When I water my plants in the area around me I first give the plants a little water to let the soil absorb it . Then I come back round and water the plant more , according to its needs. It seems the soil absorbs more quickly then kind of like climatizing it. If I don't do this it appears as I have watered enough but I haven't. I know this because when I stick my finger into the soil it still is dry close to the surface. Our city water does not do well for the plants I've noticed, but when it rains the plants really perk up and love the rain. I have purchased a gutter down spout diverter to collect rain water . Just have to install it now.
Great minds think alike as I was going to mention this important detail👍 Sometimes, one needs to come back for a third deeper watering, especially on slopes.
Not mulching was the biggest watering related mistake I made for years. I had plants in completely exposed soil that would dry out every day, and require watering almost every day. Now I have a Back to Eden style garden covered in tons of woodchips (I recommend Chip Drop). Even during heatwaves when it's over 90F / 32C my tomatoes do just fine.
@@galaleeyou can even use hay, just make sure that any straw or hay that you use isn't treated with Grazon as that can stay in the system and affect broadleaf plants for up to 5 years later.
I lt really depends on multiple factors, just keep an eye on the weather, know what your plants water needs are then accomidate. I live in CA valley, have a few sierra junipers, i just try to mimic the weather in regards to water they would get as opposed to what we get. Same with my cacti, i only mist them randomly. We also need to take into account the micro climates that are created or we create in the yard.
I have a private well that is quite deep and cold. One of the mistakes I’ve made is watering heat-loving plants like peppers with the cold water directly from my well. The plants react like they’ve experienced a cold spell, and stop growing. I have to lay my hose on the ground in the sun, and wait for the water to warm up before watering my peppers and eggplants. I can get a fair amount of watering done before the water turns cold, but I can see how having a water storage tank would be advantageous!
I water in the evening so the plants have time to absorb the water overnight. Haven’t had any issues as a result. In fact my tomatoes and cucumbers are thriving. Good video!
@imberrysandy the best time to water is really whenever you can, I do it at the worst time around afternoon as that's the only time I can get to the garden, the mulch helps keeps evaporation down though
I water in the evening for two reasons: first is that I leave for work at 8ish and I'm not a morning person, so I'm not getting up earlier. Second is that in this season, we get heat waves that mean it may not dip below 90 until 8pm. I can't take the heat. So, I water a lot in the evening, but at the base so that it doesn't sit on the leaves.
same here, not getting up early. i bring lights outside and garden from 7pm-midnight when its cool. i cant stand heat. Night watering is better than no watering at all.
I live in Denver where the average humidity is around 20%. Even less on a hot sunny day. I water in the evening. And overhead watering is similarly a non-issue in terms of damp-related molds and fungi as long as the air flow is good. There are also other "rules" that don't apply a semi-arid climate. It's very different from what is needed for gardening where I grew up in the upper Midwest.
Same here. I water in the evening, I leave for work at 5 in the morning, get home around 6 and I like coming home, eat dinner with the family and end my day in the cool evening watering the garden. My wife and 1 ½ year old son join me and it's just solid family time.
I’ve actually learned to water the soil. I have to water everyday right now because if I don’t, the soil becomes hydrophobic because it’s so hot. The plant does well when the soil is doing well.
Where I live slugs are a massive issue, and I really do mean a massive issue, watering in the evening is an absolute no as a result. If you water in the evening it just encourages the slugs to come out, something too also bear in mind.
One thing I've learned to help repel slugs even without the evening water (they've been eating my plants all year) is to sprinkle coffee grounds around the base of the plant. I'm not sure how well it works in in-ground plants as I haven't tried it yet, but it works wonders in containers. I just use the used grounds from the coffee I made. You'll have to reapply once a month or so, but you'll be amazed at how effective it is
I don’t have a faucet in the backyard, and mostly have fruits & veggies in pots. I use clay pots with lids buried in the soil to fill them with water and hollow clay ‘spikes’ in the soil, you can put a wine bottle filled with water in it with the neck down into the ‘spike’ so it fills with water and slowly waters the plants. Water bottles with a few little holes in them, a few centimeters above the bottom, buried in the plant pot, works fine too. It can be refilled and irrigates slowly, so I don’t have to check & water daily.
It really depends on your area how much overhead watering does to your plant. I was from the hotter area a year ago and would always overhead - no issue. I moved a year to a zone lower and closer to the ocean. It gets super humid here but after watering overhead, it gave me so many fungal disease for almost all my plants.
@@GoingGreenMom Thank you so much for that. I have a milk allergy though, and it can’t even touch my skin without me breaking out. So I’ll see about having someone else do it for me.
Watering is always an issue for me... I use an irrigation system and have to revise it every year to match my new garden layout and it can bring me so much stress sometimes 😅
I use the finger in the soil test as you demonstrated, seems to work. That and a 1020 tray laying level in the garden as a rain gauge. Sometimes rain is forecast overnight, no real sign of rain, and there's an inch in the tray, other times the patio is wet, and the tray is damp. Especially when the plant matures, the leaves can act like an umbrella and the plants themselves shed the water. The finger trick, however, doesn't lie. TYFS Kevin
That’s a great idea, thank you for sharing! I’m learning not to rely on forecasts and seemingly wet soil bc sometimes it indeed didn’t rain enough to thoroughly water my plants 😩😅
Soil types are also an important consideration. Here in Atlanta, we have heavy red Georgia clay. To improve the tilth (texture) we add generous amounts of COMPOST. The addition of ORGANIC MATTER to your soil aids in drainage of heavy soils.Many soil mixes that are commonly used drain too well due to the amount of sand in the mix. Adding organic matter like compost helps the soil retain moisture while allowing air to move through the root zone.
