THE NEW WORST BLUEBERRY PEST - Rhagoletis mendax

In May, we posted an old Root Concerns article about blueberries' preference for acidic soils;  and, in case you are still just thinking about blueberries or  have more questions now after planting them, I  recommend  your checking out this very readable  guide from the University of Maine's Cooperative Extension.

But,  now it's July and blueberries are starting to ripen throughout the Capital District.  If you've grown blueberries for a while, you probably already have them under some kind of a bird netting arrangement.  If not, the birds say thanks.  My mother-in-law, who lived in Maine,  used to just drape netting over her high bushes (6+ feet) and then crawl under the netting to pick. She always  got a lot of berries and didn't mind sharing those berries located just under the netting with the birds...  However, if you are planning to build a frame for netting, make sure that your netting is securely fixed to the ground in order to stymie both the more clever birds and  the pernicious squirrels from finding easy low level access. 

Blueberry maggot flu lavae devastate berries. Photo: sercadia.wordpress.com

Unfortunately, more than just birds like blueberries.  Many insects look at some part of blueberry bushes for a meal, but there are three  pests that  focus on consuming the fruit -- the blueberry maggot fly, the cherry fruitworm and the cranberry fruitworm.

Of these three, the newest pest that has only recently  established itself in the Capital District including Rensselaer County is the blueberry maggot fly (Rhagoletis mendax). This villain is very, very  small --   the maggots that live inside of a berry only measure 5 - 8 millimeters in length.   Given their  tiny size, you  probably might not notice either the eggs or  the newly hatched maggots in the berries. This means that  occasionally you may be ingesting a little extra protein along with your berries and cream.  Anyway, after about  three weeks of feasting those maggots  emerge from the berries (whose pulp has  now turned into a  noticeable brown mush), drop to the ground to pupate, and turn into the flies that are eager to start the next generation.  The adult flies are about 3/16" in length; and if your eyes are sharp enough to spot one, look for the black stripes on its wings to confirm your misfortune. Because the last generation of the season buries itself 1 - 6 inches into the soil to overwinter, just cleaning up under the bushes doesn't help. I don't know if covering the ground under your bushes with  landscaping cloth would serve as  an effective prophylaxis. It seems that it might.  [Are there any berry experts who can comment about this idea?]

Adult blueberry maggot fly. Source: Jerry A. Payne USDA/ARS

As for the two other insect pests affecting the blueberries, the cherry and cranberry fruitworms are present in the area and can cause serious damage.   The telltale clue of cranberry fruitworms is a web that the worms spin linking the berries in a cluster a little more securely together. The  lavae also drop to the ground to pupate and turn into moths. In this case,  keeping the ground clear under the bushes will reduce their population, and Bacillus thuringiensis (B. t.) can be used on the berries as a control.  

The cherry fruitworm, also a moth, produces just a single generation a year.  Eggs are laid on the surfaces of unripe fruit, and upon hatching the lavae bore into the fruit to feast.  Cherry fruitworms can be controlled by pyrethrin and Bacillus thuringiensis. Because cherry fruitworms overwinter by seeking out protected spots on stems, regular pruning to remove older stems can help control their numbers.

For gardeners trying to follow organic principles, controlling the blueberry maggot is especially challenging.  Traps may be able to control  the cherry and cranberry fruitworms in backyard berry patches, but are  unlikely to  be effective against the prolific maggot fly. Farmers  only use   the traps to indicate if they  have infestations and not for control purposes.  I did stumble upon one note that suggested regularly spraying the fruit with a cayenne solution, but I found no confirming research  about using this elixir for this purpose.  

If you have an infestation of maggot flies, multiple applications of an insecticide appear to be the recommended solution (probably, the only solution).  Organic insecticides, e.g. Neem oil or pyrethrin, can reduce maggot populations, but they  will also collaterally kill beneficial insects. Because the maggot's life cycle is just a few weeks, multiple applications of an insecticide are required throughout the berry season.  The bottom line for the backyard gardener may be simply to look a little more carefully before you pick and maybe not so much before  you  bite into the muffin...

FWIW:  Blueberries are native to North America. 

And remember...

"The darker the berry, the sweeter the juice." - Thomas Jefferson

GARDENING UPDATES: Thrips, Pollinators and Agroecology

Back from the much, much  cooler West Coast. The East now has the heat; and, as gardeners know, the bugs...

