I try to emulate nature’s way. In my area 90% of the rain happens on the evening. So, then is when i water. But, if it looks like the plant needs water mid day, i’ll give it water mid day.
After watching your videos, my work efficiency improved by 1000-fold. I can't thank God enough for introducing you to me. Being my teacher, you will always be in my prayers. Stay blessed! 💕
It's interesting how many myths prevail. I water when i have time :) And of course, we can carefully time our watering, then the rain ignores our careful plans.
I’m in South Mississippi, and I often water in the heat of the day. My plants appreciate being cooled off from the intense heat, and my garden is thriving way more since I started doing this.
In support of what you're saying, I planted this year 25 pumpkin plants and covered the whole garden surface with 3 large bales of straw (Soil naturally has a lot of sand in the mix, used sheep manures the previous autumn) Once the plants got big enough, I would water the whole area every few days by spraying high up in the air and making rain! Always somewhere around 10am - 1pm Never had a single issue with any plant disease, never used any pesticides, I just let the fern plants spring up and grow with the pumpkins (I live beside the woods) It worked perfectly
I’m in southern California and decided to do wicking raised beds. So far I don’t have to overhead water. Top soil feels dry, but 3-4” deep soil is moist.
I water when I can. And rain here can be anytime of day although June-August is mostly afternoon and evening. Never had a problem with burning from watering.
I've found if you are going to water, water 1 hour before sunset. At that time my plants are looking for water as the leaves and stems are beginning to "bend or curl". After watering the plants look "happy". By morning they look healthier and larger and so the cycle continues. It's OK to skip a day or so depending on the weather and temperature.
The deeper I drill down on this channel, the more I grin when I hear the phrase "it depends." Spray water to treat infection, soak roots to reduce heat, and water when you have time to do it well. The trick is in the knowing of what is needful in the moment.
It seems that plants have been thriving on this planet with random rains for a long time. I just water when needed anytime and don't have any issues. I grow a wide variety of plants.
I started a wildflower meadow on my property. I agree. I find that watering in the day, the soil dries out in minutes and it’s such a waste. I water in the evening for the same reasons as you mentioned. Plants actually do most of their growing at night anyways, and they need the moisture most, then.
Awesome video. Rob didn't touch how watering time impacts slugs. When I water in the evening, I see significantly more slugs roaming around compared to when soil is dry.
I wonder the same question too. Evening watering invites more slugs to come out. Is it the best time to handpick and dump them? I use a baby food jar with soapy water then close the lid to dispose in the garbage bin.
@@jlseagull2.060 No slugs here in NM, but Virginia was a different story! Id go out in the early morning and pick them off and get disgusted cuz it never seemed to make much difference, there were always more! I sure dont miss slugs, but I do miss VA.
It’s fairly dry where I live, and being aware that 95% of gardening advice doesn’t apply to my climate, I’ve always figured it out for myself. If I water, I do it in the late evening- that’s just logical. I’ve never seen black spot of powdery mildew except in pictures.
Wow! Here we have a classic case of the info given by Garden Fundamentals is contrary to what many of us have heard elsewhere. So, what do we do with that? Just because he is one of the few (maybe even the only one) saying that overhead watering can be beneficial in preventing mildew doesn't mean that he is wrong. I tend to think he is right, and I notice that he is a contrarian to many other gardening ideas too. Here's a quote from an article on powdery mildew posted on the Penn State Extension. the author is Gary Moorman, PhD: "Liquid water on leaves inhibits spore germination. " This opinion supports what GF is saying
We are in a severe drought in my area despite local weather saying moderate in WI. I try to water the base of plants, but I’ve discovered a new problem and noticed this in 2012 drought and that’s rodents attacking those wet areas. Because insects are also attracted to water in dry times. The birds attack these areas also. It’s been so difficult this year. I’ve never seen a Vole in my life til this year and they are Way worse than gophers. I don’t know where they came from, but they are not welcomed! I haven’t seen a mole in years after using milky spore and never in my garden Especially raised bed! Well this year we did and it went all along the beds, up into the beds and back out to go through in ground vegetables. What a mess. We got him and was it huge! So what I think was birds at first I believe is actually a vole from trails and tunnels. Hope it’s in the trap today or I won’t have a garden. So I think watering in drought is better to water a large area to not all in the rodents. As far as time of day, I like early morning or evening. I do try to keep the water off leaves in evening, but if you get cool foggy nights you’ll end up with mildew anyways. I’m sick of watering at this point. I watched several radars last night anticipating a cloud hitting us and Nothing! Not 1 drop! I don’t think they can tell the weather anymore unless it’s right on top of them. Just like they never warned of frost before Memorial Day that wiped out many plants. We had 90s and we’ll after our frost date. This El Niño pattern is horrible. About burned leaves- I had a few bean leaves that had large white splotches and wondered if it was from watering in daytime. I also wondered if the water in the hose might have been to hot. It wasn’t leaf miner, but like a sunburn on a few leaves.
