A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 why not water in sun?

Ok, sorry if I'm the only one who doesn't know, but I was reading on the marigold post not to water in the sun...
I have little ones and sometimes the only time I find for peace is during nap time. usually 1-3pm

is the reflection of the water that burns the plants- like sun burn when swimming? or is it something internal? If I soak the soil, but not the foliage is it still bad?

Rellie,
I'm not exactly sure of the reasoning with the water on the leaves, supposedly burned the leaves.
I can't atest to it one way or the other,
but I'm sure someone will pop by with an answer...

The only other reason for NOT watering in the sun time, or noon, it's because of the plant taking up water, they do it best in the morning....

Look at it this way and you're the plant... you've gone all night in the cold and dark,
okay, the days' coming and you'd like a drink of water, cause that's when you can drink the best, and usefullness for the days to get the water into your system.... but no one water's you......
you're HOT, and dry amd tired from standing in the sun and you're just about to wilt.
no one comes along with a drink, it's hot, dry and the dust is getting on you..... you feel yucky.
Finally at night *5 or 6:00pm* someone water's you, but it's getting dark and now you're all wet and it's cold out side, and you want to sleep...
but all's you can think of is it's dark and you've got cold feet, and you're wet...and the fugus' are saying, "hey, this is great, wet and dark and cold, I'll put up camp here...move over nice pretty plant, desease's and bugs are movin' in!" And all thru the night you finally get to the morning you start to dry out again, but now your'e roasting again, cause the water's all gone....

But look at it again, if you get watered in the morning, you're getting a good drink for the day, you're energized, you're getting all that stuff to your viens and tubes into your leaves, you're all set for the day, and then the sun is a nice time, you're not parched, the soils' moist....
and then the day starts to end, and you've had a nice time thru the night, you're reasonably dry and you've slept thru the night, and no desease's come to bug you and if they do you're strong enough to say, "get lost looser" and come morning you're ready for for some more water in the morning....

Watering from 1~3 isn't so bad, it's just the evaporation is really HIGH at that time of day, and if it evaporate's so fast the plant doesn't get much of it, and it only wastes the precious water that is available!!!

Buttttttttttttttttt, if that's the only time you can water, just make sure you tell the girls,
"Water their toes, NOT their nose!!!"
The girls will get a big kick out of that, thinking about noses and toe'es......but that way you keep the water on the ground where it's needed, not evaporating in the air, and stays off the leaves!!!!!

How's that for a explaination?????

Weezie

That was a great explaination weezie!!! My grandmother, (who should have been a master gardener) always told me if you water your plants through the hottest part of the day when the sun is beating down on them, well that they would react just as a person does who spends the day at the lake swimming in the heat of the sun...sunburned. She always told me to water early in the morning or after 3pm when the sun is not so brilliant & the day is cooling a bit...so the plants will still have time to drink up the water & it won't set wet on their feet all night. Your explaintion is great...I am going to make a copy of it & give it to my sister who is always watering her plants at high noon in blazing sun & will not listen to me that this probably isn't a good time. She can't understand why...I think the way you put it will help her to get the idea. Thanks weezie!

Weezie that was a GREAT explanation!!!! I am definately goin to tell the neighbor girls that one. They are over my house pretty much every day asking tohelp, and although the 3 year is is very willing, she's still just a lil bit limited as to what she can do. I just love when they ask me what is this flower....what is that for??? Anywho, busy at work today so have a great day everyone and thanks again weezie!

From my Ortho book of Gardening Techniques:

Weezie and Chrissy have already explained the need for watering at either early morning or late afternoon.

Here's what I think you want to know about "something internal".

The plant uses water to transport dissovled minerals from the soil to the leaves.

Once the water gets to the leaves, some of the water transpires (evaporates) through the leaf underside opening called stomates or stomata; transpiration cools the plant so it can withstand the sun and heat.

Not all of the water evaporates though, some water in the leaves are used in the process of photosynthesis; this process can only occur when the stomates are open. If the plant is stressed due to lack of water, the stomates will close and stops photosynthesis.

Still, other water flows back from the leaves to the flowers, fruits, tips and roots carrying sugars and other chemicals.

So you see, at noon-3pm, the sun and heat could be bearing down and stress the poor plant; and, the absence of water in the leaves could cause the leaves to wilt,(wilting is a defensive mechanism of the plants to convserve water)or sunburn.

Have you tried using "soaker hose" for your plants?

Thank you Weezie and Papito! Both very helpful and informative.

Papito, actually I am going to buy a soaker hose SOON. It is at the top of my list. What I have been doing is turning on the regular hose just past a drip and laying it in the soil, then setting the timer in my house for 5 minutes and going out and inching it down the flower bed, and repeating that till everything gets a good watering. not the best method, i'm sure, but effective. On the days I can actually be in the yard I do the same thing but work on weeding or whatever as i move the hose down.

Hi folks - and a special hi to Rellie (where abouts in Bellflower??? - I used to live across the street from Gahr).

Thanks for the info exchange on watering. Now, in the desert I've done some things a bit differently - - partly due to my work schedule and partly due to when the soil has the best chance to drink up the water rather than lose it into the air.

It's either been soaker hose through a good part of the evening/wee hours of the morning (dark out) or else when I can fill the water rings around the plants - more often than not "noonish". (I work the graveyard shift and get home about 10:30 in the AM.)

Haven't seen a problem with the watering schedule yet - - but what would folks recommend - the late (dark time) watering or the noonish - - between the two?

Thanks

Jon

I read someplace that watering in the heat of the dy doesn't do much good because you will loose 50% of the water due to evporation. My Dad came up with collecting soda bottles, cutting off the bottom and putting them beside the plants. When he would fill the bottles up with water they would drain right to the roots. Gona' try that. By the why-great expl Wezzie!

Moondance,
I did juicy juice plastic juice containers last year for my vegetable garden... Worked great..
Only problem I had was in the accorn area where I couldn't see the container after a while cause the veggie's were so big...
Gonna see if hubby will get me some PVC piping and push that into the ground, and duct tape (101 uses!!) the plastic jug to the pipe and then I'll be able to see where the end of the container is.

Weezie

Jon-
Almost in Norwalk, off Rosecrans and Woodruff

Weezie,

might be a good idea to peforate the pvc pipes before they are attached to the neck of the soda pop bottles... it might help the water to go to both the primary & secondary roots.

Rellie - - got cha. We may have even bumped into each other without knowing it. My ex' family lives real close to your area (behind the strip mall off the freeway on Rosecrans).

The best nursery I ever found in the area - was Andersons - down on Artesia and Rosewood (I think - any way - the signal that is between Pioneer and Gridley). They really knew their stuff there when I used to go there. Went many times between 1970 and 1997 (the later years - when I was home on leave from the army).

Jon