Arguments over gardening

[msmob]

I'm not a green fingered sort of guy - never have been ... but appreciate other's efforts to make a nice garden

In the UK I live opposite someone who's made their pile selling plants and owns a lucrative garden centre.

She tells me NEVER to water plants in the heat of the day as this means the droplets can burn

IS this true....?

SC is determined to water the plants when normal folks are having a siesta



Excuse the 'Russian' and my belly

[Boethius]

Yes she is correct. My family were farmers, both sides. The water evaporates. My grandmothers watered their gardens and flowers twice a day, before 10 am and usually around 9 pm but it stays light here for a long time.

[krimster2]

yes! completely true!
the water droplets make little magnifying lenses that focus the sun's rays
it'll produce these little yellow dots on plants

WOT!  an English Gentleman who doesn't garden?
I've continued my family's traditional Hereford English garden
it's why I love touring all the "estates" in the area, they all had amazing gardens
quite beautiful
in Crimea, all you get is kartoshkie, everything's for food, no ornamentals

[Bee Farmer]

It is more a matter of how much direct sunlight you have, rather than being in the middle of the day.  While the two tend to be synonymous, you can water in shaded areas during the middle of the day without as many problems.

Tender leaves, like vegetable plants, get burned worse than tree leaves.

Watering at the base of the plant is acceptable during the day, as it absorbs into the soil quickly without much loss due to evaporation or burning the leaves.

[fathertime]

She tells me NEVER to water plants in the heat of the day as this means the droplets can burn

IS this true....?

 

Drip irrigation bypasses the issue....also helps keep weeds from getting water you don't want them to have!

Fathertime! 

[GQBlues]

I've come to learn that the optimal time to water your plants/trees is early in the morning. Late afternoon or early evenings, especially for outdoor potted plants, is as bad as watering them during the day. Temperature shock is one reason why. It wrecks havoc to the plants physiology. Such dramatic introduction of cooler water when both the plants and the soil are 'hot' promotes plant diseases, fungus and root rot.

Plants generally become dormant once the sun goes down. Its physiological function somewhat shutsdown, thus watering it in the late evenings won't be as beneficial as watering it just before the *sun comes up and the plant wakes up* (hahah, despite the misnomers, you know what I mean).

Rain forests and tropical vegetation are able to tolerate frequent rainfall even when the sun is out because such regions do not have huge disparity in ambient temperature.

Another important thing to remember is 'know' your plants. Especially one that isn't indigenous in your general area. Some plants just cannot tolerate direct root watering. They need to be watered on its driplines. While others - vice versa.

Unfortunately, for many of us metropolists, we and the plants we care for, will always be under assault by modern living. Chemicals, like flouride, chlorine, etc..that is infused in our domestic water supply will have an impact unto your plant's overall health. Certain regions that have 'hard water', like we do, must also exercise additional care. Especially when 'misting' your vegetation.

When I water some of my potted plants, I refrain from direct watering, and instead fill the bowl underneath. This minimizes calcium and magnesium deposits in the soil, plants and its roots. This also promotes deeper rooting.

[BillyB]

main reason to water evening and morning is less evaporation which mean plants get more water and less water wasted.

Never heard about the water droplets burning plants and harming them theory. Science hasn't bought into that theory. I've seen many days where it rains and the sun comes out right after and plants are doing fine as they've always for millions of years.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100111091226.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2016/06/07/4475079.htm

http://www.livescience.com/6017-water-drops-magnify-sunlight-burn-leaves.html

[msmob]

Thanks to all for taking the time to respond..

It is clear that some of you are keen gardeners and really know your stuff - respect

Now - to sit down, turn on the translator and let SC read the comments ...well most of 'em ..

Some folks read and understand the question

[krimster2]

oh billy beeeeeeeeeeeee

go to google and type in the following "water droplets burning plants" without the quotes
what is the VERY FIRST THING that pops up?
my grandpa taught me this when I was a little boy, even showed me what the damage looks like

[BillyB]

oh billy beeeeeeeeeeeee

go to google and type in the following "water droplets burning plants" without the quotes
what is the VERY FIRST THING that pops up?
my grandpa taught me this when I was a little boy, even showed me what the damage looks like

I worked on a large farm as a teenager and my grandparents were pro gardeners who sold their products. Never heard about water burning plants. I've heard about when to water plants morning and evening for the benefit of the plants and water conservation but that is all. If you find a scientific study that says so, I'll consider the theory. I found a few valid studies that don't agree with water drops burning plants. That's all the time I have for this issue.

[krimster2]

here ya go:

http://www.livescience.com/6017-water-drops-magnify-sunlight-burn-leaves.html

pretty much the first thing off google for "water droplets burning plants"

my grandpa was once the head gardener of one of the wealthiest estates in south western England
and even though he only had a 10th grade education, had several of his papers published in the Massachusetts Horticulture Society on cultivating orchids after coming to the US
everything I know of the subject of gardening I learned from him as a little boy
would ALMOST consider publishing a pic of my garden, but that's much more personal than pics of my children

[BillyB]

here ya go:

http://www.livescience.com/6017-water-drops-magnify-sunlight-burn-leaves.html

pretty much the first thing off google for "water droplets burning plants"

That link is what I posted. The study says if the leaves has hair and the hair holds drops of water above the leaves, it can burn the leaves. Not too many leaves have hair and hair doesn't hold water drops often. For the minute amount of water hair can hold, it would quickly evaporate on a hot day. How many of you quickly wipe off the water droplets on your skin when the sun comes out of fear of getting burned? Plants are much more resilient since they spend all day out in the sun. If we aren't worried about ourselves, then plants will be fine.
According to the study in the link, there is no burn when water sits on the leaves.

I've heard many times in the FSU if you add ice into your drink, you will get sick. I've shocked and amazed a lot of people adding ice into my drink and not getting sick.

[GQBlues]

Thanks to all for taking the time to respond..

It is clear that some of you are keen gardeners and really know your stuff - respect

Now - to sit down, turn on the translator and let SC read the comments ...well most of 'em ..

Some folks read and understand the question

I specifically didn't address that simply because there's no proven science that 'watering during the day/droplets burning leaf' is a fact. There are a multitude of tropical plants that get bursts of torrential rainfall, even when the sun is out, and none of its leaves burn. As do varieties of coastal vegetation that receives moisture via coastal fog, all the way to midday, that doesn't get affected either.

Subscribe at your peril.

[msmob]

No, you read the question just fine, thanks!

[krimster2]

Optics of sunlit water drops on leaves: conditions under which sunburn is possible

http://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03150.x

scientific confirmation published in 2010, the images of the damage to leaves EXACTLY matches what my grandfather showed me when I was a child
another UK relative showed me how to take a blade of grass, loop it, dip it in water so that a drop "hangs" from the loop, suspend it above kindling and slowly ignite the kindling in direct sunlight