Kitchen Garden Forum

I was looking at my onion sets which I've got under cloches where the soil looks fairly dry. It's been raining most of the morning and the soil elsewhere seems fairly moist.

Should I be watering my plants under cloches in these circumstances or will the capilliary spreading action of moisture from the surrounding soil be enough to give seedlings under cover all the moisture they need? (It's a bit of a pain having to keep removing cloches to water). What do others do?

If the soil was moist when you planted them, Primrose, I wouldn't water them for a long time yet. At this time of the year and particularly with the rainwater running down on both sides of the cloche no doubt, it will encourage the onion roots to grow down and seek the moisture which will most certainly still be there.

Hello Primrose
I'm a big fan of soaker hoses (the black porous ones) and these are ideal for watering under cloches.
I very rarely water onions even in a dry spell in the middle of summer. They seem to be able to cope very well. I would also say that onions don't need cloches. Sets are pretty tough. I use cloches mainly on a few early potatoes and lettuces.

John