How to Water Your Plants Correctly in the Garden?
Learning how to water is an essential step for gardening success. Discover why overhead sprinklers aren’t the best option and the ten watering strategies that will help ensure your garden plants stay healthy and hydrated.
If you want a successful garden, you need to know how to keep it irrigated. Fruits and vegetables are more than 90% water, and plants immediately start to suffer when they can’t get enough of it.
However, watering plants in the garden takes skill and knowledge if you want to do it right. The wrong techniques may lead to shallow roots, diseased plants, and even more wilting than before.
Here’s what you need to know to water plants in the garden for the best results.
How Much Water Do Plants Need?
Most garden plants will thrive with at least 2.5 centimeters of water per week, though many need more during hot, dry spells. This averages 225 liters per 30 square feet of garden space or about 90 minutes per week with a regular sprinkler.
You can install a rain gauge to monitor weekly rainfall and determine when you need to start watering.
Four Types of Garden Irrigation Systems
Here’s an overview of the most common ways to water plants in the garden.
Watering Can
Watering cans let you pour a slow stream of water directly at the base of your plant. They are portable and ideal for container gardens but can become cumbersome for watering large spaces.
Watering Wand
This hose attachment lets you direct water to hard-to-reach places like hanging baskets. They also allow you water directly at soil level without bending over, though you’ll need to walk through your garden rows to use it.
Overhead Sprinkler
Overhead sprinklers usually consist of a rotating sprinkler head attached to a pole, so the water projects out and covers a larger space. While an overhead sprinkler is one of the easiest ways to water a big garden, it also comes with the most downsides.
First, watering plants from the top down means less water reaches the roots before it evaporates. This means much of the water is wasted before the plants take it in. Likewise, overhead sprinkles make it hard to direct the water’s flow, which means you irrigate the paths and weeds in your garden as well as your plants. Finally, wetting plant leaves creates habitat space for bacterial pathogens and fungal spores, which increases the risk of disease.
Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation can be expensive and time-consuming to install, but it provides the easiest, most efficient watering method. You’ll run the drip tape around the base of your plants, which contains small holes that allows water to leak out slowly. Water leaks through these holes, saturating the soil and reaching plant roots directly.
10 Tips for Successfully Watering Plants in the Garden
Here’s some helpful advice if you want to keep your garden plants well-hydrated.
1. Apply Mulch
Mulching around the base of your plants offers many advantages. It moderates the soil temperature, prevents fungal spores in the soil from splashing onto plant leaves during rain, and slows down evaporation to hold moisture in the ground. For best results, apply a layer of organic material like wood chips at least three inches thick.
2. Test the Soil Before Watering
Watering whenever you feel like it won’t help your plants. Before pulling out the hose, check the soil’s dryness by sticking a wooden dowel six inches down. Wet soil will stick to it, but it will come up clean if the soil is dry and needs water. You may find that the top layer is dry from wind and evaporation, but the soil below is still wet so the area doesn’t require watering.
Prefer a higher-tech solution? Stick a moisture gauge into the soil for a real-time readout of whether you need to water.
3. Adjust Your Watering Strategy by the Season
The time of year affects plants’ water requirements, even when they are kept indoors. That’s because shorter days and chillier weather slow down photosynthesis and prevent plants from needing as much water. Adjust your watering habits accordingly so you don’t stress your plants.
4. Water Early in the Day (Never in the Evening)
Early morning is the most efficient time to water outdoor plants. You’ll lose less moisture to evaporation, and the soil will have a sufficient store of water to help plants withstand the midday heat. Plus, any water on the leaves will have time to evaporate before nightfall, which reduces the chance of fungal and disease problems.
5. Water Deeply (but Infrequently)
You’re doing your garden a disservice if you water it for ten minutes per day. Daily shallow waterings promote shallow roots because it keeps water near the soil surface, making plants less resilient and more susceptible to drying out.
Instead, water deeply a few times a week so the water permeates the soil and encourages root development so plants can better withstand drought conditions.
6. Avoid Overhead Watering on Windy Days
Watering the garden on windy days is a waste of effort, as most of the moisture will evaporate before it reaches the plant roots.
7. Be Aware Of Container Garden Water Needs
Potted plants are extra sensitive to water issues because their soil tends to heat up faster and dry out more quickly than those in the ground. This means you need to monitor the plants more often to prevent them from getting stressed. Generally, the smaller the container, the faster it will dry out.
8. Don’t Forget to Water Trees and Shrubs
While the vegetable garden rarely gets overlooked for watering, many gardeners forget their newly planted trees and shrubs also need a hydration boost. Make sure new plants are thoroughly soaked at least three times a week for the first month after planting and weekly throughout their first two growing seasons.
9. Don’t Overwater
One common gardening mistake is assuming that wilting plants always need more water. In fact, overwatering can cause the same kind of droopiness because too much water prevents plant roots from getting enough oxygen. If your plants look limp, check the soil moisture before assuming they need a drink.
Note: Disease and insect problems can also make plants wilt, so pay attention to other potential causes besides watering issues.
10. Avoid Misting
While a fine spray of water can revive a plant quickly, it’s one of the easiest ways to spread disease by transferring spores into the air, so they migrate to healthy plants.
Water is a crucial component for healthy plants, so perfecting your watering practices will lead to less waste and better results in the long run.