Many people water their plants by spraying a mist over the leaf surfaces. This process is usually done as an afterthought and is rather quick. They say they water every day and their plants act like they are dying of thirst. I am sure this is true. While a light washing off of the leaves is nice for the plants, they would really rather be watered at their base.

Soils need to be saturated with water so that the moisture gets to the roots. The best way to do this is to stand there for a really long time holding a watering wand, or to run a sprinkler. The use of a rain gauge helps to determine whether it has rained enough to get you off of the hook for watering. Use a rain gauge with the sprinkler and time how long it takes to get 1”- 2” of water in the beaker. One to two inches of water per week (including rain) will be sufficient for most plants. Turn the sprinkler off and dig down into the soil to see how deep the water has penetrated. If you have mulch, the water may be held in the mulch with little actually reaching the soil. In this case, your watering will need to last longer.

If you have sandy soil with low organic matter, the water goes straight down pretty rapidly. Plants in soil like this will need to be watered every other day. Clay and silt soils tend to need more water to get the saturation depth that plants need, but they also tend to hold water longer as well. Hence, less frequent watering needed. Organic matter will add friability to the soil so it is more aerated. Conversely, the same organic matter helps sandy soils hold onto water.

Container plants do better in larger pots and window boxes. The more soil you have the less watering needed. Fill the entire pot with potting soil – top to bottom. The capillary action of water in the soil needs unbroken up and down movement top to bottom. Water also moves side to side within the soil media creating a sort of reserve of water. Using packing peanuts and other debris to reduce the soil needed to fill a container only makes it necessary to water more frequently. Additionally, plants will not grow huge with shallow soil.

I am not an advocate of self-watering containers. This gives the gardener false security. Of course there is no such thing as self-watering, as there invariably is always a gardener involved somewhere along the way. Frankly, if one is going to garden – then garden! I have seen many planting disasters in self-watering containers that have become waterlogged. That said, if you use fertilizer in your self-watering units, you need to monitor the solution for toxic build up. Totally emptying the container at least once a season isn’t a bad idea at all.

For more information, contact gardens@chippersinc.com.