When to water?

Is it better to water in the AM or PM?

My 2 cents. If you water by drip irrigation, with a cup or carefully with a hand wand, it shouldn't make any difference. If it's by overhead sprinkler, then just before sunrise to give the leaves a chance to dry off before the sun hits them. In Fresno, evening / middle night lawn watering is discouraged because Fescue grass is supposed to be susceptible to a fungus. ?? Don't know.

When do the rest of you water?

I've always heard "it's best to water in early AM" giving time during the day for water on leaves to evaporate.  The following article hits both AM or PM watering.

I suspect the best thing to water plants when you can - just so they get watered.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/water-plants-vegetable-garden.htm

If you live in the desert where you can have temperatures in excess of 110 with little or no humidity, you may actually need to water twice in one day.

In 2008, Nashville suffered from the worst heat wave in its history.  Official temperatures reached 108, but we live west of the city in a pocket that averages 3 to 7 degrees higher temps than the official temperature.  A professional weather gauge used by a local TV meteorologist at his own home in our neighborhood showed two days where the high exceeded 115.  It was so hot, my calves burned when I walked down the driveway to get the mail.

Our plants dried out before 3 PM on multiple days, as the temperature topped 100 degrees before 10:30 AM and stayed above 100 past 8 PM.  Containers had to be given special care, and we were forced to place ice cubes in the pots so the water could melt and keep the plants from drying out. 

Our SFG plants needed watering twice a day, because the soil was too hot.  I admit that our mulching was poor that year, and we had a weed cloth as well, so a lot of that was my error.

However, the night/day thing is not as important as the moisture of your soil.  If you need to water, but it is not early AM, it is better to water in the PM than wait until the next morning.  If it is really hot outside, and if you water in the evening, the leaves will be dry enough to avoid the mold.  If you live in an area like ours, your yard is going to be full of mold after rains, so it won't really make much difference.

Concerning Compost Tea, we only apply this after the sun has set.  A foliar spraying of compost tea can burn your leaves if you apply it before the sun rises.  We give the leaves a chance to have the night air and fully absorb the nutrients and chitin before having to face the next day.

Yes, it is preferable to water before the sun's rays hit the plants, but watering at night is still better than not watering until the next day, if your plants need water.

There is no right answer to this question.

For me I water after dinner,which for my family is around 530. This means I'm normally in the garden watering by 630. I use two cups and a bucket to water. Hope this helps, but like someone mentioned before me the time is best when it fits your schedule and what the weather is like or going to be like.

I bucket water every Wed & 1 weekend day, starting in the AM and usually finish up mid day.

CC

I usually water in the evening due to work schedule; unless it is the weekends then I try to do garden work earlier in the day before the heat kicks in.

Typically I prefer to water in the morning because I can't stand the heat and humidity the rest of the day and hope it helps dry things out and reduce fungal growth.
But it rains anytime of the day and night anyway..  

A.M.

If you are growing on containers or live where it gets particularly hot, though, you may want to water more than once a day, so that would probably mean you're watering both morning and in the afternoon or early evening.

I have the time for my micro sprinklers for the garden (and landscaping) set to run early in the morning at 5:30AM for 45 minutes. It's currently set to run every 4 days, but once it starts to get over 90 and summer really sets in, I'll bump it up to every 3 days, then every 2. I'll monitor from there, and adjust as necessary. I also have the option for a manual cycle, so if it needs a supplemental watering every now and then, that's what I do.


What I always find funny about the whole when/how to water discussions is that mother nature doesn't care. It rains when it rains, and falls right out of the sky. AM/PM/style doesn't matter to her, and plants seem to do just fine.

vortex wrote:
What I always find funny about the whole when/how to water discussions is that mother nature doesn't care. It rains when it rains, and falls right out of the sky. AM/PM/style doesn't matter to her, and plants seem to do just fine.

Mine do not do just fine when mother nature rains on mine whenever she wants because of the disease problems associated with wet plants.

I'm new to SFG and so far I've been watering with a watering can around the base of the bigger plants and over the top of the seeded squares. I usually do this in the late afternoon. But I have a big concern. At the end of June we are going away for almost two weeks.  I could ask a neighbour or relative to do some watering but we usually turn off the water in the house when we go away. One possible alternative is to set up a barrel, fill it with water, attach a spigot at the bottom and ask them to take water from the barrel. I'm not sure if the 45 gallon barrel will provide enough water for the two SFG boxes plus maybe some for the other non-SFG vegetable beds. In the past when we were away we just let nature take care of the standard gardens and they did OK. However, I'm concerned that the SFG boxes will dry out if not watered every couple of days (assuming no rain). It would be such a shame and very discouraging to do all this work with SFG only to have it ruined while we are away.

When my well was down for a couple days last summer, I hauled in water from my neighbors.  A few plants were just starting to show signs of being thirsty.  I figured that it took about ½ gallon per square to properly hydrate the MM.

Now, if only you knew what the weather will be like, and what the watering frequency will be that time of year!

Boffer, thanks for the 1/2 gallon per square estimate. I'm thinking of training my 7 year old grandson to water the plants assuming my son is willing to bring him over every few days while we are away. They live about 30 minutes from us. It would be a good introduction to gardening for my grandson and he would earn a few dollars for his effort.

boffer wrote:Now, if only you knew what the weather will be like, and what the watering frequency will be that time of year!

No kidding. My timers watered everything this morning, and it was raining by 9am. And 11am. And 2pm. Wasn't supposed to rain, else I would have hit the rain delay button. Thankfully the timers are set for a shorter, supplemental watering right now, and the rain only added maybe a 1/4" on top of that.

More tonight, but thankfully the drainage of my raised beds is really good.