When it comes to water, most gardeners is on automatic pilot: Set your timer and go, rain or no rain. Soggy roots cause cracked fruit. Or dry plant that eventually wilt into oblivion.
Soil is a living thing, remember? It is like a sponge with a texture that affects how it absorb and moves water, which makes the difference between a compost heap and a crop. That’s broken down in the chart above (which look at weekly watering needs). It illustrates how thirsty certain crops are, with tomatoes and cucumbers topping the list. These require far more moisture than things like bulbs or herbs.
How to Water Your Garden Properly
For instance: An inch and a half per week is what cucurbits such as cukes require; they’re heavy feeders with a large crop load and surface roots, which dry out fast. Tomatoes is not far behind, particularly when the fruit set is peaking. Here is the lesson. Make sense of whom you group together. You won’t get away with putting drought-resistant rosemary alongside thirsty squash (and then not watering either one). It is a basic logistics solution that will save your plants and time.
Half the issue are knowing when to turn on the tap (or not). The other half is how. What’s the best way to water? You’ll have seen that many folks assume sprinkling the garden each day is the right approach, quick squirt, done! Wrong. That encourages root system to remain shallow, where they’re prone to drying out from wind, heat, etc. As the infographic reminds us, deeper watering are the winning tactic.
Soak the beds deeply for an hour (or longer) with a drip-line or soaker hose, to help water infiltrate six to eight inches into the soil. Pushing them downward prompts them to grow down, and deeper roots means sturdier ones.
The whole equation shifts based off soil types. Your best tool is a finger. Stick one in the ground. If it is dry at your knuckle depth, its time to turn on the hose.
Sandy soils drains quickly, needing frequent, lighter doses of moisture to prevent runoff. Clay holds onto water like a miser. Wait longer between soakings in clay. Sandy beds has high urgency about getting wet. In the data, clay can get soaked deeper but slowly without becoming a puddle.
Problems arise if you don’t take your soil type into account. You may think you’re running low on water. More often, though, you’ll wind up with some flooded plant, or others that gets stranded.
When you water also matter. Early morning from 6-10 am will help minimize evaporation. The foliage has plenty of time to dry off before dark. Overnight wet leaves invite fungal diseases that can wipe out a crop more quicker than thirst. This small change protect the plants from other problems.
Mulching also helps. By keeping the soil temperature stable, a mulch of wood chips or straw cuts down on evaporation by a significant margin. Two inches is all that is needed.
It’s an art, and observation; not automation. Observe: Do the leaves of your plant droop midday then perk up later in the day? That is normal heat stress. Are they turning crispy and brown? That is dehydration. Adapt accordingly.
And follow the water-priority pyramid (shown in graphic) that I’ve adapted to suggest prioritizing the fruiting vines first when times are dry. Good advice. Save the fruit first. Preserve the yield first; worry about the ornamentals next.
Cover your soil, keep your roots deep. Take the time to look. Your garden will speak its mind.