Effective
Watering Techniques

Over- or under- watering is one of the main causes of plant problems, whether you’re dealing with outdoor gardens, containers or houseplants. It’s an easy problem to avoid when you utilize effective watering techniques.

It is important to understand that more is not better! Overwatering can slowly kill a plant. Plant roots need air as well as water to survive. If roots are constantly wet, there’s no room for air in the soil and the plant will actually “drown” from lack of air. This happens most often with potted plants.

To avoid this problem check the soil BEFORE you water. This is easy with houseplants and containers. Just stick your finger into the soil an inch or two. If the soil is moist, don’t add more water. The “heft” method also works. A wet pot will weigh more than a dry one. All you have to do is lift the pot and feel how heavy it is. If it’s light it needs to be watered. After a while you will learn to feel the difference with your containers.

For outdoor plants growing directly in the soil you can use a trowel or shovel to make a wedge in the soil and see how far down the soil is dry. This is important because the top few inches of the soil may look dry but down where the roots are it could be fine. The important factor is to have the soil moist down where the roots are.

Too little water can also be deadly. Often when plants droop it’s a sign they need water. The exception to this would be on a hot sunny day. Under these circumstances some plants will just wilt from the heat and bounce back after the sun goes down. If they don’t perk up, that’s a sign they definitely need watering.

So, once you determine a plant or an area of your garden needs watering, the following are some basic guidelines:

- Most garden plants, vegetables, turf etc. need about 1 inch of water per week. If it hasn’t rained that amount or it’s unusually hot, your plants will need a drink.

- It’s better to water deeply once a week than shorter more frequent amounts. Shallow watering (watering for a short time) does little good because the water doesn’t get deep enough to reach the roots.

- Watering deeply also encourages the roots to grow deeper. Deeper roots will help the plant become less prone to dry spells. Conversely, shallow watering results in shorter roots which dry out quicker.

- To guage how long it takes your sprinkler or irrigation system to put down an inch of water simply put a shallow can like a tuna can or plastic container with straight sides under the sprinkler and see how long it takes for an inch of water to accumulate. My sprinkler takes about 50 minutes.

- Never water when the sun is shining on that part of your garden or lawn. You will lose much of the water to evaporation. Early morning or early evening is preferable.

- It’s also wise not to water after dark, as the water will stay on the leaves longer and this contributes to fungal disease.

- A drip irrigation system is the most effective and efficient system for watering. Keeping water off the leaves prevents the spread of disease as well as cutting way down on evaporation and water runoff.

If you’re like me and don’t have a drip irrigation system there are some watering devices that are helpful. One of my favorites is a watering wand for hand watering (see photo). This is a hose attachment that provides a gentle shower of water. The gentle water flow doesn’t beat down the plants and the water soaks in slowly for maximum effect.

Hand watering is very effective when some plants need more water than others or when you just need to tide your plants over a day or so until the rain comes. When hand watering with a water wand (or watering can), it’s most effective to water each plant for a short time (until the water starts running off), move on to another plant, then, come back to the first one. By watering in slow repeating sections allowing the water to soak into the soil, each plant gets a good deep drink with little or no waste of water.

When you need to give the garden a good watering, get out the sprinkler. There are many varieties of sprinklers. Choose one that will suit the size of the area to be covered. Some have flexible settings so you can vary the size and shape of the water stream. My experience is that the heavier (more expensive) sprinklers work better and last longer.

To help effectively disperse the water, I raise the sprinkler by putting it on top of an upside down garbage can and hold it down with a few rocks (see picture).

Water wisely and water well.