If you were to Google ‘how to water your plants’, you would come up with over 29,800,000 results full of pages saying ‘this is the correct way to water your plants’, which can be an information-overload nightmare. Every year, we are asked the age-old water question…how much should I water my plants? And honestly, there really isn’t a simple cut and dry answer since every plant is a little different and has varying water requirements. But rest assured, we do have some simple water tips and tricks for you that might take the headache out of your watering woes.
First, let’s separate your plants into two categories, containers/baskets/pots and flower beds. Containers/baskets/pots have a tendency to dry out more than flowerbeds. This is because there is less soil which makes it harder for the plants to retain water. So you have to water them just a little different. We recommend the drenching method. Completely saturate your containers/baskets/pots with water. Give them a minute or so to soak up all the moisture and then saturate them again. You want to do this at least 3 times. The idea is to get the plant so wet that water runs out the bottom. The soil in a container/basket/pot needs to be evenly moist. And it’s very important that they are able to drain. You don’t want your plants to be left sitting in water. Plants love to play in the water, but they have yet to learn how to swim. So leave the deep end for the kiddos and let the flowers play in the shallow end.
As for Flower Beds, we recommend the ‘Second Knuckle Moisture Meter’ method, a phrase coined by one of our helpful Sales Reps, Ron. You want to water your flower beds until the soil is moist. You can check your moisture level with Ron’s ‘Second Knuckle Moisture Meter’ method. Put one finger in the soil up to your second knuckle. If you pull your finger up from the dirt and your finger is still dry, you need more water. If you pull your finger up and you have moist dirt up to your second knuckle, you’ve successfully become a watering guru. Keep in mind, you want the entire bed to have this moisture level. Also, if you are watering your flower beds by hand with a hose or watering can, you need to direct the flow of water onto the soil, not the plants. If you are watering by sprinkler, try to water as early in the morning as possible. Tho there is great speculation on whether water on flower petals and leaves can actually cause the flowers to burn in the direct sunshine, we’ve found that plants just perform better if you water them in the morning. Again, remember to think moisture, not puddles.
Lastly, we would like you to remember two rules of thumb. One, water in the morning, not at night. There is an old saying that says ‘never put your plants to bed wet’ that we tend to agree with. And two, beware of windy days. Wind is a water zapping monster to flowers. So if it’s a particularly windy day, you might need to water your plants twice that day to avoid your plants drying out.
Now these tips won’t apply to every plant in the known universe, so be sure to read the tags on the plants you purchase before you plant and/or water them. And as long as you’ve got the water on, go ahead and splash around a bit, because flowers shouldn’t be the only ones to get to play in the water.