Just live in Northern WI this year. I think I've watered stuff like 3 days so far. It keeps raining every other day. I just have to keep up on fertilizing.
Kevin, thank you!!! QUESTION: I have a question coz I am NEUROTIC about over watering. I have spuds whose leaves are yellowing. The soil does not seem dry. Tony O'Neil said he did not water his spuds due to sickness and still got a good-ish crop. Could you advise please?
Kevin, The Old Wives' (Gardeners') Tale about not water when the sun's out or it will act like a magnifying glass & burn the leaves always cracked me up. Mother Nature does that all the time & her garden looks just fine. 😊
Not watering at noon due to evaporating is like saying I can’t put gas in Rn cause I got a quarter of a tank when I still have 150 miles to go. Should we run on fumes or should we make sure we got our reserves?
If I could add ... if watering pots and water runs out bottom. Use your fingers to scrunch soil all around to break up gap between soil and pot. Then water, let drain and water again to get soil to expand again. Forgetting to check this in hot weather has killed many a potted/container plant needlessly.
I’ve had issues with this, water just running through the edges of the pot instead of through the entire soil, and noticed that a big part of the problem is using top soil and mulch. Not sure which of the two (or if using both at once) is causing the issue, but the top layer has gotten caked together so tightly that sprouts have struggled to finally emerge… And I’ve also noticed some mold starting to form, especially in plastic pots! I’ve had to go in with a metal chopstick to poke holes and break up the soil to allow airflow, proper irrigation, and for the poor little babies to finally sprout! Also learned that for plastic pots- the more drainage holes, the better!
Hoselinks customer service is top notch too! I had a hose that kinked and I was unable to retract it more than 25 ft or so. They gave me some pointers that didn't work. Then sent out a brand new hoselink. The guarantee is great! ❤
I’m having the exact opposite experience. My reel is only about a year old and wont retract (and its an 80’ one). Their customer service had me do troubleshooting, which didn’t work. Then they wanted pictures, which I sent. Then they wanted a video, which I sent, and now they are asking me to do the troubleshooting steps again. At this point I may dump the thing in the trash and go with a cheaper alternative.
@@canhope1821 oh no! I did have to submit photos. But they said the hose wasn't fixable so they sent a new one. I'm sorry. Mine was under a year old so it was still guaranteed.
I've told or maybe I should say asked people "when does God water my plants?" Unless it's raining all day long or a front has come in, God waters my yard and plants late in the afternoon, and at night. Most of the good rain that helps my plants grow either happens in the late afternoon or at night. Especially in the summer time.
I just worry about chlorine in the tap water. I try to use from my rain barrels only but you're right, it get's old packing watering cans. We are in a hot drought right now.
I have four 55 gallon drums all connected to each other with a well pump from Harbour Freight connected to them. The pump sends water to the hose at house pressure. No watering cans needed😁👍 I just added a sink to our greenhouse and ran a hose to it from the splitter in the garden. It all comes from the pump.
I watered the potatoes too much Most of them died.☠️😭 Cucumbers seem to be made almost entirely of water.It just sucks up water and quickly becomes dry.😑 But I was able to harvest some mini tomatoes, and they were quite delicious. It tasted fresh 🥰 Your special tool, the shower elephant, looks very useful.🐘 The tip of the nozzle is hard, so it seems possible to change the angle.🐘 High-tech watering tools
I'm moving my garden to the other side of the house to optimize sunlight better, and my hose is on the opposite side of the house... so I think I might need Hoselink very soon, otherwise I'm going to have a really bad time with my current hose reel lol Thanks for the discount code :D
I am a terrible gauger of how to do how much water I need. So if a plant should get 1" of water per week, what does that look like for actually doing that?
Check out the rusted garden RUclips channel. He has a few videos on how to water properly if I remember correctly. Specifically what it looks like to water an inch deep
I count to 30 for each big plant. You can tell you’re watering properly if a) the plant looks like it’s doing well and b) the soil takes in the water. I made the mistake of not watering enough and my soil had gotten hydrophobic. Took me about a week of watering everyday counting to 30 for each plant for the soil to have no problems taking the water.
Hi Epic G dawg. Any experience comparing penetrative watering against surface level watering? By penetrative I mean setting the nozzle to a jet/stream setting so the water gets deeper quicker vs a lighter setting in which the water will take longer to go deeper.
You know I’ve heard that people thought getting the leafs wet during the day would burn your leaves but I never really thought people actually thought they would catch fire just that the focused sun causes damage to the leaf. But maybe that was a joke that just went over my head. If so well done sir.
QUESTION: I'm a brand new gardener. Can I put dead squash & cucumber leaves that have leaf miner trails on them in my compost pile. I know some things that have disease shouldn't be put in the pile but I wasn't sure about these... Thanks!!
