Time of day to water?

 
Is it better to water garden plants in the late evening or early
morning?




--
dimsey

 

In hot weather, both or either.  But in hot weather the water won't
evaporate quickly if plants are watered in the evening.  In cold
weather, we do any watering that's needed in the morning so the plants
can drain and dry out a bit before the night cold sets in.  We don't
want them sitting around in cold, wet compost all night.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

 
In my younger days I was market gardening outside Hastings, in realy
dry weather we would be using the irrigation spray lines 24 hours a
day, and I cant say we ever had scorch on anything, our main crop was
lettuce but we also grew a roange of other veg.
You are more likley to fet scorch from leaves that have got to dry so
that when watered the plants can't re-hydrate properly.
With hardy plants and ourside growing crops I would choose to water in
the evening as the plants have around 12 hours to take up the water.
In this dry weather,if you can, when watering just apply a good amount
of water at the base of the plants, so that it can soak down to the
roots and beyond, you want the roots to go down after ater and not
come close to the surface where they will dry out faster.

 "dimsey"  wrote

The best time is in the late evening so the water has time to soak into the
ground before the sun rises and dries it out again. The next best time is
first thing in the morning as the sun has not yet reached it's full power.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

 On Sat, 21 May 2011 04:39:38 +0000, dimsey


I remember several years ago an argument on GQT between Pippa
Greenwood and Bob Flowerdew, on that very subject.  One said one way
was right, the other said the other.  I can't remember which!


Pam in Bristol