How and When to Water a Garden

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How and when to water a garden has always confused me.  Most articles I find are somewhat vague and say something like “gardens need a minimum of 1-2 inches of water per week.”

I don’t know about you, but this isn’t a good help to me.  It just always created more questions. How do I know how much it gets? When can I tell if it’s gotten 2 inches this week?  Should I water today or not? All the questions race through my mind, so I decided to start digging deeper and clear up the confusion.

If you’ve been confused like me, I hope this article will help to clear things up.

Knowing how to water a garden properly can be tricky business.  If you water too much, your plants can become  weak.  If you water to little, your plants may die.  Is there a happy medium?  Read on to find out.

How and When to Water a Garden

I’ve found that “how” to water has more answers than “when” to water.  Watering a garden, has no hard and fast rules.  It’s more of a judgement call you have to make yourself, but you know what to look for and other tips – it does make it much easier.

Let’s begin with HOW:

How to Water a Garden

Focus on the Root Zone –

Plants need water on their roots, not leaves, in order to grow properly.  When watering, focus on getting the water as close to the root zone as possible. Keeping as much water  off the leaves to help prevent disease.

When I have to hand-water, I use this water wand to help me reach in closer to the roots.  Before a getting the wand, I was using a sprinkler or a spray nozzle and found that just  “throwing water around” isn’t an ideal way to water – it can actually help to spread disease.

Water Slowly –

When soil is dry, water will tend to quickly run off the top and not penetrate into the soil.  If you are using a water wand, turn the pressure down to a lower volume and “hold” it in place to allow the soil to moisten and absorb deeply.  Gently scratching the surface of the soil will also help with absorption.  This could actually take a few minutes per plant.

The first 2 years I was gardening, I hand-watered everything. I didn’t stand and hold the wand on the plant and my garden showed it for sure.  It did take me a couple of hours or more each time I watered, so had I been doing it properly, it would have been even longer – whew!

Water Deep and Thoroughly –

Boy, was I failing on this one!  Vegetables root grow deep into the soil and this is where the water needs to get “down” to.  Watering more slowly, will allow the water to penetrate deeper into the soil.

In my third year of gardening, I was fortunate enough to be able to install an irrigation system.  Not knowing anything about irrigation, or exactly what I needed, I felt the need to work with a company that specialized in it.  I did look in the big box stores and just had lots of confusion.

Irrigation requires many parts and pieces.  Since I had no idea what to purchase, being able to communicate with someone who could answer my questions and steer me in a direction was great!

A local CSA farm near our homestead actually recommended the company  Drip Depot.  I will say they were very helpful in helping me get the right parts/system for my raised beds. My garden’s appearance and yield have both changed drastically since installing the system.  It was well worth the investment.  If it’s in your budget to install an irrigation system, I would recommend you do so.  I’m glad I did.

Watering less often, more deeply, will force your vegetable roots to grow deep into the soil and be much healthier.  Stronger roots will produce more yields.

Mulch the Whole Garden

I know you are wondering what this has to do with watering?

Mulching helps to hold moisture in the soil.  It also helps to prevent “runoff” when the soil is very dry.  It helps in preventing evaporation of water from the soil.  Mulching also helps to suppress weeds, which is just an added bonus.

RELATED: Even if you’ve never gardened before, this Vegetable Gardening for Beginners Ultimate Guide is for you! Learn everything you need to know from over 60 resources, all in one place, to be a successful gardener, including improving soil, cover crops, warm and cool season crops, organic amendments, fertilizing, watering, and so much more.

Now let’s talk about When:

When to Water a Garden

The question I am most often ask is “when should you water a garden – morning or afternoon?”  We can read so many opinions about this answer as well.  So lets clear up some of the confusion.

Morning Watering

Plants need time to absorb the water into their root system.  Once the sun comes out, it too is  absorbing water through evaporation – hence we get rain.  So your garden will be competing with the sun once it’s rises.

Cooler temperatures in the morning make it easier on your plants.  They will not be competing with the sun quiet as much.  The earlier you can water in the morning, the better.

Evening Watering

If you water in the evening, water in the early evening hours.  The heat of the day should be mostly passed, but still enough sun is out to dry your garden plants before sundown.

Watering in the evening actually gives the garden more time to absorb more water, since the sun is going down, it’s not competing with evaporation.

One thing to be very careful about when watering in the evening is to make sure leaves have adequate time to dry before nightfall.  If leaves are left damp overnight, they can develop a fungus such as powdery mildew or sooty mold.  Both these can harm your plants.

How Much Water is 1 inch?

Lets figure this out.   As I’ve already said, when researching, I always find the vague answer of 1-2 inches per week.  But exactly what does this mean?

Actually, you can get really technical with it, if this makes you more comfortable.  For me, I wanted to know so I could water properly.  Why do all the work, if we are not going to take care of it, is the way I look at it.  The UCCE Master Gardener Program has put together this precise worksheet to help you know exactly how much water to put on your garden.  You can take a look at it here.

In the Heat, Gardens Do Need Additional Water

In the summer heat, gardens need more water.  Here’s a simple formula to help to figure out how much more.

FORMULA

For every 10 degrees above 60, you need to water a garden an additional half-inch.

Average Daytime High + Nighttime Low / by 2.  Here in Tennessee, our average daytime high is 89 with a nighttime low of 70.  89+70=179/2=89.5    We have hot summers with very high humidity.

So my garden gets an additional 1.5 inches per week.  I can say since I have started doing this, the garden looks much better!  Its’s not starving for water.

The Farmers Almanac has this great chart for watering during hot & dry spells too. This will help with watering during critical times too.

Some Additional Tips to Better Water a Garden

Sometimes, a little tip can go a long way. Let’s take a look at a few here:

Use a Rain Gauge- These are a very good tool to know how much rain has fallen on your garden.  Many garden supply companies carry them.  I use this one. It’ large and easy to see from my kitchen window.

Create a Water Trap- For heavy feeding plants such as squash, cucumbers, and zucchini, place pot directly in the soil next to the plant.  When your plant needs additional water, simply pour water into the pot, it will slowly leach out nearer the roots.

Weed often- Weeds compete with your plants for water.  Keeping them out of the garden will allow your plants more water.

Use Cheater Plants- Many gardeners call these indicator plants and really they are.  I named them cheater plants because they can actually speak to tell you the garden in needing water.  Cheater plants are things such as cucumbers, melons, gourds, and squash to name a few.

These plants will “wilt” when the water supply in the garden gets low.  Don’t be fooled though in heat of the day.  Check them early morning or late evening before the heat rises.  If their leaves are large and alert, they have sufficient water, if not, you need to water the garden.

During the heat of the day, to protect themselves, they will intentionally wilt.  They will “perk” back up after the heat has decreased.

Use a Moisture Meter – I came across a moisture meter thru a friend. I had not idea such a thing was even available.  These have a probe that inserts about 6 inches into the soil and measures the moisture.  Not only does it measure moisture, it also measures pH level in your soil too.   (Let me not here – I still do soil tests, but this does help if I’m having issues in the garden).    This is the one I use and it has been an extremely helpful tool for me.  It is especially nice if you have raised beds or do container gardening.

Well, we’ve gone over a lot today.  I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.  Learning how to properly water a garden does take some time.  Start keeping notes in your garden journal, take it slow, and it will all come together. It took me a couple of garden seasons to figure it all out.

I’m so glad I did.  My garden has looked great and the production has been fantastic!  Water is super important to a productive garden.

Hope you have found something beneficial to help you know how and when to water a garden.

What systems do you use to water your garden?  I love hearing other ideas.  Please feel free to share in the comments below.

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