I grow palms and different subtropical and tropical fruits in a climate that is a bit colder than whats ideal. I live in desert so the tempratures between night and day are very different. Watering at night in winter in my instance is not very wise since it drops to 32f quite often in January and it heats up to 70-90 in the day. Cold + wet = root rot or other diseases for these types of plants. Another thing about watering at night is that the area around the plants will be more humid therefore making the cold affect the plants a great deal more especially during a really cold night.
There's another important point to bear in mind... scientific studies have shown that plants absorb the most nutrients in the morning, between 6 and 11 am, so it's a good idea to water in the morning. For those with automatic watering systems, it would be a good idea to divide the watering in two, one in the morning and the other in the evening.
I've never heard that. I thought they got it it, if the nutrients were there to get, when they needed them, at any time. If it's a very overcast day, do they really know it's am or pm?
@@sonnyamoran7383 I had read several scientific studies about it... here's what "Bard" says "One study, published in the journal "Plant Physiology" in 2008, found that plants grown in a greenhouse absorbed more nitrogen and phosphorus in the early morning hours than they did later in the day. The researchers believe that this is because the plants are more active in the morning, and their roots are more open to absorbing nutrients. Another study, published in the journal "Horticultural Science" in 2010, found that plants grown in a hydroponic system absorbed more calcium in the early morning than they did later in the day. The researchers believe that this is because the calcium is more soluble in water in the morning, when the water is cooler."
If "plants absorb the most nutrients in the morning, between 6 and 11 am" is true - I am skeptical - then you should water before 6 AM. Any later and it is too late.
Hi..... Chatham here..... I just recently found ur videos and u def make things more clear than most others. Thank you. I hope I understood that right .......watering is better at night because it's cooler and such. I've only been growing a few veggies since last yr and by Aug, early blight got to them. Most gardeners say it's because the water splashed up on the plant......is that ur thoughts as well? Indeterminate tomatoes look really awful when u have to cut away most of the leaves and even still, it did not stop it from spreading. But, at least I got a few fresh tomatoes. Thank you.... I've already learned a lot from u. 👍🏻
some diseases can live in soil, and water splashed up from onto the plant can move the spores on top of plants. However, spores also travel by wind. It is not clear to me which mechanism affects our plants more. I do mulch, which should reduce soil splashes, but I get early blight on my tomatoes every year.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 Oh.....every year?? That's disheartening to hear. I cut the leaves off and tried every spray suggested on UA-cam but it still spread. Is there something else that can be done or just basically keep removing the affected areas? All the the videos I watched were in different states or provinces so I'm really thrilled that yours finally showed itself to me. Thank you......for taking the time to explain all the little questions that r left for me to figure out. I'm late to the game of growing food so I've been driving myself crazy with questions that u manage to answer. Thanks again. 👍🏻
I work at night, so i do it when i can. Last year i did it in the afternoon, and this year im watering in the morning, and it seems last year my plants did better.
Is it sunny when it rains? Seems logical to water without the sun shining on the plants. But sometimes one has no choice but should refrain from getting the leaves wet.
I suppose this doesn't apply for indoor growing. In indoor, you water right before lights are turned ON because plants don't use water during night. Water consumption is tied to temperature and light intesity. You want to get as much water as possible out of the medium before "night" because of ideal water/oxygen cycle especially in hydro rockwool. Btw, how about foliar? Morning because of higher humidity = opened stomatas?
Early Morning! burns if during the day...wet at night does cause mildew and disease...the BEST system is a drip system, then any time works well, especially with landscape fabric over ground...TOPS don't need water as much as the roots do...JUST MY TAKE!