I'm not blessed with a green thumb, but can I get a clarification on the soil moisture thing? 4-5 inches before finding dryer soil, doesn't need more water, 5-6 inches hitting dryer soil, needs more water... Am I the only one lost here?(I won't be offended if I am, I'm way more talented at accidentally killing my plants than I am at getting them to grow, thus the need to get clearer ideas on how to stop killing them).
Overwatering...not gonna happen on my balcony! I have to carry the water from my kitchen to balcony probably 30 litres per each watering. I can't find the energy to do it as often as I should. I'm 7 months pregnant so I almost always wait until I see some dry soil in the pots or slightly wilting leaves before I water... If the edges of the soil are separated from the container edge there's no need to even get your fingers dirty. I often water in the evening because it's hard to find the time in the morning and too hot during the day! If the temperatures are over 25 celsius degrees, the temperature in my glassed balcony is 30-40. Luckily my plants can handle it better than me🤭
So which is harder to recover from... over or under watering? I know plant type & container vs inground etc play a part. But i find over watering is worse 🤷♀️
I was curious about your thoughts on some people not using tap water because of the chlorine. Supposedly the chlorine will kill the microbes in the soil which prevents the plants from growing as well as they could. Also is there a difference in using tap water in plants growing in the ground and plants growing in raised gardens? Thanks.
I have kaffir lime tree and I'm just curious when should I water it and how much should i water it? I live in new England weather and I do bring it inside during cold season. So far since it's summer I took it outside and I been watering it every other day because it's in a pot.
I want to find answers on your Birdie beds but your website does not give a place to ask them- only answers to possible questions - I can’t buy them until I know the answers- could you please help?
I bought a drip hose for my one garden bed that's always dry, but I didn't realise how long it would take to get the entire garden wet. I guess it's fine since it's set it and forget it.
Speaking as someone with attention issues, if I don’t water in the morning, it’s probably not going to happen. I just water it more consistently in the morning.
watering seem to be so complicated. you under water them? you can notice it when the leafs wilt. you over water them? you can notice it when the leafs wilt. as a beginner with no experience is use my finger
I have been looking at these hoses but seems like a lot of reviews say the retractable part on the inside breaks and there is no way to fix it. Can you honestly say yours has lasted 4 years with no issues? I see the 2 year warranty which is nice. I think most are only 1 year because that’s all they really last for.
Regular water overhead is not good for us here. . We have high heat and humidity. Especially during the hottest part of the day. Plants burn so easily here. Never had issues with mildew or rot though. I get it’s a myth though. Through trial and error. When I stopped watering overhead. Plants stopped burning lol. I listen to my plants 😂
I mean almost all plants literally control their temperature by releasing water through their leaves. It’s called transpiration. That’s why any area with lots of plants will naturally be slightly cooler and more humid. Google it, you can learn a lot about the thermodynamics of evaporative cooling.
@@Nihlink I definitely understand where you are coming from! I learned about evaporation, conduction, convection and what radiation in college. Most every living thing control their temperature to some degree. For instance, why don’t all humans burn? Because each person has unique mechanisms that can help reduce the chance of burning. As such each plant is unique and each climate is different. For me, my mom, and a few of my family members have experienced burning when watering overhead. For me, it’s mostly fuzzy plants, like certain tomatoes, and squash. When I mentioned watering at the base worked for me, these issues stopped for them as well 🤷🏽♀️ In my backyard with or without these plants we are all roasting 😂 I feel for them Haha. Now the super large trees we have on the other side of our home help cool off that are, but it’s hot as bejesus on this side.
my neighbor was out watering ONLY the leaves of his trees and shrubs this morning... none of the water hit the soil anywhere near the plant - it shot off into the ally behind the house... Unless he was trying to spray pests off the leaves or something but it didn't look like it.
There’s an old guy in my neighborhood who goes out almost daily and sprays his photinia hedge, like he’s washing it off. Seems to have a little dementia. We’re in always-dry Northern Cal, and the waste of water makes me anxious.
In regards to watering, then you just have to make sure you have good soil with compost which have good water retention ability, and mulch to reduce water evaporation. In regard to plant growth, if the light is on all the time, then the plants will become stressed and less productive, they need rest from light or more specifically certain wavelengths. It's more complicated than I can describe but from how I understand plants and trees detect different light wavelengths (see: phytochromes) and release hormone in response which regulate their growth and blossoming. Each different plant or tree have their specific optimal requirement. There is a time lapse video of tomatoes growing in a greenhouse showing how the plant grows taller when the lights are turned off at night, and during the day they don't grow, meaning they use the day time to photosynthesize and save energy in the roots system. Personally at least for indoor growing I would not leave the lights on 24hours.
Just had to severely cut back my oregano and lemon thyme, they were just not getting enough water for their size and container and the lemon thyme was getting black polkadot spots all over. Now to figure out what the teeny tiny (barely visible to the naked eye, ~1mm or less) caterpillar-like bugs are on my basil. All of them are indoor plants! where did the bugs even COME from? But I have springtails in the soil I bought (MiracleGro Organics Fruit and Veg), so... And the rosemary is brown leaves at the base but if you scratch the stems it shows green. I just don't get it.