Recently, we posted a short article on a unique way to control flea beetles.  You can recognize their  damage  by  spotting the small, buckshot size holes  they make in leaves while dining.   Flea beetles  are sort of easy to see as they are about 1/8" long,  round and usually brown or  black.

Thirps - egg to adult  Source: MSU

Another common pest that backyard gardeners will be encountering whose activities also show up on foliage are thrips.

Thrips do not look like flea beetles. They are very small insects (1 mm, i.e. 1/25 of 1 inch in length). The adults deposit eggs inside of leaves. The young emerge and reach adulthood in about 30 days ready to start a new generation. As summer temps increase, they even develop faster and, of course, breed faster... Their fecundity can quickly reach epidemic proportions in small gardens and on farms.

Infected leaves from thrip piercings. Source: Cornell U

Leaf damage from thrips appears different from that of flea beetles,  but can lead to similar results.  Thrips make tiny piercings into  leaves in order to suck plant juices.  These piercings also expose plants to many possible viral and bacterial infections as shown in the  photo.

Organic control solutions include 1) keeping soil under plants clear of debris because this is where thrip lavae go to pupate (so this is not so practical if you mulch;  row covers and landscaping cloth may be better solutions),  2) using beneficial insects like ladybugs, 3) deploying sticky traps; and 4) if you're not using beneficial insects, consider applying insecticidal soap sprays or natural insecticides like Neem oil as a last resort because these can also kill beneficial insects like bees.

A  recent video produced by Cornell's Eastern New York Horticultural   Program and  available from  Rensselaer County Extension's Facebook site explains how to recognize thrip damage as well as ways  to control thrips.

BTW: Rensselaer County Extension's Facebook site is a great source for information about all aspects of gardening.  We've  added it to the Related Resources links on the right side of this page.

Pollinators  & Neonicotinoid Update

Neonicotinoid compounds comprise the largest  group of insecticides used around the world today; and, in case you missed it, back in April, 2018 the European Union permanently banned the use of the three most commonly used neonicotinoids from outdoor use by farmers.   The EU's action recognized that the growing body of research (e.g. Cornell's research summary)  associating these chemicals with the decline in pollinator populations is simply too strong to be ignored. This is both good and bad news for European and British farmers - those growing certain field crops such as soy beans and corn are not happy; those raising crops that are highly dependent upon insects for pollination like fruits and many veggies are happy.

Source: USDA

The status of "neonics" in the U.S. varies.  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the Northwest has stopped using them in 2016on its feed crops for wild animals, and a few states  also have banned them. New York has been considering a ban since 2016, but so far proposed legislation has not made it to either the Senate or Assembly floor for action leaving the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation just to promote a "best practices" approach towards limiting the use of "neonics" in the state.

Like many issues there are competing needs and interests.  Neonicotinoids can be sprayed on plants,   soaked into the ground around plants or used as coatings on seeds. They do not directly affect animals and birds as earlier insecticides did, but "neonics" do directly affect a few important groups of insect pests that are the bane of some farmers and turf managers (think golf courses & sport fields). 

Neonicoinoids are absorbed by plants and then ingested by munching and sucking insects whose "brains" subsequently become fatally impaired.  Birds are indirectly affected by having to cope with reduced insect populations -- they have less to eat. Honey bees and their kin pollinators seem to be affected by some of the residual compounds of neonicotinoids. -- Research also indicates that "neonics" may not decompose as quickly or as thoroughly as advertised and that there is also a leaching problem of these compounds into adjacent areas.  This is both a problem for organic farmers as well as  the natural environment.

WHAT YOU CAN DO  - The three most used "neonics" are imidacloprid, thiacloprid and clothianidin that are used extensively in agriculture, ornamental nurseries and incorporated into popular insecticides available to the general public.  To minimize the impact of these compounds on the environment, you can 

• Avoid buying insecticides that lists one or more of these ingredients. 

• Plant native plants in your garden and maybe even some plants  considered to be weeds like milkweed, mullen or Queen Anne's lace for  bees and other pollinators. 

• And finally, buy organic whenever you have a choice.

Agroecology - A New Farming Movment

Finally, FWIW: Recently an opinion piece in the New York Times,"Bringing Farming Back to Nature" by Daniel Moss and Mark Bittman (NYT June 26, 2018), introduced a new word to me, agroecology. The term identifies a growing world wide movement to incorporate  ecological principles into agriculture. 