I used to think that daytime would burn the plants, but then a speaker at garden club cited a bunch of sources to show it's not true. Just as the video says. Huh. We learn something new every day. :)
It seems you have incorporated every possible myth into your gardening habits. On the hottest days when I know flowers will not set (nightshades have a hard time above 95 degrees F), I reduce the ambient heat by misting the air for a couple of hours during the hottest time of the day. I have never in 40 years seen a plant "burn".
@@Gardenfundamentals1I think micro climates play into this also. We get hot days and we are abnormally dry now in severe drought, but cool nights with fog is the usual and there is no way to stave off mildew. It just happens. At this point watering by hand is tiresome and the rodents seek out those spots so I’m doing overhead watering so my plants aren’t targeted. The way this weather is I don’t think it matters.
I try to emulate nature’s way. In my area 90% of the rain happens on the evening. So, then is when i water. But, if it looks like the plant needs water mid day, i’ll give it water mid day.
After watching your videos, my work efficiency improved by 1000-fold. I can't thank God enough for introducing you to me. Being my teacher, you will always be in my prayers. Stay blessed! 💕
It's interesting how many myths prevail. I water when i have time :)
And of course, we can carefully time our watering, then the rain ignores our careful plans.
I’m in South Mississippi, and I often water in the heat of the day. My plants appreciate being cooled off from the intense heat, and my garden is thriving way more since I started doing this.
In support of what you're saying, I planted this year 25 pumpkin plants and covered the whole garden surface with 3 large bales of straw
(Soil naturally has a lot of sand in the mix, used sheep manures the previous autumn)
Once the plants got big enough, I would water the whole area every few days by spraying high up in the air and making rain! Always somewhere around 10am - 1pm
Never had a single issue with any plant disease, never used any pesticides, I just let the fern plants spring up and grow with the pumpkins (I live beside the woods)
It worked perfectly
I’m in southern California and decided to do wicking raised beds. So far I don’t have to overhead water. Top soil feels dry, but 3-4” deep soil is moist.
I water when I can. And rain here can be anytime of day although June-August is mostly afternoon and evening. Never had a problem with burning from watering.
We water at night. Best time for healthy plants and lawns. Seattle.
I water whenever I can, and mych more so in hot weather. I always am feeling the various soils for moisture levels. Happy gardening
I've found if you are going to water, water 1 hour before sunset. At that time my plants are looking for water as the leaves and stems are beginning to "bend or curl". After watering the plants look "happy". By morning they look healthier and larger and so the cycle continues. It's OK to skip a day or so depending on the weather and temperature.
Here in Texas when it needs it, and that's a lot. :)
The deeper I drill down on this channel, the more I grin when I hear the phrase "it depends." Spray water to treat infection, soak roots to reduce heat, and water when you have time to do it well. The trick is in the knowing of what is needful in the moment.
you, sir, are a gem.
It seems that plants have been thriving on this planet with random rains for a long time. I just water when needed anytime and don't have any issues. I grow a wide variety of plants.
I started a wildflower meadow on my property. I agree. I find that watering in the day, the soil dries out in minutes and it’s such a waste. I water in the evening for the same reasons as you mentioned. Plants actually do most of their growing at night anyways, and they need the moisture most, then.
Awesome video. Rob didn't touch how watering time impacts slugs. When I water in the evening, I see significantly more slugs roaming around compared to when soil is dry.
I wonder the same question too. Evening watering invites more slugs to come out. Is it the best time to handpick and dump them? I use a baby food jar with soapy water then close the lid to dispose in the garbage bin.
@@jlseagull2.060 No slugs here in NM, but Virginia was a different story! Id go out in the early morning and pick them off and get disgusted cuz it never seemed to make much difference, there were always more! I sure dont miss slugs, but I do miss VA.
for sure, water when they need it! I pretended I was an afternoon shower the other day, not a thunderstorm watering tho! love your videos, TY!
It’s fairly dry where I live, and being aware that 95% of gardening advice doesn’t apply to my climate, I’ve always figured it out for myself. If I water, I do it in the late evening- that’s just logical. I’ve never seen black spot of powdery mildew except in pictures.
