10 Common Watering Mistakes (to Avoid)

Watering is a basic gardening task that can lead to problems if not done correctly. Gardener Scott offers 10 common watering mistakes that most gardeners make, presents how to fix problems, and water your garden for more success. (Video #383)

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[eayers]

As an emeritus master gardener, I thank you for telling everyone that their mileage will vary. People think if someone says to do "this" that is what they should do. No! Growing zones is part of it. Every area is unique. Soil type, temperature, humidity, drought, rainfall, etc. changes everything. My front side garden is totally different from my backside gardens. Plus I'm growing in containers. A friend lives about 15 miles from me and is growing in the ground, but she put a few plants in pots. That's not the same as growing in ground. I water my containers lightly and then go back 20 mins later and drench them. That's because the first watering will often slip through the pot without moistening the soil. The second watering will do more for the plant. Hanging baskets often do better being submerged in a bucket of water until they have stopped bubbling. My growing season in Virginia is twice as long as Colorado's and it's also hotter and more humid here. I'm getting ready to plant my fall crops as I harvest my garden. You'd think I'd know every trick of the trade. No, I don't. Maybe I just know how to hide my mistakes. It's called replant!

[simplifygardening]

I always say to water deeply and less frequently. It forces roots to drive down lower which protects them from fluctuations in temps and humidity. Help prevents plant stress and disease

[VictoriousGardenosaurus]

Dealing with daytime temps well over 100 degrees, and we haven't seen rain in weeks. I have combatted my situation in a number of ways.
1) i grow a very tight garden, where it is quite difficult to maneuver. Heavily composted and regular feedings to avoid nutrient deficiencies.
2) I have planted mammoth sunflowers at the south and west ends of my garden to provide shade.
3) Lots and lots of straw mulch.
4) I use milk jugs as ollas, to provide a short term drip.
5) I aquired used 55 gallon barrels and poked a small hole near the bottom of each. I fill them up in the mornings, and they help to slowly soak the soil.
6) I grow my salads in near full shade

[beckyjo]

I definitely started off over-watering. I got very comfortable with putting my finger in the soil. I also didn't mulch my bed. Man, I'm glad I know now. Next spring is going to be awesome!

[jwstanley]

Thanks Scott. As always, organized, on topic, clear and accurate. Gardening can get awfully complicated, and you really help to give me, and so many others, the encouragement we need to keep gardening, and not give up. So, thanks much.

[alreynolds]

Your information on incorrect information for my zone is great. I never gave that a thought. I’m in central Illinois and will pay more attention to where my information is coming from. Keep the information coming.

[heidiclark]

That was a great video on watering! I love the thorough explanations. After all these years of garden long I still learn a lot from your videos. I never mulched my beds before I started watching your videos. Now every bed is mulched. I have read that stressed plants cells in their leaves make a noise that insects can hear and it directs those insects to those plants.

[thedukeofagita]

So many spot-on points. Everything you hit on are exactly the unique CO conditions we face in our garden.
Now if we could only get a good soaking rain.
We’ve really had no substantial moisture since the late-May snowstorm. Storms tend to pass around us, we’re in a weird dry donut. I think Mt. Evan’s bisects the storms coming from the west and they don’t realign until just east of us. It’ll rain well a mile north, east and south of us, while the sun shines above us and to the west. Not always, obviously, but often enough to see the pattern.

[leslienichols]

Thanks Gardener Scott. A period of really hot weather in Colorado for sure.

[Sparrow]

Hey Scott, love your videos.

About burning the plants because of water on the leaves (14:00 ish),
I don't know how hot the water needs to be to burn the leaves as you said, but I think the main difference between water on the leaves from rain to water on the leaves from human-watering is the lighting conditions.

When it rains the sun is usually covered by clouds and not very bright in general.
But when you water it's never raining (or you need to get mentally checked), and if the sun happens to shine bright at that time you can have a lensing effect from the water drop, concentrating the sunlight on one spot and burning it like you would with a magnifying glass.

[johnjude]

Best Gardener I've met except for planting almost never water. Believe in deep roots if watering roots are shallow. He had a beautiful garden 😍

[sciencesaves]

This year I setup a watering system with a timer. Holy hell! What a game changer! I just bought cheap 50’ hoses, laid them on the ground all around the yard and garden, positioned the hoses near the roots of the plants I need watered and I drilled holes in the hose where they need it. Attached the hoses to a timer, and VOILA! The whole yard gets watered, easy peasy. And I put down lots of mulch this year. I also installed a 30% shade cloth over the entire garden and yard, it has really shielded my tomatoes, lettuces and herbs. I haven’t lost a single plant this whole season, I’m very happy with the setup

[austintrees]

That thick mulch around a tree section is great info.... I'll have to check mine

[bradseward]

Thanks for the timely info as we've had quite a stretch of hot weather here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

[sharondwhite]

When and how to water has been my biggest question since I began gardening last summer. This is the best watering video i have seen. Also, to address the water on the leaves issue burning them. Couldn’t it be that rain doesn’t burn the leaves even when hotter is because the air is humid? However when water from a hose, etc. hits the leaves in lower humidity conditions, maybe the leaves can burn with that dryer air. I’ve never heard anyone address this concept of leaf burn. Yes I have had scalding water come out of my hose even early in the day so I have learned to check. My Bermuda grass doesn’t care. Ha.

[LuvGarden]

Very informative. You made a couple very important points I never took into consideration.

[nickthegardener.]

I've been filling my daughter's paddling pool with hot hosewater.👍

[sunnyseacat]

Hoses: to cool my hose down: I keep it submerged in a big plastic tub filled with enough water to cover it. Also, placing white sheets or another type of covering on the hose might keep it cooler than not doing that...
Great video! Thanks.

[fel]

Hi Scott how are you doing today iam doing fine today thank you for sharing stay safe 🎉😂🎉

[frankbarnwell____]

Had to chime in about the hot water from the hose. I work at a Lowes garden center. I wait, and feel the hot water from 200ft of hose before applying it. Even if the hose had been shaded. Hose stored near concrete or brick can make it too hot.