. so... wont be able to stack them. This is the problem, nothing really convenient near the house/veg growing area.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9722
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Sun May 07, 23 4:05 pm Post subject:

well obviously it is proving to be a very wet May so far. The reservoir that serves my village is full, and the river is much higher than usual for this time of year...but we still have a hosepipe ban. South West Water are pretty unpopular atm...

aaaanyway. A few days ago I connected a makeshift overflow to an unused IBC and it is full already, so that is a result. And am in process of setting up water collection nearer the greenhouse, pots, and veg beds. project rainwater harvest is well underway. Expect the wettest summer ever known!

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8653
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Sun May 07, 23 7:17 pm Post subject:

Nicky cigreen wrote:

We are very dry here..it seems to be doing that every year now, very dry...and then when it does start raining, doesn't know when to stop!

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