Update: it's thrips. On my grown-from-seed, survived cat predation, finally bigger than the edge of the pot (and stem hardening up) basil!! 😭 They got the thyme first, apparently, as it was a more recent purchase to replace the one that didn't make it past the micro-seedling stage due to the cats. Probably came in with the soil in the store pot. At least it wasn't my watering that caused it.
Oh. I don't water my plants at all. Am I doing something wrong? Ha ha. No, I do grow almost completely native plants, so they're made for our weather. But it does rain alot here too. Pretty much the only thing I ever water are seedlings
😂 i literally top water everything all the time. Also during the evening 😅 I have never had any issues though. The only ones I side water are ones that are prone to falling over. I'm also the "Rain comes from above, and that has been watering plants a lot longer than I have." kind of person. Lol.. That being said, I am in New Hampshire, and humidity isn't terrible here, so things dont stay super muggy.
Summer in GA is plus 95F temperature everyday and to water before 10 am required me to purchase a hose timer, something I did not to buy. Before I watered 2 hours before sunset every other day for the lawn and twice per week for flowers and containers
My cucumbers were thriving and Google said they don't like to much sun so i moved them now half of the pot wilted and is dying. Same with the garlic. It poured rain last week so I moved them to the porch and the upright leaves stems fell over. 😢 Cucumbers are in a fabric bag.
Having soil rich in organic matter can really help with watering, since it'll retain moisture better. Mulch is also huge, since that shields the soil from the sun. Though I'll note that you do have to be aware of what you can and cannot use for mulching, when near structures. For instance next to homes and wooden decks, you don't want lots of rotting material that will attract pests (big one be termites) and you also want it to be reasonable permeable, since trapping water can be an issue. I will also say that with some small containers. A slow watering process also works best, this ensures that the soil actually gets a chance to soak up enough water, so that there won't be a need to constantly water plants. It also helps with saving water. I have a bunch of small planters on a deck, with pretty small reservoirs. So if I water too fast, the water just moistens some of the soil before reaching the reservoirs, quickly fills it up and then flows out the drainage holes that are in place to prevent the planters from becoming foul smelling buckets of mud, while leaving a fair bit of soil that is still too dry. Another thing with small planters too, is after a few years, they'll just have less soil. Some of that is erosion, even if you do mulch and some of that is just from the plants using the resources in the soil. So it helps to replenish to avoid having gaps that create more surface area that is exposed to the air, while also ensuring there is enough soil to actually retain water.
![Cody Johnson - I'm Gonna Love You (with Carrie Underwood) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yy9PuYMU29g/mqdefault.jpg)
When I water my plants in the area around me I first give the plants a little water to let the soil absorb it . Then I come back round and water the plant more , according to its needs. It seems the soil absorbs more quickly then kind of like climatizing it. If I don't do this it appears as I have watered enough but I haven't. I know this because when I stick my finger into the soil it still is dry close to the surface. Our city water does not do well for the plants I've noticed, but when it rains the plants really perk up and love the rain. I have purchased a gutter down spout diverter to collect rain water . Just have to install it now.
Great minds think alike as I was going to mention this important detail👍 Sometimes, one needs to come back for a third deeper watering, especially on slopes.
You should have us viewers display our summer gardens. Rate them with Jacque
This actually would be super helpful
Yes!!
really good idea
I would love this! Not only would it be educational, I would also get to see really good displays and ideas
Epic idea! 💡
Not mulching was the biggest watering related mistake I made for years. I had plants in completely exposed soil that would dry out every day, and require watering almost every day. Now I have a Back to Eden style garden covered in tons of woodchips (I recommend Chip Drop). Even during heatwaves when it's over 90F / 32C my tomatoes do just fine.
Thank you for recommendation! Free woodchips ( and delivery ) would help a lot 🪴👍
Certain areas ok but where i live it's a no go. Tried many times, and it doesn't work here in South Georgia.
@@galaleeyou can use leaves, sticks, dead grass, straw, literally anything that is nearby and dried out will be fine!
@@littleboyblade4024 Will do! I'm brand new to gardening, so any tips or advice is super helpful 😊
@@galaleeyou can even use hay, just make sure that any straw or hay that you use isn't treated with Grazon as that can stay in the system and affect broadleaf plants for up to 5 years later.
We all have different water depending on where we live and the treatment facilities that add chemicals. Some could be higher or lower on ph, etc
Epic Gardening is the best!
I lt really depends on multiple factors, just keep an eye on the weather, know what your plants water needs are then accomidate. I live in CA valley, have a few sierra junipers, i just try to mimic the weather in regards to water they would get as opposed to what we get. Same with my cacti, i only mist them randomly. We also need to take into account the micro climates that are created or we create in the yard.
I accidentally left my irrigation on all day yesterday and apparently Kevin sees all our sins
I found out there is no such thing as overwatering as long as you have good drainage.
Plants take in water from their leaves as well as their roots. Watering overhead is a good thing.
How your plants need you to water is very climate specific.
If God waters overhead then so will I.
So does Kevin
😂 love that
I have a private well that is quite deep and cold. One of the mistakes I’ve made is watering heat-loving plants like peppers with the cold water directly from my well. The plants react like they’ve experienced a cold spell, and stop growing. I have to lay my hose on the ground in the sun, and wait for the water to warm up before watering my peppers and eggplants. I can get a fair amount of watering done before the water turns cold, but I can see how having a water storage tank would be advantageous!
