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
Calculate that volume of water that equals 1 inch for your garden.
Length of bed x Width of bed = Area of your garden (square feet)
(Area of your garden)/(100 square feet) x 62 gallons = Gallons of water needed OR Length of your bed: ___
Length of your bed: ___
Width of your bed: ___
Area of your garden: ___
Gallons of water needed: ___
Length of bed x Width of bed = Area of your garden (square feet)
Area of your garden x 0.083 ft (1 inch) = Cubic feet of water needed
Cubic feet of water x (7.48 gallons)/(1 cubic foot) = Gallons of water needed Length of your bed: ___
Length of your bed: ___
Width of your bed: ___
Area of your garden: ___
Cubic ft of water needed: ___
Gallons of water needed: ___
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: ___