July 06, 2016
I'm setting a 5 gal bucket up close to the sprinkler to keep the water off the corn stalks. I can water all around the corn without washing the pollen off. I use it on the tomatoes too, and will be using it on the watermelons also. When the melon are fully formed, but the little pigtail closest to the melon isn't brown yet, you want to cut back the water to make the melon sweeter..
Overhead watering washes the plant leaves off and flushes the dust and micro particles from the decomposing mulch down to the roots so that you fertilize whenever you water. Drip irrigation uses less water but doesn't keep rewetting your mulch. I still like to play in the sprinkler..