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water Watering Protocol for High Heat

Hi All,

This should be an easy one but I figure I would post it anyways. So like most of you we are experiencing some high temps right now and my plants have been doing pretty well expect for some leaf curling which I am attributing to drying out.

My question is, how much watering should I be doing during the summer, especially during high heat and strong sun exposure? In the beginning I was worried about over watering my plants but in these temps I am not sure. Should I be keeping them wet at all times? Or should I not be and moving them out of the sun into the shade?

thanks,
jj
 
Thanks Omri. Should I be letting the soil dry out a little in between watering? Or maintain constant moisture?

I just got worried when I came home yesterday afternoon to find some of my plants curling.
 
It gets pretty hot and dry here, so what I do is this:
I water after every sunset (once), but only after sunset. not in the morning and not during the day. doing so is pointless, because the water evaporates almost immediately. Because of that nasty dry heat, the plants can get dry and wrinkly very fast, so what I do is keeping some humidity by spraying a mist with a simple high-pressure spray. The moisture of the actual soil during the day is irrelevant.
 
I say it depends on the size of the pot(if growing in a pot) and the density of the soil and whether or not mulch is being used as well as the humidity level. I water in the early morning and in the dryer heat its not uncommon for the smaller pots to dry out before sunset
 
POTAWIE said:
I say it depends on the size of the pot(if growing in a pot) and the density of the soil and whether or not mulch is being used as well as the humidity level. I water in the early morning and in the dry heat its not uncommon for the smaller pots to dry out before sunset
Dry heat in Canada? is that even possible? :shocked:
 
Omri...during the day, you are not afraid of scalding your leaves with the water droplets collecting on them and acting as a magnifying glass ?
 
POTAWIE said:
I say it depends on the size of the pot(if growing in a pot) and the density of the soil and whether or not mulch is being used as well as the humidity level. I water in the early morning and in the dry heat its not uncommon for the smaller pots to dry out before sunset

That makes sense. I guess my real concern were the leaves themselves. I noticed them to be drying out yesterday and burning/curling a bit. I think the moisture in the pots has been adequate and I need to keep the leaves a bit moist. Besides that the plants seem to be loving this weather. :P
 
AlabamaJack said:
Omri...during the day, you are not afraid of scalding your leaves with the water droplets collecting on them and acting as a magnifying glass ?
In direct sunlight the plants *will* die, moist or not moist. that's why I put mine in the shade. no direct sunlight. :)
I'd rather them getting a few burns than dry to death. :shocked:
 
POTAWIE said:
What size pot are you using? and have your plants been hardened off well?

Some of my plants are in 12 inch pots and some still need to be transplanted from much smaller containers.

I think they have been hardened off decently over the course of the last month or so mostly in partial shade.

More recently I have been exposing them to full sunlight for most of the day. With really good results until yesterday. Even yesterday most plants didn't really take on any damage. Just a few had some leaf curling.

Made me think to post here to get some advice. Thats what I love about this place, I can post a question and have tons of really good advice in a matter of minutes :P
 
i have watered every day since wed. 6/4. we have had brutal 100+ degree temps for 5 or 6 days in a row. i water at about 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. to reduce the evaporation rate. it is supposed to rain for the next several days in the evenings, thank goodness.
 
JJ I know our weather is unusally hot these last few days but it will pass my plants have doing very well and I am watering every few days still fortunatly we have been getting the isolated storms that give some water except for Sunday -- Holy crap was that storm. My plants do get some shade and full direct thru the course of the day. The soil mix that I have has peat in it which helps in some of the water retention. My tomatoes are getting huge. BTW they are all in 3gallon buckets on my driveway at this point till I get my garden ready ... been very busy.
 
today is the first day I have not watered in the morning for about 10 days and still have to water every evening...I do not spray the plants, rather just water the soil until its pot runneth over... :lol: I am having to water two times a day
 
Does anyone collect and use rain water? just curious. i've always found my plants grew better from rain water than anything from my tap, filtered or not.
 
I don't water unless the plants start wilting badly. The tops of the containers look extremely dry, but if one digs down in the pot, it has quite a bit of moisture.

We were always taught it was best for healthy plants to have to dig for moisture which gave them a great root system. I know during out drought last summer, I never watered more than once a week, giving the ground was about equal to 3/4 of an inch or rain. I'll probably have to do it more frequently this summer since the plants are in containers rather than the ground.

Mike
 
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