Watering philosophy

On that recent tv prog. re: Monty Don on allotments, that chap that grew all that wonderful veg. and didn't believe in watering (not even watering plants in) must have had a point! Do we molly-coddle our plants too much?

I am wondering if there is a parallel in all nature, that humans, animals and plants might do better if they have it tough at the start of life.

My father's earliest memories, were going out early in the morning to drink the milk that people had kindly left on their doorstep! Mother had left home, he had to survive somehow. Never had a healthy varied diet in his life, if I told you what he lived on, you wouldn't believe me!
He lived for 99 years and 6 days!!!

Problem is, I don't have the guts to give seedlings a hard time! Anybody been down this road?

 

My brother in law survived on a diet of spinach, baked beans and wholemeal bread while studying for his PhD....boring but sufficient , he said And dieticians reckon the resricted diet of most civilians during WW2 was extremely healthy, so in part I agree.
I think the problem is we grow things where they wouldn't naturally survive, so they have to be pursuaded!

 

Thanks for that Liz, perhaps it's a case of;

If you start easy, it can only get worse, or

If you start the hard way, it can only get better and your prepared for anything?

BTW he wasn't even on any medication, me I'm on blood pressure pills just like everyone else!

 

The times I've heard people on my plot saying," Oh! I just chuck it in, if it grows it grows," Needless to say most dose'nt, so why bother?
I don't beleive in molly coddling plants, but do beleive in giving them the care they deserve in view of what they give us in return, So there I've said my bit.

 

I believe in watering in plants to get them established, then ease off to encourage them to find their own source of water - that makes sense to me :D

But I don't see that depriving them of water early on is likely to do anything other than kill them!! Not sure if that means I agree or disagree!

 

you can chuck it in if yove spend a lot of time on preparing a nice humous rich fertile loam, try to grow anything in pure subsoil with added clay, and you ll be down to Tesco every day
re wartime diet, the government used dieticians to determine a wholesome diet
but i rem Glasgow in the fifties, and there were plenty of peeps with rickets, many with TB and alcoholism, so the 99 year olds were exceptional

 

Thanks for all your input, I guess we are all for spoiling them then, but it just bugs me that this guy had such a prolific amount of veg. that even Monty Don was impressed, so surely there is a hidden science in there somewhere?

Take your point LG, maybe the answer lies in the soil?

 

Could be that he doesn't plant until there is a very good root system - and perhaps no feed to stimulate early leafy foliage. So robust plant in - in the right weather conditions - no need to water - perhaps.

Me I like to give things an easy start. I help if they run into problems but the more they are left to their own devices the better they seem to do. The only exception would be a tree planted in the late spring - to help them over the summer.

 

Then there was m' dear old Mum's method (Ex Land Army). After planting out she would give em' a watering then stand there with a defiant look on her face and say, "Now grow you bu....rs, grow!"