How and When to Water Your Garden

Articles→Edible Landscaping Archive

How you water your vegetables can influence the size and quality of the harvest. Besides the soil, water is the most essential element to plants. Improper watering can cause plants to be dwarf, stunted, and produce poorly. It's not just drought conditions that can cause a problem. Too much water can be as harmful as too little. Too much water can squeeze air out of the soil, causing poor plant growth.

How Much Should You Water Your Lawn and Garden?

The old rule of thumb was to give your plants one inch of water a week. That's a good general guide, but the reality will depend on weather and your soil. Sandy soil and soils low in organic matter tend to dry out faster and will require more frequent watering. Clay soils and soils high in organic matter hold onto the water longer and require less frequent watering.

It's important to know the most critical time in a vegetable's growth to water. Mulching helps reduce the need for extra water.

It's always better to water infrequently and deeply than frequently and shallowly. Frequent light waterings only moisten the top few inches of the soil. The roots will stay where the water is and when dry conditions occur, the plant is more likely to suffer water stress due to the shallow roots. Deep waterings send water down 6 inches to a foot into the soil and the roots will follow. These plants will be more likely to survive a bout of drought.

When To Water Your Lawn and Garden?

You'll know your plants need water by looking at the leaves and soil. Wilting plants and dry soil are a sure sign of water stress. However, don't just look at the wilting leaves. If the soil is moist, the wilting may be due to other problems such as disease or overwatering. Some plants, such as eggplant, will naturally wilt during hot periods but recover when the temperatures cool. They may not need watering.

If the plants aren't indicating it's time to water, the soil will. You can also stick your finger in the soil. If you dig down 3 to 4 inches into the soil and it's still dry, it's time to water.

Evening and early morning are the best times to water because less water is lost to evaporation than with midday irrigation. On disease-prone plants such as roses, water in the morning to encourage the plants' leaves to dry quickly. Also avoid overhead sprinkling.

So, while it's important to keep plants properly watered all season long, there are critical times of the growing season to water. Here's a chart adapted from the book, Vegetable Gardening for Dummies (2009, Wiley), showing the most critical times to water your produce.

Best Time to Water Vegetables

VegetableCritical Watering Period
Bush beanWhen flowering and forming pods
BroccoliWhen forming a head
Brussels SproutsWhen forming sprouts
CabbageWhen forming a head
CarrotWhen forming roots
CauliflowerWhen forming a head
Sweet cornWhen silking, tasseling, forming ears
CucumberWhen flowering and developing fruit
EggplantFrom flowering to harvest
LettuceWhen true leaves form
MelonDuring fruit set and early development
OnionDuring bulb enlargement
PeaWhen flowering and during seed enlargement
PepperFrom flowering until harvest
PotatoWhen tubers set and enlarge
PumpkinWhen fruits form
RadishWhen forming roots
SpinachWhen true leaves form
Summer squashWhen forming buds and flowering
Swiss chardWhen true leaves form
TomatoFrom flowering until harvest
TurnipWhen forming roots

Ways to Water your Garden

Avoid using overhead sprinklers if you can. They tend to waste more water than soaker hoses and drip irrigation lines.

Not only is the timing of your watering important, how you water makes a difference too. Depending on your area and the season, there may be watering restrictions in place or water may be very expensive. Using efficient watering systems not only will be better for the plant, it can save water and money for you.

Here are some of the common ways to water your garden, with advantages and disadvantages of each. The automated systems described below are best used with a timer that will turn your watering device on and off so you don't have to remember.

Hand water — While it is one of the easiest watering methods, it's sometimes not the most effective or efficient.  Hand watering with a hose or watering can is best used on containers and individual plants. You'd be surprised at how long it takes to apply enough water to soak plants' root zone, though. In fact, the most efficient way to hand water is to create a basin or furrow near the individual plant or row and fill it with water. Let it sink in, then move to the next basin. This works particularly well early in the season, when plants are small.

Sprinklers —Above-ground sprinklers are popular for covering large areas, such as lawns. This is probably even easier than hand watering because all you do is set up the overhead sprinkler and let it run for a designated period of time. While the water soaks into the ground well, the down side is you'll be wasting lots of water in the process watering pathways. Also, this type of watering should be done in the morning so the leaves dry before evening. Wet leaves at night are an open invitation to disease. Set up overhead sprinklers so that water falls only on your lawn or garden and not on sidewalks, roads, or buildings. Adjust the water pressure of either type of system to allow water to penetrate the soil without puddling or running off.

