Regular Garden Watering Irrigation, by how and when, to keep your Thirsty plant Prosperity

Only two rules for thirsty plants

Water from this “impact” sprinkler hits a deflector, causing the head to rotate continuously. In most cases, sprinklers should run until soil is moist to a depth of 4 or 5 inches.

There are only two rules for watering the garden correctly: water at the proper time and water deeply.

Too many gardeners, especially beginners, feel they must water a garden. But you should water your plants only when they really need it. How do you tell? Look at your plants in the morning. If they are wilted, it’s a sure sign that the soil has very little moisture left to provide for plants. It’s time to water!

Plants often look fine in the morning but start to droop in the afternoon when it gets hot. Drooping plants means they are losing more water than they are absorbing. Don’t rush to the water hose if you see this. Hold off for a while. Plants usually recover in the evening and overnight when the sun goes down and moisture moves up in the soil. But if your plants are wilted in the morning, get busy and water them.

Water morning or evening

I water in the morning because that’s when I can see plants need it. After a morning watering they’ll have enough moisture to get through a hot day and perhaps two or three more before the next rain or watering..

If you water in midday, some of the water will evaporate before the plants get to use it. If water is scarce or the price high, avoid midday sprinkling. It’s okay to water in the evening if you can’t do it in the morning, even though some people say that it increases the chances of disease. Sure, plant leaves often stay wet overnight from an evening watering. But that’s exactly what happens during many summer nights when dew coats the leaves—or when it rains.

Think deep when you Water

It takes a lot of water to give the garden a decent dose. Gardens need 1 inch of rain or irrigation water each week to grow well. Do you know how much water an inch is? Well, it takes 62 gallons to put an inch of water on a 10-by-10-foot garden. That’s one 10-quart bucket of water for a single tomato plant!

The biggest watering mistake is too little water. Shallow watering discourages plant roots from diving deep. And since they get used to finding water near the surface, they grow only shallow roots. This becomes a serious problem when it’s dry because without a deep root system the plants survive only if they are watered almost daily.

Deep waterings make the plant roots reach deep into the soil to find water. Then, should there be a dry spell they’ll be able to live well between waterings.

If you don’t water until the soil is moist 4 or 5 inches down, there’s almost no point in watering. So soak the soil. Dig down after a while to make sure the soil is moist 4 to 5 inches deep.

Want to save Water?

When soil is open and exposed to the beating hot sun, a heck of a lot of water is lost to evaporation, precious water that your garden needs.

Often people use heavy mulches to cover the soil. But there’s a better and more productive way to keep the soil covered—grow more plants!

I once planted a test garden in Florida and stuck to this principle. As usual I planted most vegetables in wide rows or in blocks.

The man who owned the property next to our test garden sauntered over when we started to plant. It was late afternoon but still hot as the dickens.

“What are you going to have for a water system?” he asked. “We’re not going to have one,” I told him.

“Well then,” he said, shaking his head slowly, “you won’t be able to make a garden. You just got to have a water system down here.”

“We’ll see,” I said. In the wide rows and blocks, the crops shaded the soil and kept it cool and moist. At night the leaves trapped an amazing amount of dew. We hardly had to water these crops. But across the fence, the man with the water system seemed to be sprinkling his single- row garden every other day. The plants in his narrow rows had exposed soil all around them. It didn’t take long for his soil to get dry and dusty.

My Favorite Tools make Watering easy!

Sprinkler—My sturdy oscillating sprinkler gets a lot of use in the bigger areas of my garden. It has a fine needle screwed into the end. With the needle I poke any holes that are clogged to get a smooth, even delivery of water.

I like to put sprinklers up on a sawhorse. Down at ground level the spray oftens hits nearby plants pretty hard. I also get a little farther reach with it mounted above the ground.

Breaker—Young plants like a soft shower and with a water breaker and extension wand I can give them a perfect one. The unit is very handy around my. greenhouse and cold frames for plants and seed flats, but I use it in the garden as well. It delivers a good volume of water in a soft, gentle spray. It’s perfect for spot-watering of seedbeds and transplants.

Soaker hose—I use a canvas soaker hose for any small area that needs water. Water oozes slowly out of it and drains into the root zone of my plants. The hose is so soft and flexible that I can snake it around the transplants in my wide rows. It’s also excellent for single rows as well as wide rows where I can place it down the middle without harming plants.

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