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Re: soaker hoses

On Mon 01 Jun, Ross E Stanford wrote:

>      I am only going to hook up my automatic feeder to one of the soaker
> hoses
> to see how it fares under one row of tomato plants.  

> Stan          the cheap and lazy gardener

Stan,
Permit me to comment on your setup and expected results.
First, to optimise the flavour of tomatoes one of the tricks of the
trade is not to overdo the watering but keep them just moist, no more.
A very respected gardener over here, Fred Streeter, choef gardener of
Petworth House, Sussex, reckoned that once settled in, he never watered
his tomato plants again. Now that is going to extremes, as you run the
risk that there may be a sudden downpour (is it possible in your
climate?) which causes the fruit to split, but the idea is that by
restricting the water you concentrate the sweetness and flavour in the
fruit. The other point is that all this concern about blocked soaker
hoses and the decision to use the more expensive formulation of Miracle
Gro (is it the high potash type for tomatoes?) it would be far more
economical to go down each row once a week and give a relatively small
feed immediately round each plant (where the feeder roots are) with a
can rather than soaking the whole bed with feed, most of which will not
be taken up by the plants.
I have two systems which I use in my polytunnels, soaker hose where
there is a multiple planting like carrots, radishes, green crops,
and individual drip heads for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers,
aubergines.
It's up to you in the end, but it would be nice to compare
results with the two methods, also costs.
-- 
Allan Day 41 Villa St. Hereford HR2 7AU allan@crwys.demon.co.uk
Tel:- 01432 275443 (+answer m/c)
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