I water in the evening so the plants have time to absorb the water overnight. Haven’t had any issues as a result. In fact my tomatoes and cucumbers are thriving. Good video!
Same here.
I am on the same boat. I have work in the early morning, so I can only water in the evening.
Me too
@imberrysandy the best time to water is really whenever you can, I do it at the worst time around afternoon as that's the only time I can get to the garden, the mulch helps keeps evaporation down though
The environment and plants tell you how much to water not RUclips.
I like to water daily around 7:35am because the light comes in & discourages snail damage post watering. I water in evenings IF needed.
@vsznry I don't water until 9or 10 am. The mosquitoes are terrible until then, even if I wear long sleeves.
I water in the evening for two reasons: first is that I leave for work at 8ish and I'm not a morning person, so I'm not getting up earlier. Second is that in this season, we get heat waves that mean it may not dip below 90 until 8pm. I can't take the heat. So, I water a lot in the evening, but at the base so that it doesn't sit on the leaves.
same here, not getting up early. i bring lights outside and garden from 7pm-midnight when its cool. i cant stand heat. Night watering is better than no watering at all.
I live in Denver where the average humidity is around 20%. Even less on a hot sunny day. I water in the evening. And overhead watering is similarly a non-issue in terms of damp-related molds and fungi as long as the air flow is good. There are also other "rules" that don't apply a semi-arid climate. It's very different from what is needed for gardening where I grew up in the upper Midwest.
I have to do the bulk of my watering in the evenings during most of the week too.
Some days I have to water both in the morning and evening in my climate
Same here. I water in the evening, I leave for work at 5 in the morning, get home around 6 and I like coming home, eat dinner with the family and end my day in the cool evening watering the garden. My wife and 1 ½ year old son join me and it's just solid family time.
I’ve actually learned to water the soil. I have to water everyday right now because if I don’t, the soil becomes hydrophobic because it’s so hot. The plant does well when the soil is doing well.
You can also add in some coco coir into your soil. It made a huge difference for me
“That Goldilocks amount of water, not too much, not too little” 😂 love your phrases
Where I live slugs are a massive issue, and I really do mean a massive issue, watering in the evening is an absolute no as a result. If you water in the evening it just encourages the slugs to come out, something too also bear in mind.
Where/in what growing zone do you live? Best of luck!!
One thing I've learned to help repel slugs even without the evening water (they've been eating my plants all year) is to sprinkle coffee grounds around the base of the plant. I'm not sure how well it works in in-ground plants as I haven't tried it yet, but it works wonders in containers. I just use the used grounds from the coffee I made. You'll have to reapply once a month or so, but you'll be amazed at how effective it is
I don’t have a faucet in the backyard, and mostly have fruits & veggies in pots. I use clay pots with lids buried in the soil to fill them with water and hollow clay ‘spikes’ in the soil, you can put a wine bottle filled with water in it with the neck down into the ‘spike’ so it fills with water and slowly waters the plants.
Water bottles with a few little holes in them, a few centimeters above the bottom, buried in the plant pot, works fine too. It can be refilled and irrigates slowly, so I don’t have to check & water daily.
It really depends on your area how much overhead watering does to your plant. I was from the hotter area a year ago and would always overhead - no issue. I moved a year to a zone lower and closer to the ocean. It gets super humid here but after watering overhead, it gave me so many fungal disease for almost all my plants.
This explains why I keep getting white mildew on my plants. I’m NOTORIOUS about watering over like the rain does.
Thanks.
That's how I do it and mine are all fine. There has to be more to it than that...
@@katie7748maybe humidity?
I just learned that you can mix equal parts of milk or whey with water and spray the plants with powdery mildew and it should help.
@@GoingGreenMom Thank you so much for that.
I have a milk allergy though, and it can’t even touch my skin without me breaking out. So I’ll see about having someone else do it for me.
@@scorpiooct25neem oil
Watering is always an issue for me... I use an irrigation system and have to revise it every year to match my new garden layout and it can bring me so much stress sometimes 😅
I've always watered in the evening. Never a single issue
Ditto 👍
Me too 😊
Benji mentioned you as one of his favorite gardening RUclips videos. This was a great one to start out with, thank you!
Thank you!
I use the finger in the soil test as you demonstrated, seems to work. That and a 1020
tray laying level in the garden as a rain gauge. Sometimes rain is forecast overnight, no
real sign of rain, and there's an inch in the tray, other times the patio is wet, and the tray is damp.
Especially when the plant matures, the leaves can act like an umbrella and the plants
themselves shed the water. The finger trick, however, doesn't lie.
TYFS Kevin
That’s a great idea, thank you for sharing! I’m learning not to rely on forecasts and seemingly wet soil bc sometimes it indeed didn’t rain enough to thoroughly water my plants 😩😅
Soil types are also an important consideration. Here in Atlanta, we have heavy red Georgia clay. To improve the tilth (texture) we add generous amounts of COMPOST. The addition of ORGANIC MATTER to your soil aids in drainage of heavy soils.Many soil mixes that are commonly used drain too well due to the amount of sand in the mix. Adding organic matter like compost helps the soil retain moisture while allowing air to move through the root zone.
