hi welcome back to garden ninja here in the UK we're in the middle of the heat
wave and I've had a few questions online from people worried about the best way
to water their plants to avoid damage and to make sure that the heatwave
doesn't completely destroy their gardens so I thought I'd do a very quick video
on how and when to water your plants! So
when you're in a heatwave or you've suddenly got a burst of hot weather the
issue with plants like these new ones behind me is that they are releasing
moisture through the leaves in a process called transpiration far faster than
they can get it from the soil and if the soil is dry or there's not enough
moisture content within the soil structure they're gonna struggle start
to wilt and then get stressed. Now one of the myths is that if you water the
leaves of a plant they can act like tiny magnifying glasses and burn the plant
but in the wild these plants aren't really choosing exactly when they're
going to get wet from the rain so that's kind of a massive myth and there's only
a few plants would say hairy leaves or big sort of goblet shaped leaves where
that could possibly happen. In my experience I've never really seen it so
the best way to water plants is either with a watering can or a hose and what I
tend to do is go right down to the base there's no point wetting the leaves yes
it may slow down transpiration but it's just a waste of water and that will
evaporate so even if it's the middle of the day it's red hot the best way to water
is down at the base and give the plant a really good soak because a lot of that
water is going to diffuse through the soil and be missed so you're kind of
needing to overwater it to give the plant the best chance of taking up that
moisture.
Another common mistake is to use a hose pipe and just go all the way across she
plants for a couple of minutes and think job done. The majority of the water is
going to evaporate it's just being wasted so go right down to the base and
water the roots and you've got the best chance of giving the plant the drink
that it so desperately needs! So there's another urban myth that you
can only water at the crack of dawn or last thing at night to save the roots
rising up and getting fried. Again it's an urban myth it just does not happen
the most important thing is that you water thoroughly if you give a shallow
water into a plant then the roots will stay close to the plant they won't go
out to try and find more water sources and this is especially true in new plants.
So it's better to give things thorough soak once a week then a little every
couple of days. Another myth is that a sprinkler like this one are more
efficient than watering by hand now they are efficient in terms of time because
you can set them off go and do something else around the house but in terms of
actual water quality you can a waste an awful lot of the sprinkler a lot of it's
going to go all over the foliage nearby grass paths you're not going to be able
to spot water at all of these so it will save you time but in terms of wasting
water and actually getting to the roots I wouldn't recommend it unless you've
got really large beds to water.
So another point to mention is plants in pots now they're gonna need a lot more
moisture than plants in the ground because they're limited as to how far
their roots can grow to find more moisture so if you put your finger in
the plant parks and it's dry it needs a good water if it's damp you can leave it
alone but do check on your potted plants because they really are at the mercy of
you and how well you water and look after them! So there we have it my speedy guide
as to what to do in a heatwave to water the plants and yes I know a lot of it is
common sense but as always at the Internet there's so many myths out there
I thought it was about time that the garden imager gave you the truth once
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plants in the comments below and I will do my best to answer you back I've been
garden ninja I'm off for a nice cold ice cream happy gardening!