The temperatures are going over 80 everyday and the rains are long gone. It is that time of year again. I've got to water everyday. There is only about 1/2 a barrel of rainwater left. That needs to be saved for the fish and the pitcher plants. I have to use city water now, which I hate to use on plants. Necessary evil though. To use the least amount of water I have to pay for possible, I do the following.
1. Water deep.
2. Water in the late afternoon
3. Use watering pots
4. Mulch Mulch Mulch
Water deep is pretty self explanatory. An inch at least. Deep roots in cooler soil better for plants.
The "experts" will tell you to water in the morning to avoid fungal problems. Here in Texas during the summer that is pretty much retarded advice. The plants will dry out during the day stay dry all night and pretty much quit growing. Water in the late afternoon, just keep the water off of the foliage. Water the soil not the leaves. Using the watering pot helps with this.
Watering pots are 6" plant containers buried about two inches in the soil. You can see one in the picture of the yellow pear tomato. There is about 2 inches of compost in the bottom of the pot. Fill the pots with water, which then slowly seeps into the ground without running off. I also put liquid fertilizer in them once a week while foliar feeding. Works great.
Mulch, again, is self explanatory. I use half composted hay. Cheap and effective.
Do you have any watering tips?
No, OFB, dragging milk cartoons full of water all over the place is not a tip:)
