Should the levee be wet or dry?

I got a green question (hence the user name):

I made wells/dishes/levees around my tomato plants to better water them deeply. This morning I was wondering if it would be better to not get the levee walls wet (faster erosion) or maybe it is better to soak them, too (prevent crumbling from drying out in between). Does anybody have useful experience with this or is it pretty much a non-concern. Things you think about, when you stand there with the hose in your hand... 8-)

PS: There also was something with a Chevy... I forgot.

Welcome neighbor to the not so far north! I'm just south of Paducah and north of Murray. I notice that you're pretty new here...so here's my official welcome.

I never worry too much about it, and mine seem to get wet regardless of what technique I use. Once they've gotten wet and dried...and believe me, things are dry at the moment, They tend to hold up most of the season. My levees have been wet and dried, and they are holding up fine...although the Chevy and the levee were dry..*grin*...

Levees are a nice idea, but I would not dare do it. Instead I ridge and mound most things and am almost always very glad I did when the rains hit and sometimes hit again. You must be drier than my area.

This message was edited Jul 3, 2006 8:36 PM

This is only done when the spring monsoons are done...we had 8" of rain one Sunday not too long ago...until that stops, ridges are the only way to go...and then you hope and pray that your stuff don't drown.

Now that those are done...rain is done for awhile too...it will just be hit or miss if we get any. I did the levee thing last week and things that are not where you can water them are suffering...near 100 the last 4 days....and not a drop...yep, time for levees.

It all depends on the time of year...till the middle of June...we drown...after that, we parch.

8" in one day?!

Wow! our yearly average is about twice that. You get half our years rain in a day, i can hardly even wrap my brain around that...

Do you have flash flooding? We get flash floods if we have more than half an inch in a day. LOL

Until Melody comes back...


8 inches of rain will flood, pond, and sog some areas.. Right now it has just put down probably an inch of rain in a few minutes. I pray for no more for now. I am reminded over and over again why drainage is the number one concern here. Yes there are other concerns, but I got things set up to drain away.

yep..8" in one day....and we were already wet. The poor earthworms were all on top of the ground gasping for air. The ground is like concrete now though. I just planted 3 clumps of daylilies and the rototiller barely cut the dirt.

Yes, we have flash floods, and the creeks all come out of their banks. Water gets over the roads in places and it's a mess for awhile. It goes down in a hurry though.

We're warm enough to plant out by April 7th...but the spring rains prevent most folks from getting their gardens in at that time. This year, we were dry and in the 80's the first week of april...folks planted with glee...(I waited)...Most gardens drowned and plants rotted in May...we had 15 3/4" inches in the month of may at my house.

My garden is later than some years, and I'll have to continue to water...but I'll have one.

Wow, thanks for the local info, guys. I just moved here from Arizona and have no clue what the precipitation patterns are. Until now, I had to always water my garden all year long. I got strange looks, when I unpacked my soaker hoses... 8-)

Melody: Thanks for the local welcome. We go to Paducah every week it seems, it got all the stores and an O'Charleys.

I took over 30 or so established tomato plants that where left to their own devices and when I was pruning, pinching and weeding I automatically added the levees to each plant. I started gardening in AZ and that's what you have to do there or it just evaps off the top soil.

I started my IL garden right when we got here at the beginning of June and, according to you, that is actually a good thing. Although, June was pretty dry and not much sprouted. Is this normal? How long does it usually last? My father-in-law says he never waters anything, but I kept watering my seeds anyway. They were just sitting in the bare dust! Could have been my two year old Walmart cheapseeds, tough... 8)

Indy: I'm still pretty green, could you explain how ridges and mounds work? What's the benefit over levees? I'm planning to plant some more veggies (from new seeds) and might use your technique instead of the furrows I had planned. With yours and Melody's numbers I probably should call them water slides instead. 8-)

There is a maqic time in late may when everyone plants if possible...usually Derby Day is the benchmark...late april/early may is best...and I do use the furrow method...I just stand prepared to cut drainage trenches, or replant. My uncle joe is in a panic if his garden isn't in by april 15...(his drowned this year)

I just had a feeling this year to wait through april...then it flooded in may. The rains have stopped, except for the thunderstorms...and I've gone till sept without a drop hitting the ground....you never know.

Water your seeds.....I am at the moment...my garden is much later than normal and I figure I'll have to water all summer now. Your soakers will be used here too...don't worry about that.

Just to mock me, I suppose, the rain gods send an inch last night and this morning. Got up at 5:30 to beat the heat and watched falling water instead...

Got my new strawberry pot done, though.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/623185/

We got a bare sprinkle...but everyone around me got plenty. That's the way it is around here in the summer...just hit or miss.

By ridges........Starting with level garden soil I pull in more dirt where the row will be when rototilling for planting. I like to see a couple inches high and a foot or so wide for the planting row. Maybe a little wider for a double row of green beans. The space beside the row or rows will be lower due to bringing dirt into the row. This gives a drainage channel for heavy rain. ,.......yes, I get rains.

By mounds....... For squash and melons I like a raised area to protect against those goose drowners. I have a long continuous raised bed for watermelons. The walk area is lower and a natural drainage channel because I dug it out deeper and used that dirt to help raise the bed...other dirt and sand is used too to make it about 6 inches high.

All areas are channeled to drain water to a pasture or lower field. Basically I have a channel across the lower end at 90° to the rows. I don't lose dirt out of the garden this way in a gusher.

I see. I've been doing the exact inverse of that using furrows and levees to prevent the water from draining away. But this was in the high desert, I probably have to re-think almost everything...

I did use mounds for some Zucchini seedlings I bought, but they almost got killed in the summer heat two days after transplanting them. Those mounds got rock hard and dried out.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/620674/

I will make sure that next year's garden has a drainage system to prevent washing away. Maybe raised beds are the way to go. They don't wash away in the spring and in the summer they can be flood irrigated, if need be, using the outer walls like a levee wall.

I like to cover tender transplants such as squash and sweetpotatoes with an inverted plastic pot....4-8 inches for a couple days.

Do you put holes in the pots for air? What about sun light, are they transparent?

These pots are green, black, and red.....I bought plants in them. They have holes in the bottom. Shutting out the direct sunlight for 2 days or so is the whole idea while the transplants get settled in without stress and wilting.

I see. If I get seedlings again, I might try this, too. Thanks.