Is there a "Best Time" to water a SFG?

GloriaG 6/20/2010, 5:43 pm

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be away for a week on vacation and just installed an automatic timer on my SFG drip system.
Is there a "best time" I should be watering. I have the ability to set the timer to water at any time of the day I choose.

Right now, I'm out there in the early morning "finger-testing" to see if the garden needs water. I check again in the middle of the afternoon, but rarely have to re-water if I watered in the morning.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Gloria

Retired Member 1 6/20/2010, 7:48 pm

I prefer to water in the early morning before the sun gets too hot, especially if I am spraying. I'm now having to water twice a day, so do so in the evening but use a bucket to be sure not to splash the foliage.

GloriaG 6/20/2010, 9:30 pm

Thanks belfrybat, Is there a "Best Time" to water a SFG? 109486

I appreciate your input. This is the first time I'm trying to water automatically and want to make sure I don't mess it up.

Thanks again,
Gloria

miinva 6/21/2010, 12:01 am

I water in the morning because if I water in the evening, the slugs do too much damage. I've mulched a lot of my plants with dried grass clippings, which seems to help them not to dry out. Next year I'm hoping to do some buried soaker hose and mylar mulch, but this year we didn't get to that.

GloriaG 6/21/2010, 3:30 pm

Hi miinva and belfrybat,

With the temperatures at 100

º+ , it looks like I'll need to water twice a day.

My automatic system will only water at regular intervals - every 12, 8, or 6 hours. So I can't tell it to water at 8:00am and again at 2:00pm for example.

Do you think it would work for me to water at 6:00am and 6:00pm? Is there a "Best Time" to water a SFG? Icon_scratch

I hate to water too late in the day and have water on the leaves for night.

Thanks for your help.
Gloria

junequilt 6/21/2010, 3:44 pm

How much splashing does your system do? If not much, I think you'd be safe with a 6 p.m. watering. If not, you could use the 8 hour setting. That should allow the plant leaves to dry before dark.

GloriaG 6/21/2010, 3:49 pm

Hi junequilt,

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I'll give 6am and 6pm a try.

I'm afraid that if I set the system to water every 8 hours it would water 3 times in a day - but one of them would be in the middle of the night.

Thanks again,
Gloria

Garden_State 6/21/2010, 3:52 pm

I would think that watering at 6pm with 100+ degree heat, the leaves would be dry before dark. Also, the water will continue to evaporate after dark at that temperature.

Pete

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Is there a "Best Time" to water a SFG?