Wow! Here we have a classic case of the info given by Garden Fundamentals is contrary to what many of us have heard elsewhere. So, what do we do with that? Just because he is one of the few (maybe even the only one) saying that overhead watering can be beneficial in preventing mildew doesn't mean that he is wrong. I tend to think he is right, and I notice that he is a contrarian to many other gardening ideas too. Here's a quote from an article on powdery mildew posted on the Penn State Extension. the author is Gary Moorman, PhD:
"Liquid water on leaves inhibits spore germination. " This opinion supports what GF is saying
We are in a severe drought in my area despite local weather saying moderate in WI. I try to water the base of plants, but I’ve discovered a new problem and noticed this in 2012 drought and that’s rodents attacking those wet areas. Because insects are also attracted to water in dry times. The birds attack these areas also.
It’s been so difficult this year. I’ve never seen a Vole in my life til this year and they are Way worse than gophers. I don’t know where they came from, but they are not welcomed! I haven’t seen a mole in years after using milky spore and never in my garden Especially raised bed! Well this year we did and it went all along the beds, up into the beds and back out to go through in ground vegetables. What a mess. We got him and was it huge!
So what I think was birds at first I believe is actually a vole from trails and tunnels. Hope it’s in the trap today or I won’t have a garden.
So I think watering in drought is better to water a large area to not all in the rodents. As far as time of day, I like early morning or evening. I do try to keep the water off leaves in evening, but if you get cool foggy nights you’ll end up with mildew anyways. I’m sick of watering at this point. I watched several radars last night anticipating a cloud hitting us and Nothing! Not 1 drop! I don’t think they can tell the weather anymore unless it’s right on top of them. Just like they never warned of frost before Memorial Day that wiped out many plants. We had 90s and we’ll after our frost date. This El Niño pattern is horrible.
About burned leaves- I had a few bean leaves that had large white splotches and wondered if it was from watering in daytime. I also wondered if the water in the hose might have been to hot. It wasn’t leaf miner, but like a sunburn on a few leaves.
I grow palms and different subtropical and tropical fruits in a climate that is a bit colder than whats ideal.
I live in desert so the tempratures between night and day are very different. Watering at night in winter in my instance is not very wise since it drops to 32f quite often in January and it heats up to 70-90 in the day.
Cold + wet = root rot or other diseases for these types of plants. Another thing about watering at night is that the area around the plants will be more humid therefore making the cold affect the plants a great deal more especially during a really cold night.
There's another important point to bear in mind... scientific studies have shown that plants absorb the most nutrients in the morning, between 6 and 11 am, so it's a good idea to water in the morning. For those with automatic watering systems, it would be a good idea to divide the watering in two, one in the morning and the other in the evening.
Never heard that about absorbing more in the morning. I'll have to look into that. My plants are happy most of the time
I've never heard that. I thought they got it it, if the nutrients were there to get, when they needed them, at any time. If it's a very overcast day, do they really know it's am or pm?
@@sonnyamoran7383 I had read several scientific studies about it... here's what "Bard" says
"One study, published in the journal "Plant Physiology" in 2008, found that plants grown in a greenhouse absorbed more nitrogen and phosphorus in the early morning hours than they did later in the day. The researchers believe that this is because the plants are more active in the morning, and their roots are more open to absorbing nutrients.
Another study, published in the journal "Horticultural Science" in 2010, found that plants grown in a hydroponic system absorbed more calcium in the early morning than they did later in the day. The researchers believe that this is because the calcium is more soluble in water in the morning, when the water is cooler."
If "plants absorb the most nutrients in the morning, between 6 and 11 am" is true - I am skeptical - then you should water before 6 AM. Any later and it is too late.
Why not add the links to the studies?
Hi..... Chatham here..... I just recently found ur videos and u def make things more clear than most others. Thank you.
I hope I understood that right .......watering is better at night because it's cooler and such. I've only been growing a few veggies since last yr and by Aug, early blight got to them.
Most gardeners say it's because the water splashed up on the plant......is that ur thoughts as well?
Indeterminate tomatoes look really awful when u have to cut away most of the leaves and even still, it did not stop it from spreading. But, at least I got a few fresh tomatoes.