Just live in Northern WI this year. I think I've watered stuff like 3 days so far. It keeps raining every other day. I just have to keep up on fertilizing.
Kevin, thank you!!!
QUESTION: I have a question coz I am NEUROTIC about over watering. I have spuds whose leaves are yellowing. The soil does not seem dry. Tony O'Neil said he did not water his spuds due to sickness and still got a good-ish crop. Could you advise please?
Kevin,
The Old Wives' (Gardeners') Tale about not water when the sun's out or it will act like a magnifying glass & burn the leaves always cracked me up. Mother Nature does that all the time & her garden looks just fine. 😊
Not watering at noon due to evaporating is like saying I can’t put gas in Rn cause I got a quarter of a tank when I still have 150 miles to go. Should we run on fumes or should we make sure we got our reserves?
If I could add ... if watering pots and water runs out bottom. Use your fingers to scrunch soil all around to break up gap between soil and pot. Then water, let drain and water again to get soil to expand again.
Forgetting to check this in hot weather has killed many a potted/container plant needlessly.
I’ve had issues with this, water just running through the edges of the pot instead of through the entire soil, and noticed that a big part of the problem is using top soil and mulch. Not sure which of the two (or if using both at once) is causing the issue, but the top layer has gotten caked together so tightly that sprouts have struggled to finally emerge… And I’ve also noticed some mold starting to form, especially in plastic pots! I’ve had to go in with a metal chopstick to poke holes and break up the soil to allow airflow, proper irrigation, and for the poor little babies to finally sprout! Also learned that for plastic pots- the more drainage holes, the better!
Hoselinks customer service is top notch too! I had a hose that kinked and I was unable to retract it more than 25 ft or so. They gave me some pointers that didn't work. Then sent out a brand new hoselink. The guarantee is great! ❤
I’m having the exact opposite experience. My reel is only about a year old and wont retract (and its an 80’ one). Their customer service had me do troubleshooting, which didn’t work. Then they wanted pictures, which I sent. Then they wanted a video, which I sent, and now they are asking me to do the troubleshooting steps again. At this point I may dump the thing in the trash and go with a cheaper alternative.
@@canhope1821 oh no! I did have to submit photos. But they said the hose wasn't fixable so they sent a new one. I'm sorry. Mine was under a year old so it was still guaranteed.
I've told or maybe I should say asked people "when does God water my plants?" Unless it's raining all day long or a front has come in, God waters my yard and plants late in the afternoon, and at night. Most of the good rain that helps my plants grow either happens in the late afternoon or at night. Especially in the summer time.
It's good always you can also use fertilizer over the plants early morning or when the sun goes down.
I soak at the base in the evening and try to keep good airflow I’m in humid Ga, so if I don’t I’ll regret it later
I just worry about chlorine in the tap water. I try to use from my rain barrels only but you're right, it get's old packing watering cans. We are in a hot drought right now.
I have four 55 gallon drums all connected to each other with a well pump from Harbour Freight connected to them. The pump sends water to the hose at house pressure. No watering cans needed😁👍
I just added a sink to our greenhouse and ran a hose to it from the splitter in the garden. It all comes from the pump.
I watered the potatoes too much
Most of them died.☠️😭
Cucumbers seem to be made almost entirely of water.It just sucks up water and quickly becomes dry.😑
But I was able to harvest some mini tomatoes, and they were quite delicious.
It tasted fresh 🥰
Your special tool, the shower elephant, looks very useful.🐘
The tip of the nozzle is hard, so it seems possible to change the angle.🐘
High-tech watering tools
I'm moving my garden to the other side of the house to optimize sunlight better, and my hose is on the opposite side of the house... so I think I might need Hoselink very soon, otherwise I'm going to have a really bad time with my current hose reel lol Thanks for the discount code :D
4 years ago already!? Wow! That went by fast. It seems like it was only a year or 2 ago when you moved
I am a terrible gauger of how to do how much water I need. So if a plant should get 1" of water per week, what does that look like for actually doing that?
Check out the rusted garden RUclips channel. He has a few videos on how to water properly if I remember correctly. Specifically what it looks like to water an inch deep
I count to 30 for each big plant. You can tell you’re watering properly if a) the plant looks like it’s doing well and b) the soil takes in the water.
I made the mistake of not watering enough and my soil had gotten hydrophobic. Took me about a week of watering everyday counting to 30 for each plant for the soil to have no problems taking the water.
I might be too hippy, but I like to overhead mist my plants on hot days to give them some relief. I imagine how it feels for myself.
Hi Epic G dawg. Any experience comparing penetrative watering against surface level watering? By penetrative I mean setting the nozzle to a jet/stream setting so the water gets deeper quicker vs a lighter setting in which the water will take longer to go deeper.
You know I’ve heard that people thought getting the leafs wet during the day would burn your leaves but I never really thought people actually thought they would catch fire just that the focused sun causes damage to the leaf. But maybe that was a joke that just went over my head. If so well done sir.
