ANSWERED: New Gardener - Water Retention problems

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sabrinaNTX Denton, TX Mar 24, 2011

We haven't had rain here in QUITE a while. In fact, its been a month and a half since any precipitation, and that was a week-long snow and ice storm. Meanwhile, my natural soil is clay. I have mixed my beds with 1/2 existing soil, and 1/2 of a blend of top soil, soil conditioner, and compost.

This past weekend, I planted 10 different beds of direct-sow seeds.

I've been having huge problems figuring out how much to water them to retain the water enough for consistent soil moisture. For example, I have a bed that is approximately 7' by 4'. On Sunday, when I planted it, I watered it 4 gallons. On Monday, it didn't seem HUGELY dry, so I watered it another 4 gallons. 24 hours later, I found it dry and the soil was cracking. I watered it 5 gallons. 24 hours later, it was again dry and cracking.

Each time, I've watered it until I've noticed the water pooling up slightly on top. Apparently, that's just not enough.

Note: I am trying to germinate some nasturtiums and morning glories, so I don't want to take it to the other extreme and overwater them.

There's got to be a decent way of figuring out how much water to give to keep the soil from drying completely out before 24 hours have passed.

Answered: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3230/

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