Watering plants in extreme heat is becoming more difficult as the climate appears to change, especially for new gardeners. Old methods and tips don’t cut it anymore and have become a severe dilemma in keeping plants alive and healthy during harsh summer months.
With summer approaching faster than ever, right now is the perfect time to gather foolproof ways to keep plants alive and healthy during the heat waves. Keep reading to learn how to avoid leaves burning, plant dehydration, and more.
Contents
List of Options for Watering Plants in Extreme Heat
1. Schedule the Watering a Bit Early
The greatest time to water your garden in the summer is between the hours of 6 and 10 am. Watering during this window gives your plants plenty of time to absorb the water, and any remaining moisture on the leaves will have time to evaporate before dusk.
– Cautiousness
Probably the worst time to water plants is in the afternoon, but if you must, do it between four and seven pm if early watering is not an option. Avoid watering your garden at night unless you live in an arid region since the cool, moist weather may attract pests like earwigs, sow bugs, slugs, and snails.
Overall though, don’t worry if all you can manage is a midday watering; any water is better than none, and the common misconception that watering your plants on a hot, sunny day can harm them has been disproved by science.
Moreover, you must also be cautious of some incidents of sunburn, which would be produced simply by overexposure to the sun, not by water droplets meant to magnify the sun and scorch the leaves. Sunburn frequently manifests as bleached regions on the foliage of young plants, heat-sensitive plants, and distressed under watered plants.
– Avoid Midday Watering
Leaf scorch is not a good reason to avoid watering these plants in the middle of the day in the scorching hot sun. The soil and air are cooler in the morning, which reduces evaporation. Due to the lack of wind, water is not lost to wind drift.
And most crucially, when the sun is at its strongest, plants are less likely to experience heat stress, which makes it harder for them to absorb water. In conclusion, watering your plants in direct midday sunlight is acceptable but not the best strategy.
2. Water Your Plants Thoroughly
In times of high heat, plants require thorough hydration, just like people do. This is particularly true of plants grown in outdoor containers and newly planted trees and shrubs that haven’t yet developed strong roots.
– Ways to Promote
You must water plants according to their needs and how much would they resist. It is more likely for container plants to dry out rather than their in-ground counterparts, especially those in smaller pots, fabric pots, clay pots, and baskets coated with coco fibers or sphagnum peat moss.
These indoor plants need extra care throughout the summer and may need to be watered daily or even three times a day, because remember that when the weather is too hot, then, the humidity would be higher, because of the precipitation. The first two inches of potting soil should be watered when dry. If your container is small or porous, you’ll need to water it more frequently.
What you may also do is to give it a thorough deep soak up to three times each week benefits both annual and perennial plants in the ground. Roots are prompted to grow deeper and stronger and are shielded from the dry soil surface when water is allowed to permeate steadily and completely into the soil, in this case the ideal depth would be of at least six inches.
Always keep in mind that lengthy soaks are preferable to light sprinkles. Reduce the likelihood of runoff and evaporation by directing the water to the root zone of your plants, where it is most needed.
– Check for Signs
How can you tell that your plant needs water when the weather is extremely hot? In these cases, you should create a plant in your garden that will serve as an “indicator” with broad, or try to check for some parched looking signs that the plant would start showing, succulent leaves that are more likely to experience drooping when the soil is dry.
On the other hand, melons and squash are excellent indicator plants because of how quickly moisture is lost from their leaves. When the leaves on your squash begin to droop, your garden probably needs a thorough soak.
– Benefits
Your plants may become covered in a thin coating of dust in dry, windy conditions, hindering their capacity to photosynthesize successfully. A rapid burst of water can naturally eliminate pests like aphids, which are more likely to attack heat-stressed plants, and if you think about it, this can be a major accomplishment. Lastly, a fast, cool shower can bring some respite to a wilting plant since it lowers leaf temperature and guards against heat trauma.
3. Promote Higher Levels of Humidity
During dry, hot weather periods, plants that enjoy humidity, such as ferns, ginger, hibiscus, and elephant ears, should be misted often. The “flower” or “soft wash” setting on the nozzle is ideal for providing these moisture-loving plants with a delicate, even spray of water.