Im lookong for a guy thats 6'4", gardener, handsome, funny. Im looking for a guy thats 6'4", gardener, handsome, funny. Lol. If you know u know lol
Just planted a whole bunch of vegetables, overwatered my squash that grew in four days had to replant
QUESTION: I'm a brand new gardener. Can I put dead squash & cucumber leaves that have leaf miner trails on them in my compost pile. I know some things that have disease shouldn't be put in the pile but I wasn't sure about these... Thanks!!
I always top water. Unfortunately I don’t have time or the means to avoid wetting the leaves. And I don’t have time in the morning either 😢
I'm not blessed with a green thumb, but can I get a clarification on the soil moisture thing? 4-5 inches before finding dryer soil, doesn't need more water, 5-6 inches hitting dryer soil, needs more water... Am I the only one lost here?(I won't be offended if I am, I'm way more talented at accidentally killing my plants than I am at getting them to grow, thus the need to get clearer ideas on how to stop killing them).
Overwatering...not gonna happen on my balcony! I have to carry the water from my kitchen to balcony probably 30 litres per each watering. I can't find the energy to do it as often as I should. I'm 7 months pregnant so I almost always wait until I see some dry soil in the pots or slightly wilting leaves before I water... If the edges of the soil are separated from the container edge there's no need to even get your fingers dirty. I often water in the evening because it's hard to find the time in the morning and too hot during the day! If the temperatures are over 25 celsius degrees, the temperature in my glassed balcony is 30-40. Luckily my plants can handle it better than me🤭
Eric didn't use Hoselink. That's why he had to be eliminated. Don't be like Eric, be like Kevin.
I just overwatered My marygold and it died... Lesson learned
Ugh same.
So which is harder to recover from... over or under watering? I know plant type & container vs inground etc play a part. But i find over watering is worse 🤷♀️
I was curious about your thoughts on some people not using tap water because of the chlorine. Supposedly the chlorine will kill the microbes in the soil which prevents the plants from growing as well as they could. Also is there a difference in using tap water in plants growing in the ground and plants growing in raised gardens? Thanks.
I have kaffir lime tree and I'm just curious when should I water it and how much should i water it? I live in new England weather and I do bring it inside during cold season. So far since it's summer I took it outside and I been watering it every other day because it's in a pot.
Thank you Kevin and team
I want to find answers on your Birdie beds but your website does not give a place to ask them- only answers to possible questions -
I can’t buy them until I know the answers- could you please help?
Bold of you to assume I'm awake early in the day.
I bought a drip hose for my one garden bed that's always dry, but I didn't realise how long it would take to get the entire garden wet. I guess it's fine since it's set it and forget it.
My area of Cali is about to start 110+ heat for two weeks. I'm watering whenever it needs it. This heatwave sucks
Speaking as someone with attention issues, if I don’t water in the morning, it’s probably not going to happen. I just water it more consistently in the morning.
I was definitely watering incorrectly. Thanks for the video.
Water in the evening. Context: west coast Florida 10a sandy soil. Morning watering is useless and a waste of time and resources.
I would like to mulch my entire yard like yours. But i have a termite problem in the yard. Do you have a problem with termites?
hey kevin. taught me so much. not a homestead plant. brugmansia. what am i doing wrong? Thanks
watering seem to be so complicated. you under water them? you can notice it when the leafs wilt. you over water them? you can notice it when the leafs wilt. as a beginner with no experience is use my finger
I live in germany... these plants will get enough water if they want or not. And i underestimeated how huge tomatoplants get in germany
Thank u dude, I suspected I was watering too much but this makes me certain and taught me so much about watering in general 😊
Does over watering cause blossom end rot? My zuchinis are rotting in the vine- why?
I have been looking at these hoses but seems like a lot of reviews say the retractable part on the inside breaks and there is no way to fix it. Can you honestly say yours has lasted 4 years with no issues? I see the 2 year warranty which is nice. I think most are only 1 year because that’s all they really last for.
7 maintenance things you do for chickens week, 7 every month, and 7 every year.
sometimes i watch these sorts of videos with my head bowed in shame. my poor poor plants. its like hospice for plants at my house
Lot of good tips. Thank you and keep them coming.
Can you talk about how the leaves of your plant can suggest things that are wrong about them?
I always think when should i water, but then i think our creator sends us rain at any time. 🤔
This is super insightful, thank you!
Regular water overhead is not good for us here. . We have high heat and humidity. Especially during the hottest part of the day. Plants burn so easily here. Never had issues with mildew or rot though. I get it’s a myth though. Through trial and error. When I stopped watering overhead. Plants stopped burning lol. I listen to my plants 😂
I mean almost all plants literally control their temperature by releasing water through their leaves. It’s called transpiration. That’s why any area with lots of plants will naturally be slightly cooler and more humid. Google it, you can learn a lot about the thermodynamics of evaporative cooling.
@@Nihlink I definitely understand where you are coming from! I learned about evaporation, conduction, convection and what radiation in college. Most every living thing control their temperature to some degree. For instance, why don’t all humans burn? Because each person has unique mechanisms that can help reduce the chance of burning. As such each plant is unique and each climate is different. For me, my mom, and a few of my family members have experienced burning when watering overhead. For me, it’s mostly fuzzy plants, like certain tomatoes, and squash. When I mentioned watering at the base worked for me, these issues stopped for them as well 🤷🏽♀️ In my backyard with or without these plants we are all roasting 😂 I feel for them Haha. Now the super large trees we have on the other side of our home help cool off that are, but it’s hot as bejesus on this side.
