Monday, 12 July 2010 14:44
Question:
How often should I water my plants if they are drought tolerant?
Answer:
We find ourselves answering the same question almost every day- How often should I water my plants? or I water my plants every day and they aren't looking so good. There are many factors involved in figuring out how much to water but one of the easiest ways is to stick your finger a few inches into the soil and see if it's damp and cool. If it is, you don't need to water yet. Most plants need to dry out a little between waterings- wait for the soil a few inches down to feel dry and then give the plants a deep soak. An infrequent but deep soaking will train your plants to have deep roots and go longer between waterings. If you water every day, you're creating plants with shallow roots that will depend on you for frequent waterings. Taking care of plants takes some observation but once you know how long it takes for the soil to dry out you can change your watering schedule to suit the soil and the plant. Watering plants too much will often show the same symptoms as not watering enough because the feeder roots are basically being killed off by either too little water or too much water which keeps the plant from getting oxygen.
I just came across a good rule of thumb for watering a garden with drought tolerant plants- water once a week for the first month of summer, water once every two weeks for the second and third month of summer. Water once a month the second summer and don't water again. That is the key to keeping drought tolerant plants alive- training them to have deep roots, growing them in well draining soil, and not overwatering them. I'm teaching a class on drought tolerant plants in October at the OSU extension office if you'd like to learn more. Call or email if you have any questions and come visit our great selection of drought tolerant plants!