Daniel Moss leads the AgroEcology Fund, an organization funding sustainable agriculture throughout the world. Mark Bittman, who needs little introduction to foodies now also spends time outside of the kitchen promoting healthy eating and sustainable agriculture.  This short article worth a checking out to learn about  ongoing efforts to move away from the monocultural farming model -- a little hopeful news is getting harder to find...

FIVE FACTS ON GARTER SNAKES

Did you know that garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) are among the most common snakes in North America? They are usually 23-30 inches long but have been known to grow up to 53 inches long. 

Common Eastern Garter Snake.  Source: Public Domain

Garter snakes hibernate in the winter, much like a bear.

Unlike most snakes which lay eggs, garter snake babies are born alive. The breeding time is usually
in the late summer when the temperature is conducive. The garter snakes have been known to give birth to around 20 and 40 babies per litter. That’s a lot of snakes.

Garter snakes are harmless, although many people are afraid of them anyway. Their only form of
defense against us is a foul-smelling musky liquid that they release if picked up.

The garter snakes play a vital role in the garden’s ecosystem. When in the garden, the garter snake
usually feeds on  frogs, earthworms and  mice. This helps in the reduction of  crop
damage.


Text by Don Maurer, Master Gardener of Rensselaer County Cooperative Extension.

JULY - GARDEN PREPARATION

Maybe July should be known as the "Keep Harvesting Month."   I hope you are keeping up...

  Dill.  Source: Public domain

• This month you should be getting first pickings of bush beans, beets, summer squashes and  finishing up with peas as well as with your second or third  plantings  of radishes.

• Enough dill weed should also be available by now for use in salads and salad dressings. I never have to plant dill because I always allow a few dills to go to seed and then scatter their seeds in a few areas in my garden for next year.  I freeze dill stems before they bloom in order to make a dilly vinaigrette in the off seasons.

• Other herbs like marjoram, thyme, basil, parsely, sage etc. should also be mature enough for collection. Like with dill, I prefer freezing herbs to drying because their flavors are better.

• Another task extending your time to enjoy in July's  heat is  to start  planting some of your fall crops especially beans, beets and cucumbers. It  is also time to put in  early autumn  cover crops, such as clover, buckwheat or a field peas  in unused or already harvested beds.  For additional information checkout the recent  post about cover crops.

• Add more mulch  for weed suppression and moisture control, and while you are at it, July is a good time to  fertilize asparagus, eggplants and melons. Your leeks probably also will appreciate hilling them again.

• Finally, keep removing new suckers from your tomatoes to keep the vines from taking control.  And speaking of tomatoes let's move on to tomato horn worms...

If you've grown tomatoes for a while, you have probably come upon Manduca quinquemaculata   (i.e. tomato horn worm). They actually will also feast on peppers, eggplants, potatoes; and a cousin prevalent in the south, the  tobacco horn worm, prefers, you guessed it,  tobacco.  

They are large caterpillars, but they blend in especially well on tomatoes. Usually you will first notice leaf stems that have been stripped of all tissue around their larger veins. The caterpillars are usually at some other location on the plant or an adjacent plant. You always wonder how you missed seeing them! The caterpillars, of course, start small  dining first  on the  lower leaves and then  moving higher as they grow to where you can notice their work.

Five spotted hawkmoth. Source: Public domain

If they survive, tomato horn worms  go underground to pupate in autumn and  transform into hawkmoths over the winter. Hawkmoths emerge between late spring and early summer to start their next generations.  These are  large moths  with wingspans up to 5". They are nectar feeders, and in the south and southwest they seek out plants with large white flowers, especially those in the datura genus  containing toxic alkaloid compounds that seem to intoxicate the moths. These plants may have   evolved  producing an opioid to promote their fertilization by addicting hawkmoths!

Cotesia lavae feasting on a hornworm.
Photo by I. Stephens

Cotesia wasp.
Photo by Betriz Moisset 

In addition to us vegetable gardeners, the hornworms have a lot of other natural enemies.  One of these, the trichogramma wasp, a small parasitoid wasp that you probably will never notice, attacks the eggs laid by the moths near the base of their favorite plants.  The wasps' young feed on these eggs.  Another moth enemy that you have probably seen evidence of, is Cotesia congregata, a larger parasitoid wasp that lays its eggs in the skin  of the caterpillars. You will know that one of these fellows has been to work if you see a horn worm looking like the unlucky chap to the right.

I always leave these zombies alone. After the wasp lavae finish consuming the worm's internal tissue, the carcass will fall to the ground; but more importantly, I will probably have a generation of worm hunters in my garden next year.

