As the temperatures rise and hot winds blow, those of you who are still fairly new to gardening may be asking this question:
How often should I water my garden?
The simple answer:
As often as it needs it.
The Leaf Test
The way that you become a green thumb is by working with plants until your fingers are stained. By the same token, the way that you learn how often a garden should be watered is by observing your plants.
The leaves of your garden and orchard plants can tell you a great deal about how the plants themselves are feeling. That vibrant, glossy green of new leaves in spring tells you that the plants are spunky and growing fast. When the leaves look dull and dusty, maybe with a little bit of curl to the edges, the plants are suffering from dehydration.
There is no better way to gauge how often the garden should be watered than by reading the leaves. It is 100% reliable and will enable you to catch problems early. This method does require experience and close observation, however.
The Finger Test
So for those of you who are still trying to figure out what a thirsty plant looks like, there is another, simpler way to get a fairly good idea of when the garden needs to be watered. Take a look at the soil. Is it moist on top? If not, poke a finger down beside a plant. Do you feel any moisture further down? A thin layer of dry soil on the surface usually won’t hurt anything, and in fact allowing just the surface to dry out between waterings can help prevent fungal diseases, but there must be moisture down at the level of the roots.
This soil moisture test is useful, but not quite as reliable as the leaf test above. Different plants have roots at different levels. A lettuce plant has a very shallow root system and needs access to water very close to the surface. A fruit tree, on the other hand, can seek water deep enough below the ground that the finger test won’t really avail you anything. For most garden plants, however, this test works fairly well.
A Word on Scheduling
Finally, a word on scheduling watering times. A rigid watering schedule can be a hindrance in the garden. Although it’s a good idea to have a time for watering planned into your daily routine so that you don’t forget and miss a day, for best results you must learn to tailor your schedule to the needs of your plants. Suppose you plan to water certain plants daily, others every other day, and still others weekly. Can you adjust to meet changing weather conditions? If a heavy rain falls, you will want to skip watering that day. On the other hand, if the weather is exceptionally hot and dry, you probably will need to water your garden more frequently to keep it alive.
So learn to read the plants. They can tell you when they’re thirsty.