– Ways To Promote
If the weather is especially windy, you might need to sprinkle the plants several times daily and water them again in the late afternoon to raise the humidity. To improve humidity, potted plants should be clustered together. They also benefit from being put under the canopies of larger plants or trees.
What you can do in this case is to mist the plants, if you do not wish to risk any overwatering then you may mist them because this way you will be adding extra layers of moisture and humidity in the air, and these are not too much water, only a couple of drops. You may also increase the humidity through a humidifier, or by a pebble tray.
– Benefits
While drenching plants in a good soak during the summer is necessary, misting here and there will aid their growth in harsh summer months. It would help the plant get its necessary amount of water, without being harshly irrigated, and without any diseases that would damage the plant in the long run, such as aphids, or even root rot.
4. Protect Plants That Need Shade
The effects of a heat wave are most severe on newly planted plants that haven’t had time to form sturdy root systems, such as drought-tolerant plants that, contrary to common perception, require frequent watering for the first year as they establish.
– Ways To Promote
If your plants are in pots, transfer them to a yard location that receives afternoon shade. What you can do is to transplants these greens in the garden where they will only receive dappled light or afternoon shadow once they have been hardened off is recommended for those that need to be planted as soon as possible. You can use shade cloths for rooted plants as well.
– Benefits
The sun can multiply the heat your plants absorb, so shielding some of the heat-sensitive planters can go quite a long way in helping you keep them alive during heat waves.
Moreover, remember that you may not know when this heat will come to a peaceful state, which means that you should not move your plant from any way possible, unless you are sure of it. If you leave them in the heat for a long time, they would get sun burnt, and in order to avoid this issue, it is best to take measures, and to water them somewhere safe, that is not in the sun.
5. Drip Irrigation
Plants may semi-dormitate in response to extremely hot soil temperatures, which is when it is over 85 degrees Fahrenheit, in which case they use very little nutrition since they aren’t ready to use it, this would mean that the plant needs your attention because it is not getting sufficient water. What you can do is to adopt a drip watering system.
– Ways to Promote
What you can do is to install some hose where the water will pass, and poke some holes with needles on the sides. When you feel like the plants are not getting enough water, you may turn the water tap on, and water will flow perfectly well.
– Benefits
The benefits of having this system is that the plants will get proper amount of water, especially when the amount is coming slowly, but at all times, then the roots will not be prone to die, and the water won’t come excessively.
6. Try to Keep Maximum Amounts of Moisture in the Ground
An organic mulch, such as shredded bark, arborist wood chips, or straw (not hay, as you don’t want to spread all those weed seeds throughout your garden), retains moisture, smothers weeds, controls soil temperature that keeps plant roots cool in the summer, and gradually enriches the soil with nutrients as it decomposes.
– Ways To Promote
Mulch should last you through one entire season after its initial application, but you should reapply it as necessary all year long. To protect the soil from the heat and sun during really hot weather, don’t be afraid to put it on thick—up to four inches if necessary.
– Benefits
The more moisture retained inside the ground, the better chances your plants have at surviving and thriving during excessive heat. Dehydration is not only common but extremely difficult to escape during summer. By keeping as much moisture locked inside the ground, you protect your plants that much more and give them a chance of ideal growth.
Additionally, it stops soil from splashing on the leaves when watering, lessening the spread of disease and whatever fungus and bacteria are still present in the soil. Mulch should be applied on top of the soil in a two- to three-inch layer; take care not to pile it up around the bases of your plants, as it can hold too much moisture against the stems and lead to rotting.
Conclusion
Most plants survive the toughest and roughest of conditions given to them. But with the proper care, anyone can grow healthy plants anytime, anywhere. When it comes to summer heat, you have to be extra careful when caring for your plants. Top tips like:
- Watering your plants early in the day is a better choice to do when the weather is extensively hot.
- Having a set water schedule to stick to would be a great option, in addition to drip watering.
- Keeping some plants away from direct sunlight to avoid dehydration, you may try to mist them to keep the place moist.
Can all help you achieve your gardening goals in no time? So which of these tips will you be implying from now on?
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