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: ___