Gardening Technique Unit Screen//v.1

Plants suffer more from improper watering than from any other cause. Watering is more difficult to master than other gardening techniques because it depends on many variables. The amount of water a plant needs varies with the kind of plant, the soil, the location, and all of the continually changing components of the weather including temperature, humidity, and wind, so it is easy to overwater or underwater. Several methods are commonly used to irrigate plants.

Hand watering: This method involves watering the garden with a handheld hose, usually with a spray head on the end. Hand watering is the simplest method of irrigation. It involves no previous soil preparation or equipment installation. But it is time-consuming, and leads to underwatering because most gardeners do not have the patience to water for many hours at a time.

Furrow irrigation: Furrow irrigation works best when you are watering rows of plants; it is often used in vegetable gardens. Furrows are dug beside plant rows and filled with water. The water is left in the furrows for several hours. Plant foliage stays dry when furrow irrigation is used; only the roots receive water.

Basin irrigation: Watering basins are used mainly around shrubs and trees. A ridge of soil is built to contain the water, then the basin formed by this ridge is filled with water, either from a handheld hose or a bubbler head on a permanent sprinkler system. A few basins can be filled quickly with water, but if many plants are irrigated by hand in this manner, watering may be time-consuming. Plant foliage stays dry when water basins are used.

Sprinklers:Both hose-end sprinklers and underground installed sprinklers irrigate a large area at once. They are most effective when used to water heavily planted areas. Sprinklers are wasteful if they are used to irrigate sparsely planted areas. They are also hard to control in windy areas, and they get plant leaves wet, which may lead to disease problems. But they are effective for delivering water evenly over a large area, and require less time than most other systems.

Drip irrigation: Drip irrigation systems apply the water very slowly, allowing it to seep into the soil. They are left on for many hours at a time, often for 4 to 16 hours a day. Many types of delivery systems are available. If they are properly operated, drip systems do the best watering job because they keep the soil at a relatively constant state of moisture, without the wet-to-dry fluctuations of other methods. Drip systems work best in light soils, and are a perfect solution to watering plants on steep slopes. They do not wet the leaves.

Some methods, including hand watering and some sprinklers, make water puddle or run off long before the soil receives as much water as it needs. Many gardeners stop watering when the soil surface becomes soggy, or when water starts to puddle or run off. This practice wets only the top few inches of the soil. Because the rate of water absorption into the soil is slow, it may take several hours to several days to wet some types of soil 3 to 4 feet deep. To water deeply and prevent runoff, apply water at the same rate at which it enters the soil. If your irrigation system cannot be adjusted to apply water that slowly, use another system, or water until runoff begins, stop watering for an hour, then water again, until the soil has been wetted as deeply as necessary.

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