Effective Watering
Techniques
* by Lauren Thomas
Watering the
garden is one of those things that many gardeners think they are getting right,
but they probably are not. The most common mistake that gardeners make is
watering their plants too quickly.
Typically
gardeners might either turn on a sprinkler system or just use a hose. They see
puddles of water everywhere and think they are getting the job done, but in
reality water is being wasted and it's not even making it down deep to the
plant's roots.
What's
really happening is that the water is being spread out due to runoff. When
water is applied too quickly the soil doesn't have a chance to soak it in. So
the water that can't be soaked in gets spread to surrounding areas. Instead of
the water only being used for the intended plant, it spreads out and waters
weeds. This can waste quite a bit of your gardening time, because you'll be
spending it weeding. With this
big mess of water everywhere it may seem like the plants are really getting
hydrated; however, if you take a shovel and dig down you might be surprised to
find out that the water may have only made it down a couple inches.
Another
downside to applying water too quickly is that puddles form at the top of the
soil. When water just sits there it has a better chance of evaporating, and
that's wasted water that could have been used for your plants. If you happen to
live in a drought prone area it is extremely important to not be wasteful.
The obvious
solution to fixing this problem is to water slowly. Fortunately there are many
gardening tools to help you water slowly without wasting your time and manually
doing it yourself. These tools use drip irrigation to apply water slowly.
Drip
irrigation works exactly how it sounds like it would; it drips the water onto
the soil where it has a chance to soak in. Because the soil actually has time
to absorb the water, very little is wasted and the water has a chance to soak
in deeply.
One of the
main benefits of water soaking deeply into the soil is that the plants roots
are being trained to reach deep into the ground to retrieve water. The water
that makes it deeper also stays in the ground longer than water at a shallow
level. You are helping your plants become more drought tolerant if you give
them an occasional deep soaking instead of frequent shallow watering.
Some of the
tools that you can use to take advantage of drip irrigation include soaker
hoses or drip irrigation systems that include drip tape or individual emitters.
All these options vary in price and complexity. You could have a very simple
hose with emitters or you could install an entire system with a timer.
Soaker hoses
would be a good option for people not looking to spend very much money. Soaker
hoses are porous and the water looks like it sweats out of the hose. An
advantage of soaker hoses is that it is flexible and can bend around plants. A
disadvantage of soaker hoses is that they don't water very evenly. Typically
more water gets emitted towards the beginning of the hose than at the end. They
can also be prone to blowouts if the water pressure isn't regulated.
A drip
system is probably the best way to water a garden. A drip system can be
customized to water exactly what you need and even less water is wasted than
with a soaker hose. Because a soaker hose emits water all along the hose, water
is being wasted on bare areas if your plants happen to be spaced out. In a drip
system you can have individual emitters for plants that are spread out or drip
tape for plants that are more crowded.
If you'd
like to see how drip irrigation works without actually purchasing anything this
can be done using a milk jug. Just fill the empty milk jug with water and poke
a small hole at the bottom with a needle (or something of similar size). You
want your hole to be small enough that the water just drips. Then you can place
it near a plant you would like watered. In fact, this milk
jug trick is great to use if you ever have to be away from your garden for an
extended amount of time.
A drip
irrigation system doesn't have to be complex or expensive. Visit http://gardendripsystem.com to browse
through articles or products that will help you grow healthier plants while
saving water.
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