And remember...

"If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run and hide." - American Quaker saying

Organic Control of Flea Beetles, Slugs  & Cutworms For Vegetable Gardens

Flea beetles feasting on eggplant.

After reading that Fern Marshall Bradley* had recommended a hand held vacuum for flea beetle control, I had to chuckle.  But the damage to my eggplants was well over any threshold. 

•  I was ready to try anything before resorting to a spray. Get out the extension cord.

•  By golly, it works! A nice batch of beetles the first try, but many escaped when I opened the vacuum.

Vacuum ready for action.

•  Next time there will be a bucket of soapy water ready to dump them  into before they jump and  take to wing.

• Cutworms and slugs do most of their dirty work at night and find a place to hide during the day.

• I give them shelter with lettuce traps. As I harvest the lettuce, strip off the outer leaves and place them in small piles near vulnerable crops

Cutworm discovered too late.

• The cutworms like the cool hideout, and the slugs eat the tender leaves. They meet their demise daily as I check under and around these little encampments.

*Fern Marshall Bradley is a co-author of Rodale's

 Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening:

 The Indispensable Green Resource for

 Every Gardener and several other books.

Text and photos by Doug Pratt, Rensselaer County Master Gardener

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously published in Root Concerns - July, 2013    

Root Concerns is a gardening newsletter produced by the Cornell Cooperative Extensions of Rensselaer, Albany, and Schenectady Counties. Because its contents have not been previously indexed by Internet search engines, relevant articles from past issues will be occasionally reprinted.

 

Here Comes The Basil Blues

The gods must be angry with us.  Or, more likely, the increase in world travel and shipment of goods is transporting pests around the globe like never before.  From the many examples I could grouse about, today I’ll alert you to downy mildew of basil.  If you don’t grow basil, or if you don’t love pesto, Margherita pizzas or tomato, cheese and basil sandwiches, then you can skip this trauma and just fret over world events.  But if you’re a basil aficionado like me, then please read on.

Basil downy mildew up close.  Photo by Meg McGrath

Basil downy mildew, a fungus-like disease, had its first U.S. finding in Florida in 2007 and made it here to New York the following year.  We don’t know how much or just when it will show up each season, since it can’t take our cold winters and must be transported here anew.  Like the anticipated return of a rare bird, this seasonal comeback makes folks in the know keep their eyes peeled for its return.  So far this year, first-responder Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center, reported finding basil downy mildew at a big chain garden center on June 14.  She’s also getting reports of it from home gardeners, and notes in her blog that fellow pathologists have discovered it in several states already.  The growing season is still young, but it appears that 2018 will be tough for the basil business.

Basil downy mildew can be tricky to detect if you aren’t in the know.  The initial symptoms are a yellowing of the foliage from the bottom of the plant upward, a malaise resembling nutritional deficiency.  However, this is a blight a little fertilizer won’t fix.  Lurking on the lower leaf surfaces will be a fuzzy gray growth of mycelia.  As the disease progresses, the leaves will eventually blacken and die.  All of the myriad types of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) are susceptible, although some folks have noticed that purple-leaved and lemon types seem a little more resistant.  Only varieties of O. americanum, a species primarily grown for medicinal purposes, have shown no symptoms or sporulation when inoculated with basil downy mildew. Perhaps some creative plant breeder can transfer this resistance to sweet basil and make a small fortune.  As the disease doesn’t harm people per se, it is not dangerous to ingest a few infected leaves, but I can’t imagine it would be an appetizing experience, either.

Lower leaves  first turn yellow then brown.
Photo by Meg McGrath

It is difficult to outsmart basil downy mildew.  If your plants bought from the garden center look fine, the problem may blow in on the wind.  If you start your plants from seed, you aren’t home-free either necessarily, because this pathogen (unlike many others) can be carried by seeds.  If your basil eventually becomes blighted, bag it and trash it immediately.  Keeping plants well-spaced and watering early in the day so the foliage is kept as dry as possible are preventative measures.  Fungicides can be used, but who wants to eat basil sprayed with fungicide?  That doesn’t taste like summer.    

For more information, check out the very detailed website provided by Cornell Plant Pathologist Margaret Tuttle McGrath's  website.

