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COOPERATIVE KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY FACT SHEET

Information about the Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Program 2020

Irrigation for Your Home Vegetable Garden

Dr. Leigh Whittinghill, Assistant Professor of Urban Agriculture

Vegetables require 1 inch of water per week. This should equal about 62 gallons for a 100 square foot bed. Some recommend that the water should be applied all at once to encourage deeper root growth.

How to Calculate How Much Water Equals 1 inch for Your Garden

1. Calculate that volume of water that equals 1 inch for your garden.
2. Length of bed x Width of bed = Area of your garden (square feet)
3. (Area of your garden)/(100 square feet) x 62 gallons = Gallons of water needed OR Length of your bed: ___
4. Length of your bed: ___
5. Width of your bed: ___
6. Area of your garden: ___
7. Gallons of water needed: ___
8. Length of bed x Width of bed = Area of your garden (square feet)
9. Area of your garden x 0.083 ft (1 inch) = Cubic feet of water needed
10. Cubic feet of water x (7.48 gallons)/(1 cubic foot) = Gallons of water needed Length of your bed: ___
11. Length of your bed: ___
12. Width of your bed: ___
13. Area of your garden: ___
14. Cubic ft of water needed: ___
15. Gallons of water needed: ___
2. Determine how long to run your irrigation to supply this water.

Time how long it takes to fill a bucket of known volume with a hose.

Gallons of water needed × Time to fill the bucket = Amount of time to run the hose

Volume of bucket: ___

Time to fill bucket: ___

Amount of time to run hose: ___

OR

Set small containers such as tuna cans around the garden. Time how long it takes to fill the containers. Depth of container: ________ Time to fill container: ________ Amount of time to run sprinkler: ________

1 inch of water needed × Time to fill the container = Amount of time to run the sprinkler

Depth of the container

Keep a Log of How Much Water Your Garden Needs Each Week

Example Table:

1. Record the date each day.
2. Record the amount of rain from either a rain gauge in your garden, or another accurate weather source. Setting up a rain gauge in your garden will give you the most accurate information for your location.
3. Determine if there is rain in the forecast. If there is a lot of rain in the forecast for the next couple of days, it may be wise to reduce the amount of irrigation supplied, or to wait to irrigate until after the rain.
4. Record the amount of irrigation supplied to the garden. This should be done in inches of depth. If the full amount needed is supplied, then this will be 1 inch. If not, you can use the following calculation to determine how many inches you have supplied.
5. OR
6. How long you ran the sprinkler = Water supplied (in)
7. Amount of time to run the sprinkler
8. (How long you ran the hose)/(Time to fill the bucket) x Volume of the bucket = Gallons of water supplied
9. Gallons of water supplied = Inches of water supplied Gallons of water needed
5. Subtract the rain depth and irrigation supplied from the water needed. At the beginning of the week, this will be the 1-inch water recommendation. After the first day of the week use the value from the previous day in the final column. Enter the amount in the final column for that day.

References

Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky. ID-128. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service

Markham, B.L. 2014. The MiniFarming™ Bible: The Complete Guide to Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre. SkyHorse Publishing. New York, New York.

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION PROGRAM

KYSU.EDU/AG | @KYSUAG

Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. Kentucky State University, University of Kentucky, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky Counties, Cooperating. 2017

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