8. Not having a rain water collecting system.
my neighbor was out watering ONLY the leaves of his trees and shrubs this morning... none of the water hit the soil anywhere near the plant - it shot off into the ally behind the house... Unless he was trying to spray pests off the leaves or something but it didn't look like it.
There’s an old guy in my neighborhood who goes out almost daily and sprays his photinia hedge, like he’s washing it off. Seems to have a little dementia. We’re in always-dry Northern Cal, and the waste of water makes me anxious.
What if the sun never sets?
In regards to watering, then you just have to make sure you have good soil with compost which have good water retention ability, and mulch to reduce water evaporation.
In regard to plant growth, if the light is on all the time, then the plants will become stressed and less productive, they need rest from light or more specifically certain wavelengths. It's more complicated than I can describe but from how I understand plants and trees detect different light wavelengths (see: phytochromes) and release hormone in response which regulate their growth and blossoming. Each different plant or tree have their specific optimal requirement. There is a time lapse video of tomatoes growing in a greenhouse showing how the plant grows taller when the lights are turned off at night, and during the day they don't grow, meaning they use the day time to photosynthesize and save energy in the roots system.
Personally at least for indoor growing I would not leave the lights on 24hours.
But what about those of us that can’t go four or five inches deep? 🥺
I put my small tangelo tree in one of your 15gal grow bags. I 100% was underwatering. Oops.
It's much happier now haha.
Thank you. This was very helpful.
How do you stop rain from watering overhead?
Isn’t watering overhead the same thing as…. Rain?
Can you guys do something on turnips and what to do with them?
dude's hose is fancier than my own shower head lmao
I water the soil. Not from above the plant.
Thank you for this incredibly informative video on gardening. Your tips on watering mistakes are very helpful!
so what do you do when it rains at night go out and dry off your plants
Just had to severely cut back my oregano and lemon thyme, they were just not getting enough water for their size and container and the lemon thyme was getting black polkadot spots all over. Now to figure out what the teeny tiny (barely visible to the naked eye, ~1mm or less) caterpillar-like bugs are on my basil. All of them are indoor plants! where did the bugs even COME from? But I have springtails in the soil I bought (MiracleGro Organics Fruit and Veg), so...
And the rosemary is brown leaves at the base but if you scratch the stems it shows green. I just don't get it.
Update: it's thrips. On my grown-from-seed, survived cat predation, finally bigger than the edge of the pot (and stem hardening up) basil!! 😭 They got the thyme first, apparently, as it was a more recent purchase to replace the one that didn't make it past the micro-seedling stage due to the cats. Probably came in with the soil in the store pot.
At least it wasn't my watering that caused it.
what is that purple kale @ 3:30 of the video?
I just ordered TWO 82ft hoses from hose link - EPIC10 ! thanks for the suggestions!
Oh. I don't water my plants at all. Am I doing something wrong? Ha ha. No, I do grow almost completely native plants, so they're made for our weather. But it does rain alot here too. Pretty much the only thing I ever water are seedlings
The “never water overhead” rule has never made sense to me. Like, I’m sorry, am I supposed to be magically controlling the rain???
We need another chicken update pls
😂 i literally top water everything all the time. Also during the evening 😅 I have never had any issues though. The only ones I side water are ones that are prone to falling over. I'm also the "Rain comes from above, and that has been watering plants a lot longer than I have." kind of person. Lol.. That being said, I am in New Hampshire, and humidity isn't terrible here, so things dont stay super muggy.
Summer in GA is plus 95F temperature everyday and to water before 10 am required me to purchase a hose timer, something I did not to buy. Before I watered 2 hours before sunset every other day for the lawn and twice per week for flowers and containers
My cucumbers were thriving and Google said they don't like to much sun so i moved them now half of the pot wilted and is dying. Same with the garlic. It poured rain last week so I moved them to the porch and the upright leaves stems fell over. 😢
Cucumbers are in a fabric bag.
can u plant a egg?? not a actual eggplant but like an egg
Having soil rich in organic matter can really help with watering, since it'll retain moisture better. Mulch is also huge, since that shields the soil from the sun. Though I'll note that you do have to be aware of what you can and cannot use for mulching, when near structures. For instance next to homes and wooden decks, you don't want lots of rotting material that will attract pests (big one be termites) and you also want it to be reasonable permeable, since trapping water can be an issue.
I will also say that with some small containers. A slow watering process also works best, this ensures that the soil actually gets a chance to soak up enough water, so that there won't be a need to constantly water plants. It also helps with saving water. I have a bunch of small planters on a deck, with pretty small reservoirs. So if I water too fast, the water just moistens some of the soil before reaching the reservoirs, quickly fills it up and then flows out the drainage holes that are in place to prevent the planters from becoming foul smelling buckets of mud, while leaving a fair bit of soil that is still too dry.
Another thing with small planters too, is after a few years, they'll just have less soil. Some of that is erosion, even if you do mulch and some of that is just from the plants using the resources in the soil. So it helps to replenish to avoid having gaps that create more surface area that is exposed to the air, while also ensuring there is enough soil to actually retain water.