Text by David Chinery, Horticulture Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously published in Root Concerns - July, 2014 

Root Concerns is a gardening newsletter produced by the Cornell Cooperative Extensions of Rensselaer, Albany, and Schenectady Counties. Because its contents have not been previously indexed by Internet search engines, relevant articles from past issues will be occasionally reprinted.

 

WATERING VEGETABLE GARDENS & MOISTURE LEVELS

Everyone knows that plants need water, but over watering is potentially  as bad for plants as under watering.  House plants probably are at greater risk from this than  veggies in the garden because soil drainage and atmospheric evaporation   ameliorates many beginning gardener mistakes.  But let's review some basics for everyone anyway.

How much moisture:  The gardener's  old rule of thumb is that vegetables typically  need the equivalent of 1" of rain per week in order to thrive. That level of watering goes a long way to give veggies  a steady moisture level assuming your garden's soil type is loamy and includes a sufficient amount of humus (the organic components in soil that significantly abet water retention).   

For gardeners following Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening (SFG) regimens of measuring water in cups per square foot but who compromise and secretly use a hose, a standard garden hose with an adjustable wand attachment set to the "gentle shower" level or its equivalent delivers a cup of water  about every 3-4 seconds.  For those who may not be familiar with SFG, many veggie gardeners I know, including myself, consider this book to be probably the best guide  to growing in backyard venues for both new and experienced hands. Although  2013 volume is the latest edition, any second hand copy fills the bill...

Soil type or texture: The basic composition of garden soil plays a major role in how water is retained.  There are three basic soil types: clayey with the finest particle size, loams with mid size particles, and sandy with the largest size particles.  Water tends not to permeate readily  into clay soils; you will probably see it quickly pooling and/or running away on the surface from your veggies.  In sandy type soils, water drains through quickly, and so these soils tend to dry out quickly.  For loamy soils, the goldilocks of soils, water will permeate into the soil at a moderate pace giving plants more time to absorb it.  But, in all three cases, it is the  organic residues from bio decomposition that hold soil and humus particles together into various sized clumps promoting both the soil's aeration and water retention qualities. 

  fwiw: Humus only accounts for 2 - 5% of the solid weight of garden soil.

If your garden's soil is either clayey or sandy, you will need to adjust your watering frequency and amount to approximate that ideal state of 1" of rain per week.  Probably, the best approach is to  invest in a moisture meter (about $10) that will let you check the moisture of your soil at different depths.  (These meters  indirectly measure the soil's water content as reflected by conductivity. Low readings indicate low water content; high scores indicate more water.)

But, you might just want to get some idea about how fast water drains through your soil by doing your own simple percolation test.  Dig a small hole about 8 - 12" in diameter and 8 - 12" deep. Fill the hole with water and let it drain out over night to moisturize the surrounding soil. The next morning, refill the hole with water, then measure the water's depth and every two hours thereafter.  Ideally, the water level should recede about 2" every hour, but a rate between  1" and  3" per hour is okay.  

Although germinating seeds  will be just looking for moisture in the top 2" for a short time, your tomatoes, for example, at mid-season have roots that  penetrate at least 8 - 10" into the soil. When their fruit is ripening, their roots will be 18 - 24" into the soil, and you need to apply water frequently enough for it to soak down to that level.  Watering until it runs off  surface areas or pools are not necessarily  reliable indicators of sufficient watering.

Mulch, Compost and other tactics:  Soil texture and humus content are only a couple of factors affecting soil moisture level.  Other important components of the "hydrologic (i.e. water) cycle" impacting soil moisture include transpiration, evaporation, runoff, condensation and, of course, precipitation.  Some gardening techniques can be used to improve and/or stabilize moisture levels to lessen the impact of water loss from these processes.

We've already mentioned how adding biomass (via compost) into soil helps to retain water.  Mulching is another obvious technique, and your compost  can also be used as a mulch. Straw, grass clippings, shredded newspaper (albeit, messy) or leaves, or peat moss  added to the top of the soil both  insulates  against the extremes of heat or cold and also  helps soil to hold moisture by  reducing the rate of evaporation.

Reminder: Sawdust and tree bark are not ideal mulch choices because the bacteria that will be decomposing these very woody ingredients will compete with your vegetables for  the soil's nitrogen. Pine needles are not a good choice either because they can slowly increase acidity; it's better to save them for your blueberries or, better yet, your rhododendrons.