Soaker Hoses — A more efficient way to water is to lay soaker hoses around plants and along rows. These low-flow hoses weep water into the soil around plant roots and are less likely to waste water. They work best laid under plastic mulch used around warm season crops, such as tomatoes and melons. Soaker hoses also work best on flat ground to evenly distribute the water.

Soaker hoses concentrate water near roots where the plant needs it the most.

Drip irrigation — Drip irrigation is similar to soaker hoses in that you'll be focusing the placement of water near the plant roots. However, it's even more efficient and wastes even less water. The downside is the cost and maintenance. There are more parts to the drip irrigation system that needs to be checked frequently to open clogs and fix leaks. Plus, drip irrigation is more expensive than any other watering system.

Mulch — Though not a watering system per se, mulch is critical to conserving soil moisture and keeping weeds away. Organic mulches such as straw, pine straw, bark mulch and untreated grass clippings will reduce the amount of watering and weeding you'll have to do during the growing season. Weeds are important to control because they will compete with your plants for water. Plastic mulches conserve moisture too, but work best with a soaker hose or drip irrigation lines running under them to keep the plant roots moist.

How Much to Water Your Lawn and Garden?

After 30 to 60 minutes, recheck the depth of water penetration in the soil at different places in the irrigation pattern. Move or adjust the sprinklers to achieve uniform coverage. Stop watering when soil is moist at a depth of 6 to 12 inches. 

Both the frequency and amount of water required will vary with your climate, soil, and plants' needs. Shallow-rooted annual flowers need more frequent, lighter waterings than deep-rooted trees. Heavy clay soil retains water better than sandy soil. The best way to determine how much water to apply, and how frequently to apply it, is to use a shovel. After watering, use the shovel to remove a wedge of soil in the garden or lawn. The soil should be moist to a depth of at least six inches for annual plants, and 12 inches for perennials, shrubs, and trees. Most of the roots plants use to take up water are located in these zones. (Don't forget to replace the wedge of soil.)

A timer is useful to turn on and off your sprinker. You can then begin keeping records of how long it takes to moisten the soil to the desired depth and set the timer accordingly. For example, a weekly two-hour watering might be just right for your perennial bed or lawn, while your annual planting may need just 15 minutes.

Tips for Watering your Lawn and Garden

Water your lawn and garden before plants show signs of wilting. Wilting stresses plants and may cause flower and fruit loss and poor growth.

To water vegetable and flower gardens containing tall plants that may otherwise block the spray, set sprinklers on a sawhorse, or use a tower-mounted sprinkler.

Beware of Over watering Your Plants

Clay soil is very slow draining which can lead to saturated soils which can then lead to limited air exchange. Plant roots need both air and water. The tricky thing about overwatered plants is that they often exhibit the same look you would expect from a drought stressed plant such as wilting and leaf loss. Naturally, your instinct is to water which compounds the problem.

The other over-watering mistake is good love gone bad. Although there are a very few exceptions to the rule, watering a little bit every day is not what most plants (especially trees) need. Keeping the soil moist with frequent watering is important when starting seeds, establishing transplants, and sometimes in container gardens. Watering daily keeps the roots near the surface of the soil which can result in fried roots in a scorching summer. You are also promoting shallow rooting which then relies on daily water. In contrast, we want the roots of the plants to go deeper into the soil to create more stability and stronger, healthier and more resilient plants. If you have an irrigation system, it is especially important to do periodic checkups. Your system needs to be adjusted seasonally and it's always a good idea to make sure you don't have a midnight geyser.

Limiting the stress of your plants gives them a much better chance at shrugging off insects and diseases. Make sure the care you are giving your plants isn't causing undue stress.

Together with Victory Seed Company:
Victory Seed Company Logo Victory Seed Company has all the seeds you want for your best garden in 2024.

For 25 years, the family-owned Victory Seed Company has provided the highest quality vegetable, herb and flower seeds to families across the country. We are passionate about providing you the best seeds available that give excellent germination, robust plants, and the harvest you want. With a catalog of over a thousand varieties, we have everything, and our prices are the kinds that we'd want to pay. We have hundreds of yesterday's heirloom vegetables, as well as today's award winning hybrid selections. Get to know us by visiting our website and browsing through our online vegetable seed catalog.

This article is categorized under:
This article is categorized under:
Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by RootedInDirt and is called "Plant Combo "

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.