Consistent watering is pretty important for a garden.
However, a lot of people have it set in their minds that the garden simply must be watered every day.
Unless you live in an area with very sandy soil, you could be doing more harm to your plants than good!
This even applies to watering every two or three days, too!
Have you noticed that you have a lot of fungal diseases running rampant? Are your hot peppers lacking any heat? Do your plants seem stunted, even with full sunlight and plenty of water?
Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing….
Try This Trick for Watering Your Garden!
When you feel the urge to water your garden, please check the soil first. Simply poke a finger into the soil; if it is dry 2″ below the surface, give the plants a deep watering. You should not have to water the plants again for at least a week.
If the soil is dry on the surface and moist 2″ deep, check again in a day or two; you may receive rain before that time passes, and if it is a good, soaking rain, check 3 days after the storm. If you have clay, a soaking storm that lasts more than 2 or 3 hours should soak your soil well enough that you won’t need to water the garden for 7 or more days.
If the surface of the soil is moist, your soil is likely saturated. It probably needs to dry out for a while, so avoid watering until the soil dries out.
What Too Much Water Does to Your Garden
If your garden receives too much water, you’ll find a wide variety of problems including:
- Excessive slug damage
- Bacterial and fungal infections grow and spread quickly (especially when warm)
- Your hot peppers will not be hot (avoid watering spicy peppers unless they wilt!!!)
- Some fruits and roots may split (such as squash, melons, carrots, and tomatoes)
- Plants may become stunted, as they don’t like wet feet
- The root system becomes inefficient, as the excess water smothers the roots and prevents oxygen from reaching them.
- Production may slow or halt
- Sensitive plants under prolonged water stress may die
Minding Your Trees & Berry Bushes When Planting In Clay Soil
This is one of the things that truly needs to be brought to light.
A lot of tags will tell you exactly how to plant the shrub or tree, then it will mention to keep the plant WELL WATERED during its first year while the roots establish themselves.
If you have clay soil, this is bad advice! You see, clay soil is slow to absorb water. It also holds water very, very well. If you dig a hole in clay soil, add amendments, and plant your tree/shrub, you’ll have a loose layer of clay in that hole (or even garden soil, I do not recommend using this when planting in clay, only use the clay dirt to back fill the roots.) The hole will act as a bowl, holding water within itself. For some plants (have a nice little conversation with my blueberry bushes and Nanking cherries, they’ll tell you all about it!), this just isn’t acceptable. They will not grow well, the leaves may become discolored or drop, and you’ll notice the plants are growing poorly.
If you want my advice? Just plant the tree or bush in the clay, backfill with clay, give it one good watering (ONLY if you’re not expecting rain in the next 2 days!), and let it do its thing. Water only if the plants are showing signs of dry water stress, or if you’re experiencing a drought. Don’t plant anything in low lying spots unless they enjoy the extra water, otherwise you’ll have a very unhappy plant.