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water Watering in the middle of the day

DatilDaddy

DatilDaddy

Banned
Lately I haven't made it outside to water the plants until the hottest part of the day. I try to combat this by watering at sundown hoping the water will remain at least until I come out the next day. When I get outside the pots are already dry and the plants are wilted. After I water them they seem to spring back to life. This has actually been going on for awhile now, of course not every SINGLE day, but probably too long and its only getting hotter outside. The plants seem to be fine aside from maybe some stunted growth, but that could also be due to me planting a lot of seeds close together and not thinning them out.

I heard that limiting water can increase hotness, so besides this not being normal to do with the watering, could it be acceptable as long as the plants survive and produce? Or is this just going to be a lot of hurt in the long run?
 
Its hot as hell down here but I try not to water mid-day, if I do its only the ground taking care to never get the plant wet. I give em a drink at dusk if its needed.
 
Prehensile's right, watering in the middle of the day isn't the best time. The heat will evaporate a larger percentage of the water before it has a chance to soak in. Best time is usually just before dusk like how Prehensile does. That way, the soil is the best temperature for it.
 
Yes I have not had a chance to water them right in the morning and had to water them in mid-day.

If they are wilting, like mine, from no water then there would be no way I would wait till later to water. If they are that dry why not water them?

Just because it is ideal to water in the morning and night does not say you can't water in the heat of the day. I just got done fertilizing/watering and it is the hottest point in the day. If I did not water they would wilt to the point of loosing pods.

Also I get water on the leaves a little when watering and found it does NOT burn them or do anything. I hear all the time plants leaves can burn when wet in the sun so aviod. Then a sun shower comes followed by a clear sky of full sun leaves are nw wet from the quik rain and now the sun is out, no burn, odd?
 
I'm in the same situation and was last year too. Today it was 95F when I watered an hour ago and will be 102F two hours from now. I also water at night around 9:PM and the plants in pots just can't wait any longer but I don't have a chance to water in the morning so it has to happen when they get too droopy. I've timed how long it takes them to undroop after watering, 6 minutes on average.

I try not to get the leaves wet but inevitably a few of the lower ones do and I don't notice any ill effect from it though a large portion of the lower leaves are shaded by higher up leaves.

The plants would be happier if I watered earlier but considering the temperatures and direct sun they're getting, the larger issue here is sun scald on the fruit, when the leaves droop they don't shade the fruit as effectively.
 
90% of the time I water it is in the middle of the day. I just put that puppy on shower and spray it right over top like it's raining on them. I've watered in the middle of the day in this heat wave we are having as well. I have had no sun burn and the plants seem to like it. They are beasting! I do agree that watering in the morning or at night is better. Especially if you are feeding with the water. Or if you are applying a foliar application. Then early morning or later towards sundown is much better. I think you get more sunburn from that then just plain watering. I've never experienced sunburn on my plants outside of my indoor grow. Which the lights are so close it happened on numerous occasions but that was also after foliar feeding not regular water.

So I say water them when ever and spray the leaves too! \

Secondly I will have to say it sounds like you need to pot those babies up. If you are watering that much and they are drooping that quickly. They need a bigger home! That is most likely why they are stunted as well. Once they are root bound it starts to affect their growth. Pot those suckers up and watch them grow three times their size in two weeks.
 
Capsicum said:
Yes I have not had a chance to water them right in the morning and had to water them in mid-day.

If they are wilting, like mine, from no water then there would be no way I would wait till later to water. If they are that dry why not water them?

Just because it is ideal to water in the morning and night does not say you can't water in the heat of the day. I just got done fertilizing/watering and it is the hottest point in the day. If I did not water they would wilt to the point of loosing pods.

Also I get water on the leaves a little when watering and found it does NOT burn them or do anything. I hear all the time plants leaves can burn when wet in the sun so aviod. Then a sun shower comes followed by a clear sky of full sun leaves are nw wet from the quik rain and now the sun is out, no burn, odd?
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Dave2000 said:
I'm in the same situation and was last year too. Today it was 95F when I watered an hour ago and will be 102F two hours from now. I also water at night around 9:PM and the plants in pots just can't wait any longer but I don't have a chance to water in the morning so it has to happen when they get too droopy. I've timed how long it takes them to undroop after watering, 6 minutes on average.

I try not to get the leaves wet but inevitably a few of the lower ones do and I don't notice any ill effect from it though a large portion of the lower leaves are shaded by higher up leaves.

The plants would be happier if I watered earlier but considering the temperatures and direct sun they're getting, the larger issue here is sun scald on the fruit, when the leaves droop they don't shade the fruit as effectively.
Click to expand...
3/5King said:
90% of the time I water it is in the middle of the day. I just put that puppy on shower and spray it right over top like it's raining on them. I've watered in the middle of the day in this heat wave we are having as well. I have had no sun burn and the plants seem to like it. They are beasting! I do agree that watering in the morning or at night is better. Especially if you are feeding with the water. Or if you are applying a foliar application. Then early morning or later towards sundown is much better. I think you get more sunburn from that then just plain watering. I've never experienced sunburn on my plants outside of my indoor grow. Which the lights are so close it happened on numerous occasions but that was also after foliar feeding not regular water.