In clayey  or compacted soils, as mentioned above, water tends to runoff  instead of soaking into the soil.  You can counter this to some degree by creating raised  beds or raised rows and amending this soil by adding sand along with humus. [The larger sand particles, when they clump with bio residues from decomposition, allow for aeration and hydration of the soil.] Another tactic to  counter runoff loss is by creating  small, shallow furrows for your seeds or seedlings so that some water will collect and  gain extra time to permeate into the soil.

How much mulch is enough? 3 - 4" will reduce evaporation and insulate as well as suppress some weeds, but 6" would be even better.  Actually, even lesser amounts of mulch help --  just 2" of mulch will lower soil temperatures by a few degrees.  Recently, my  appreciation for mulch's insulating power  was reinforced.  On May 26 the thermometer read 90°F in my backyard.  I measured the soil temperature at a depth of 5" under a 3 - 4" layer of straw.  The soil's temperature was 72°F.  I also had a 4' x 4' bed without mulch (I had run out of straw) and its temperature at 5" was 78°F !  I also have a bed with just 1 - 2" of mulch (I was  running out of straw), and its temperature registered 76°F - a little better than the bare soil's. - - I need to add   mulch to these beds, obviously. 

How & when to water?  There are many ways to give plants a drink -- by hand held hoses,  watering cans, soaker or drip hoses and sprinklers as well as elaborate  timed and moisture metered systems. Your choice is probably determined by the size of your garden, your personal calendar and, of course, your budget.  I  have nine raised beds, and just run a hose through a PVC pipe under a short section of lawn to the garden. Then I water each bed as needed using a long necked wand set on "gentle shower" and water at the base of plants.  I don't mind the time I spend watering because so far:

1.  I like being in the garden,  and 
2.  I like being in the garden especially in the morning.  

Soaker hoses  do appeal to me. The prospect of setting up all those separate connectors between beds, getting a timer ($30) and installing hoses (200+ ft) has so far successfully detoured me from  seriously investigating  soakers.  Also, as long as I can induce friends to garden sit for me when I'm traveling, I probably will continue to avoid the issue...

I try to water in the morning,  like the good gardener who I am pretending to be,  so that any water that gets on the leaves has a chance to evaporate during the day. Watering in the evening is generally not recommended because cooler evening temperatures combined with wetted leaves can promote the growth of molds and other plant diseases.  However, I admit that it does sometimes rain at night, and plants usually seem to come through okay while lacking umbrellas or slickers - except at the start or end of growing seasons when temperatures can be a lot cooler.

Soaker hoses deliver water to the base of plants. 

Surface connectors between beds are the simplest 

way to connect multiple beds.

Watering at high noon also is not recommended. Soil evaporation and plant transpiration rates are higher, and plants are stressed by trying to cope with water loss. They are losing water through their leaves faster than their roots can absorb it from the soil.  Watering your garden at 12 Noon with the temperature at a sizzling 93°F doesn't necessarily  help the plants much because the water spraying from the hose is probably around  55°F.  This may cool the soil a bit, but the roots' absorption rate actually slows down  with the lower temperatures.  If you have stored water, e.g. rain barrels, you can use it because that water's temperature will be close to ambient temperature.

Using lawn sprinklers for watering is less desirable than even just aiming your hose at the garden from a distance  because of increased losses from evaporation during the water's short flight in the air and from droplets that collect on plant leaves. Plus, lawn sprinkler patterns always  mis-direct  some water outside of where it's needed.    I know, if you're in a hurry and/or tired,  setting up a sprinkler in the middle of the garden is hard to resist.  The sprinkler does deliver needed water; just realize that it's not efficient and  that only a brutish sort of fellow gardener will  criticize you for it.

Source: swmm.info.uk

Ollas - a traditional clay pot watering system: For those who might be on a well water system and worried about pumping your supply dry, ollas might be an option.  Ollas are porous clay pots (unglazed) without a seep hole in the bottom that are buried in the ground  near your plants. Water gradually passes through the walls of the pot keeping the soil moist at the root level. This is an ancient technique used in very dry areas. I haven't tried it yet, but I might experiment  with it this year for my pole beans.  Last year I tried burying plastic soda bottles with tiny holes punched in the sides to let water gradually out, but my top seals were not intact and no vacuum was created.  Result: the water leaked out too fast... Using clay pots, you don't need to worry about vacuums... If I remember to try ollas, I'll report back later in the year.  [Or, if anyone reading  this post has experience using ollas, I hope you'll submit a comment.] Additional information about making your own ollas is available from the Global Buckets website.  

And remember...

"There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans." -- Marcelene Cox