Thank you.... I've already learned a lot from u. 👍🏻
some diseases can live in soil, and water splashed up from onto the plant can move the spores on top of plants. However, spores also travel by wind. It is not clear to me which mechanism affects our plants more.
I do mulch, which should reduce soil splashes, but I get early blight on my tomatoes every year.
@@Gardenfundamentals1
Oh.....every year?? That's disheartening to hear. I cut the leaves off and tried every spray suggested on UA-cam but it still spread. Is there something else that can be done or just basically keep removing the affected areas?
All the the videos I watched were in different states or provinces so I'm really thrilled that yours finally showed itself to me.
Thank you......for taking the time to explain all the little questions that r left for me to figure out. I'm late to the game of growing food so I've been driving myself crazy with questions that u manage to answer. Thanks again. 👍🏻
Btw, I did mulch as well and but probably used the wrong kind. LOL This yr I'm using grass and leaves....
Slugs would have a field day if I watered in the evening. I don’t want it wet in the evening. Morning watering for me.
My first year with container vegetables, I'm watering before 10am, last year I was watering flower beds at night, created mold on the mulch.
mold on mulch is good for soil and plants.
I work at night, so i do it when i can. Last year i did it in the afternoon, and this year im watering in the morning, and it seems last year my plants did better.
Read powdery mildew happens with hot humid days with cool nights.
Great information, Thanks!
Is it sunny when it rains? Seems logical to water without the sun shining on the plants. But sometimes one has no choice but should refrain from getting the leaves wet.
In Miami it rain at any given time of the day and we have the best plants 🪴 😅
I suppose this doesn't apply for indoor growing. In indoor, you water right before lights are turned ON because plants don't use water during night. Water consumption is tied to temperature and light intesity. You want to get as much water as possible out of the medium before "night" because of ideal water/oxygen cycle especially in hydro rockwool.
Btw, how about foliar? Morning because of higher humidity = opened stomatas?
1) It all applies to indoor plants as well.
2) Roots also absorb water at night
3) Watering before lights are turned on makes no sense.
Thanks
Great topic!
Thank you so much
Early Morning! burns if during the day...wet at night does cause mildew and disease...the BEST system is a drip system, then any time works well, especially with landscape fabric over ground...TOPS don't need water as much as the roots do...JUST MY TAKE!
I used to think that daytime would burn the plants, but then a speaker at garden club cited a bunch of sources to show it's not true. Just as the video says. Huh. We learn something new every day. :)
1) day time watering does not burn plants - it actually cools them down.
2) landscape fabric is a poor choice.
ua-cam.com/video/7SxrhLzXYEc/v-deo.html
It seems you have incorporated every possible myth into your gardening habits.
On the hottest days when I know flowers will not set (nightshades have a hard time above 95 degrees F), I reduce the ambient heat by misting the air for a couple of hours during the hottest time of the day. I have never in 40 years seen a plant "burn".
Where I live it might rain any time of day, for various amounts of time and various amounts, how do I control that?
Early morning. Watering in the evening allows fungus to grow rather than evaporate off the leaves quickly and for some grasses, that's a death nell.
What time do farmers water their crops?
Evening I believe
I find it amusing gardeners will argue avout watering plants. If a plant needs water then water it.
How about tropical country?
at what time are plants more suited to drink all the water it has access to? isnt that the question we should try to answer?
Why?
I water when I have time and see my plants need water no specific time it rains when it wants so I do the same
👍👍👍Thank you
Most fungus diseases occur when it's hot out and plants are wet. I wouldn't water mid day due to that alone.
Guess you did not watch the video?
@@Gardenfundamentals1 I did watch and you stated that water would evaporate quickly off the plant at noon. Not so if you're in a humid climate.
But in a humid environment, water evaporates even slower in morning and night when it is cooler.
@@Gardenfundamentals1I think micro climates play into this also. We get hot days and we are abnormally dry now in severe drought, but cool nights with fog is the usual and there is no way to stave off mildew. It just happens. At this point watering by hand is tiresome and the rodents seek out those spots so I’m doing overhead watering so my plants aren’t targeted. The way this weather is I don’t think it matters.
He never said anything
Am I the only one who just wasted 12.11 minutes, this guy talks a lot and says nothing.
This guy is a treasure. He's provided many helpful videos.
If it rains for a week then watering times don't matter.