So I say water them when ever and spray the leaves too! \

Secondly I will have to say it sounds like you need to pot those babies up. If you are watering that much and they are drooping that quickly. They need a bigger home! That is most likely why they are stunted as well. Once they are root bound it starts to affect their growth. Pot those suckers up and watch them grow three times their size in two weeks.
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Nothing is set in stone, I just tell you guys how I do it, Here on the peninsula the sun fries you Northerners within 30 minutes if your unprotected. The landscapers and nurseries never set the sprinklers to run during the day here, its always after dark or first light, this does not mean you shouldn't ever water mid-day no matter what, if your babies are wilting because your pots dry WATER THEM!!!! If they are drooping cause the heat and sun are at the peak time take time to check your pots weight before you add too much water thats all, I've been getting 1 tah 2 dozen dry pots a day lately, and I water them as soon as I notice it.
 
armac said:
In this heat, water when needed.
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No doubt about that, armac. I spoke with my mom this morning, and she's been forced to water plants daily, that normally require waterings only every few days or so. She tries to water towards the end of the day, or very early in the day, to allow for a greater percentage of the water to soak into the soil, since she's noticed that doing so in the middle of the day causes a heck of a lot of evaporation by virtue of the heat combined with the amount of direct sun her backyard gets.
 
DatilDaddy said:
Lately I haven't made it outside to water the plants until the hottest part of the day. I try to combat this by watering at sundown hoping the water will remain at least until I come out the next day. When I get outside the pots are already dry and the plants are wilted. After I water them they seem to spring back to life. This has actually been going on for awhile now, of course not every SINGLE day, but probably too long and its only getting hotter outside. The plants seem to be fine aside from maybe some stunted growth, but that could also be due to me planting a lot of seeds close together and not thinning them out.

I heard that limiting water can increase hotness, so besides this not being normal to do with the watering, could it be acceptable as long as the plants survive and produce? Or is this just going to be a lot of hurt in the long run?
Click to expand...

If my plants are wilted and the soil is dry several inches down, or my pots feel too light, I'll water them when needed, regardless of what time of day it is. If it's in the middle of the day I give them some shade for about 2 hours after watering so it won't evaporate too fast, but I've never noticed any burning even when I get water on the leaves and keep them in the sun. It's been so hot here the past 2 weeks that they wilt like crazy in direct sunlight, but perk back up in the shade, so I usually water depending on soil conditions, and do it in the evening/morning if I can.
 
I like to give them cold ass water in the heat in the middle of the day.

If I was hot thats what I would want, a little cool down.
 
Everything I water is on a timer that starts @ 1 AM.
Peppers get theirs between 3 and 4 AM.

In the heat of the day, they may wilt a bit, but that should encourage the roots to dig deeper. Some claim cold water is a worse shock than wilting, and can wimp out your fruits.
There is no way, outside of building a greenhouse, that I will ever get optimum growth at 5300 feet and single digit humidity, winds almost always blowing and can go for days gusting to 50 mph, but except for a few I will have growing in an aerogarden, I refuse to coddle them.
The tepins don't seem to mind much, but my goal is to weed out the weak and unsuitable superhots and breed some tough bad@ss, burn your eyebrows off peppers that can survive without constant care.

Note that this is only for plants in the ground, plants in pots get water when they show wilting.
 
I use "cool" water not cold, meaning it is the summertime temperature of the underground pipes that bring it to me. :)
 
DatilDaddy said:
I like to give them cold ass water in the heat in the middle of the day.

If I was hot thats what I would want, a little cool down.
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You know I thought about this the other week, I do HVAC and was working in a very hot attic, so i decided that when I got home that day i was gonna be a redneck and sit in a lawn chair with a keystone and have the sprinkler it me every now and then. Anyway that sprinkler hit me a few times and put a chill in me like you would not beleive, complete with goosebumps. I guess the human body gets hardened off to heat and sun like pepper plants do. So basically I don't want to make my peppers chilly during the day. LOL

DatilDaddy said:
I like to give them cold ass water in the heat in the middle of the day.

If I was hot thats what I would want, a little cool down.
Click to expand...

You know I thought about this the other week, I do HVAC and was working in a very hot attic, so i decided that when I got home that day i was gonna be a redneck and sit in a lawn chair with a keystone and have the sprinkler it me every now and then. Anyway that sprinkler hit me a few times and put a chill in me like you would not beleive, complete with goosebumps. I guess the human body gets hardened off to heat and sun like pepper plants do. So basically I don't want to make my peppers chilly during the day. LOL
 
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