Water until established, how does one know it is established?

[ericmark]

So I have made a box to take plants to hide the wood used to build some steps, around 8" deep, around 250 litres of compost to fill the box, so wife goes out and gets the plants, which are planted out, same day.

This was Tuesday, and clearly been hot since, so watered every day, and the water has been absorbed by the soil/compost, the drive has remained dry even when full watering can of water added, hose pipe first day.

I will clearly have to continue in this dry weather to water them, but at what point can I say they are established and I can stop watering every day?

 

[StephenStephen]

If you've not lined the sides with plastic, I would urge you to do so - the water loss through the gaps in the wood will be making a huge difference.
Mulch the top of the soil with bark or well rotted manure, to slow down evaporation.

You really do need to be getting the water to the bottom of the soil, not the top. Otherwise the roots will grow up to the top of the soil where they're more vulnerable to drying out.
So either put in 2 or 3 downpipes or similar (cover them when not watering to prevent evaporation), or water the bed until you know it's reached the base (ie; water is running out of the bottom).

Watering little and often is a bad idea. You need to be watering fully and deeply, but less often.

If that was my new bed, I'd be putting on 4 or 5 cans of water every 3 days or so in this weather.

You'll start to see the plants turning their attention away from the roots and towards top growth after a few weeks - this tells you that the roots are established.

 

[ericmark]

Thank you, some good points, once we get rain water will be fed to the bottom, but from what you are saying should slowly increase the time between watering them.

 

[Odds]

Only thing i'd add to that would be lowering the level of soil by an inch or two so you can create a mulch layer that will hold the water in the plant box - think about mixing in a handful of vermiculite to help with that.

 

[ericmark]

I think this was what I used, this

is it seems what you are talking about, other than far more expensive, I don't really understand why some compost/soil improver/top soil/Vermiculite/Fuller's earth should be used/not used, for plants.

I am not into gardening, but have not option but look after our garden, when successive gardeners have stopped coming. Can't blame them, one's mother was ill, the next had a heart attack not while working here, but each time I am left to finish off half completed work.

Not helped with a wife who wants me the "just" I have always hated just jobs, as they never are.

I am sure the compost will drop down, so can be topped up. But would like to learn more about what I am doing, when to use top soil, when to use Vermiculite, etc.

 

[StephenOak]

You really do need to be getting the water to the bottom of the soil ... So either put in 2 or 3 downpipes or similar

What we have done with some plants is to bury a plant pot close to it. Filling that with water means that the enters the soil some inches down (depending on the shape & size of the pot) and the relatively narrow hole in the bottom of the pot minimises evaporation.

 

[ericmark]

I could simply cross my fingers, and they may survive. I tried multi-times to get rhubarb going, old house it was hard not to grow it, it grew to a fantastic size, but this house, kept dieing off, until the gardener planted it, and now massive rhubarb again, I think horse muck had something to do with is growing well. But I did not expect a problem, and in the past always been plant and grow, it was my method to stop weeds. No weeds under rhubarb leaves.

So I look at the labels, see the price, and think I don't want these to die. But in this house, I seem to have red fingers, I assume that's reverse of green, and things just die.

Except for the trees, which seem to grow and grow, and the chainsaw on a stick gets loads of use.

 

[Odds]

Have you measured the soil ph? If it's over 7 and under 6 then it'll struggle to get going. You really need a rich, loamy soil, thickly mulched to keep it happy. Very fussy it is. My grandpa used to grow it and gran would boil the heck out of it for a dessert but i never cared much for the taste.

 

[ericmark]

Rhubarb now well established, it is no longer a problem. I have a steep lawn full of moss to sort out, and a planter with young plants to look after, and trees which are going wild. But rhubarb is now sorted.

I am still giving it a little water, but I think I now can reduce the watering, but until roots touch the tarmac they still have some growing to do.

 

[ericmark]

It has worked, little has died off, and I would say now established.

 

[ericmark]

Last night 16/17 August 2026 it rained. So now I can step back and leave it to nature.

 

[Koolpc]

Have you got a good book on gardening? If not, a good investment.

 

[ericmark]

Have you got a good book on gardening? If not, a good investment.

It would need to be a book on tape, reading i.e. close up work, is a problem now.

 

[Koolpc]

It would need to be a book on tape, reading i.e. close up work, is a problem now.

I see, sorry, I didn't know that my friend......

 

[ericmark]

I spent most of my working life as an away worker, so the garden was simply not available to me. So small pond, and grass for the children to have a swing, green house erected but hardly ever used. One apple tree, a bit of rhubarb, but garden was rather small.

So retired to mid-Wales, larger house and garden, for the first time, need chain saw and hedge cutter, first four years we had gardeners, but now we are left to fend for our selves.

At least this year, only needed to mow the lawn once, I realise now that was a mistake, I saw the no mow in May, and thought it was a good idea, so let grass grow, until June, mowed it, then no more rain, had I cut it in May then it would have not been scalped in June. Did not help that I also put a moss killer on it as well. Plus two apple trees sucking up the water as well.

The gardener had set up the replacement garden shed, on plastic pallets, so no worry about floor rotting, but the old shed still remained, and the steps from new flat area where we could have seating was temporary until old shed removed.

Plan was the steps would replace the shed, you can see new shed to left, and a tin garage/shed which still needs removing at bottom of the garden.

So steps were installed, but left me with a sleeper wall, not much weight behind it, as fill was ash from steam trains, but it did not look good, so I wanted to build a flat area and place plant pots with flowers in front.

But that was vetoed, by SWMBO, so idea was to have a couple of treated planks, and fill the space between with compost, and have trailing flowers in the front, and climbers at the back. Selection was by SWMBO, which seems to be lacking trailing flowers, and only one climber, plus the Acer tree. Where the Acer is, there is soil below, but the rest is tarmac, and nothing to stop water running out of the bottom, but also rain on the steps and patio should drain down to that tarmac, so once roots at the bottom, there should be water.

But the plants were all planted at about the worst possible time. I here talk about two and three droughts, but here it has been one long one. Until last night, that is, first time enough rain to wet beneath the trees.

Previous years had to cut the verges etc, on a regular basis where the drive comes in at bottom of garden, but the new shed, with its outside light, and the removal of old shed, has at last resulted in outside lights which actually light up where we need to walk.