Water Your Plants

Probably the most important thing to consider for garden beds is watering. How much water do my plants need? How will the plants and beds get that water? When it rains, how does that affect my watering schedule? Can too much water hurt my plants? Yes, a resounding yes to that last question. Hopefully it goes without saying, but too little water is also bad.

I am going to lay out some ground rules for plant watering and explain how GardenBuddy can help you simplify some of the calculations related to watering your plants.

How Much Water Do My Plants Need

The general rule of thumb is one inch of water per week. More generally, make sure your soil is moist but not soggy. But, like most things in life, rules of thumb get more complicated when you want to do things correctly.

Take, for instance, watermelon. Watermelon is one of the most water-hungry crops in a typical garden. Watermelons generally need 1 to 2 inches of water per week all the way up until about 2 weeks before you harvest the melon, when water needs drop significantly. Some gardeners will stop watering altogether, while others simply cut back sharply. The commonality is that 1 to 2 inches is no longer the recommendation. The sugars in the melon fruit will concentrate when you reduce the water during the ripening stage. This is crucial if you want to have a sweet melon.

Seedlings require a small amount of water daily or every other day. Basically, they need just enough bottom watering — watering the seedling in the cell from a tray filled with water — to keep the soil moist but not waterlogged or overly damp. Once they are potted up — moved into a bigger pot to allow the roots to develop — they will need more water since the volume of soil has increased. Generally, bottom watering is still helpful if you are only moving them into a 2-, 3-, or 4-inch pot. Top watering can be successful here, just make sure not to waterlog the plant or damage the stem. Once they are potted up into a one-, two-, or three-gallon pot, they can be top watered safely from a can and again will require more water due to the volume of soil. When you begin to harden off your plants, the general guidance is to water less frequently to acclimate the plant to tougher outdoor conditions.

Further, as mentioned previously, weather patterns will change the frequency of watering. In my home state of Texas during the deep summer months, more frequent watering may be required. The average high often reaches over 100 degrees Fahrenheit for several days if not several weeks on end. A shade cloth can be highly beneficial in such cases. I lost a tomato plant last year under the premise that full sun always meant full sun. Be prepared to protect your plants if you live in a climate with harsh summers. Mulch is another strategy that is often employed in my area to prevent loss of moisture in the soil. A combination of shade cloth and mulch is another great way to keep your beds moist and protected.

Not only do weather patterns and development stages affect the needs of the plant, but each plant variety also has different base requirements. Generally, one inch of water per week is a good rule of thumb but it is not the perfect amount for each species of plant.

How Does GardenBuddy Help?

The main intent in developing GardenBuddy was to solve niche problems like this one. To help solve the more complicated and finer points of watering in your garden. Beyond just providing the raw water requirements of each plant species GardenBuddy seeks to distill the science to a simple “water this much this often” answer for you.

The first piece of the equation is already accomplished. I scraped data from across the internet to compile water requirements per plant, although not at each growth stage. Maybe that part can be a future update to GB. The second part of the equation, the frequency, is mostly in place. The app allows for planning irrigation lines and calculating a watering schedule. At some point, I would like to add push notifications and Google and Apple Calendar integration to fully offload the chore from your mind into the app.

The watering schedule, for now, is mostly heuristic — rule-of-thumb oriented. You can enter the previous week’s rainfall, and the irrigation lines you have set up are considered and a calculation is performed. The result is a simple direction of how much to water your garden bed. Don’t forget, you are still in control and should always trust your own judgment.

Everything is calculated per bed — emitter efficiency, total plant water requirements, emitter flow rate. For this reason, it is ideal to set up your beds in the app properly. If you try to model your entire garden in a single bed you will likely run into problems with the more advanced features because the nuance can quickly get out of control.

The Biggest Takeaway

One of the hardest parts of watering is learning what your plants are telling you. Wilted leaves do not always mean a plant needs more water. Soggy soil, yellowing leaves, and stunted growth can all be signs of overwatering. On the other hand, dry soil several inches down, drooping in the morning, or blossom drop during intense heat can point to underwatering. Before reaching for the hose, it helps to check the soil itself rather than relying on the look of the leaves alone.

To check your soil, you can do a simple finger test. Dig with your index finger about two to four inches down. If the soil is moist, you are probably good. If the soil is wet or dry, adjust your watering accordingly. Avoid disturbing the plant by digging away from the stem.

You may also want to check your drainage. If you have raised beds, did you tarp between the native soil and the raised bed soil? Do you know what kind of native soil you are contending with? Clay tends to not let water penetrate while sand will simply let the water run right through. Sandy loam is common in many areas, including my own in North Texas, and is great for drainage and usually pretty good for moisture retention, depending on the amount of sand. Loam, a balance between sand, silt, and clay, is the ideal soil type for growing just about anything. Gardeners often work for years amending their soil to get to a state of loam. Hence the use of raised beds.

If you take only one lesson from this post, let it be this: learn to read what your plants are telling you. Water is one of their most important needs, and the soil around the plant is often the clearest indicator of whether you are getting it right.