Storing rain water in soil : do you have experience with the concept

[shinzo]

Hi all, i am currently Reading about the concept of storing excess rain water into soil instead of letting it go to sewer.
https://www.smilinggardener.com/lessons/rain-harvesting/
I am wondering if any of you experienced the concept , is it really effective, and what are its limits? 

[SeaWalnut]

Something even better than rotting organic matter wich its perissable and wont last long,its the charcoal.Charcoal last thousands of years not just 10-20 years and it absorbs water water like a sponge.Clay soil and charcoal i think its the best soil for water retention.

[pineislander]

here is a graphic demonstration of storage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSPHzwY3dNc

[SeaWalnut]

Charcoal water storage explained.Important its charcoal not ash.Charcoal lasts thousands of years compared to roțing organic matter. https://youtu.be/RPrLmn_i8q0

[Seanny]

That video shows how porous charcoal is, not how much water it can retain.
The presenter needs to put a filter over the glass and pour the mixture back into the empty glass.
That will show how much water is retained in the charcoal.

[SeaWalnut]

That video shows how porous charcoal is, not how much water it can retain.
The presenter needs to put a filter over the glass and pour the mixture back into the empty glass.
That will show how much water is retained in the charcoal.

Here is a comparison with premium soil mix,perlite and charcoal.Charcoal is the best. https://youtu.be/FW0JRk8AXc4

[shinzo]

Thank you all for your answers.  My main concern is not crossing the limit between water storing and waterlogging. I am currently trying the concept for two small trees  i Care the most in my yard and which i water with rain water only (1 Mango and 1 cherimoya)
i am doing it manually, once my rain barrels get filled during the rain, i transport the excess water by buckets in order to deep water them. That's to Say that i Can control the volume i want to "store" under each tree.
Should i continue watering as long as the soil continues absorbing the water? (My soil is Clay/Loam with a 4 inches layer of decaying organic matter and woodchips). My water storage through barrels is limited so i Can afford very deep watering them only during the rain like explained, since i don't want to use city water for these two plants.

[Oolie]

There is some debate over this, but some believe that roots can be trained to "find" deeper water.

The thought is that watering deeply and infrequently can train roots deeper, and that watering only when plants show signs of drought stress can cause the plant to focus on growing deeper roots as opposed to shallow, frequent watering which would encourage the development of shallow roots.

I haven't seen enough convincing evidence yet, but the logic seems sound. I feel that there will end up being a balance between high productivity and drought tolerance, but I don't have the evidence yet, merely supposition.

Some plants like those mentioned have a natural tendency towards deep rooting, mango and cherimoya both like to have their roots deep, so trials with those seem appropriate.