Wow, that rain was an instant mood booster! Great news as we gear up for Fall gardening! Now that we’ve had some rain, it’s important to maintain that depth of moisture. Here are a few continued watering tips to be sure you make the most of it.
Remember: It’s easier to maintain depth moisture than it is to create depth moisture. It’s important to continue to water slow and deep to get water to the roots where it’s needed. For lawns, we recommend continuing to water deeply once a week. A long, deep soaking once a week is appropriate through mid-October.
This holds true for established landscape plants as well. Check them for water needs once a week and water accordingly. Keep in mind that new plantings (veggies, flowers, shrubs, trees) will need water daily for the first 2 weeks, then twice a week for another 2 weeks, then you should be able to taper down to once a week once their root systems are more established.
Pro tips:
- Use a moisture meter – poke it down into the root ball to check for depth moisture.
- Water at ground level, don’t spray from above. A long watering wand makes this a lot more fun.
- Plants in pots/containers need watering from twice a day to once a week in these temperatures, depending on variety and location – check them more often!
2 Comments on “Use the Recent Rain to Your Advantage – Maintain Depth Moisture!”
What are the top 4 plants that you would recommend to plant in large pots? Most of the annuals I tried did not make even though I watered them daily? Would gold dust potentially work?
thanks
Rich
Rich, not enough info. What area are you in? Full sun? Wind? Type of potting mix? And there is more than one plant known by the name of gold dust. Do your pots have good drainage out the bottom? Some pots have no drainage hole, some pots have enough debris under the hole that they form a seal with the tile or concrete beneath. If we disregard these other factors and focus only on what is happy with the current heat, then Samba portulaca would be one of many good choices. I planted 2 big pots, 32″ diameter, with that in spring, they are full of blooms right now.