So here we are the week of rain following Beryl moving into NE Florida and I am going to talk about watering your patio or container gardens. Like we haven’t had enough water over the past four days!
Proper watering and when to water is essential for a successful container garden. However, poor drainage will slowly kill the plants.
Compost can help with drainage issues for strawberry plants.
A good rule of thumb (actually finger) is to push your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle, if it feels dry – water, if it feels cool and sticks to your finger – don’t water. That was easy enough, right? Well, I have to admit there is a little more to it than that.
Watching the weather is essential to watering as well, we not only need to watch for high heat days and rainy days, but cloudy windy days as well. You will need to water more on cloudy windy days than on normal sunny days.
We need to mind what time of the day we water as well for best results. The best time to water is in the early AM hours; trying to avoid wetting the leaves (this isn’t always possible). Watering early in the morning will allow the leaves to dry in the warmth of the sun before the high heat of the day comes. Watering in the high heat of the day can damage the leaves and watering late-day promotes fungus and disease, because leaves remain wet through the night.
Several friends have asked how often they should water and honestly I cannot tell you that because there are too many variables to consider. The amount and frequency a plant needs is determined by the plant itself, the type of container it is planted in, the weather, location and the construction of the container as well.
I have read many books and magazines that say to water containers daily, but I have found that this is not accurate. There are many plants who are high water plants that in the heat of the summer will need to be watered once sometimes twice a day, that is why you need to check on your plants in the morning and in the evening so determine the plant’s needs. Some containers will absorb heat and thus the soil will dry quicker and daily watering might be necessary. As I stated above, cloudy windy days take a lot out of a plant, so that’s another example where you might need to water more often.
There are containers now that are self-watering and so your plants will not need to be watered daily if you use these kinds of containers. I truly enjoy my self-watering containers and plan on purchase more as my budget permits.
In addition to self-watering containers there are other things that can aid you in not needing to water twice a day or daily. Water-holding gels are becoming popular for use in container gardening. These should be incorporated into the soil mix before planting.
Adding mulch on top of the soil mix will help to reduce water loss and prolong those daily watering sessions. Compost, straw, pine needles, grass clippings, shredded bark and moss are all acceptable for your containers.
The long and short of it is I find that using the finger test is the best and easiest for me. There are those who use the drip irrigation method, I personally have not tried it because I like on the third floor of my building and it’s not practical. However, I will read up on it and make that a blog entry for y’all.
Example of drip irrigation.
I hope this has been helpful. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.
Dianna J
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