How to tell when your plants need watering, redux
By badbadivy
I asked yesterday about when to water plants, and everyone wanted to know the answer, but nobody really knew. So I broke down and called my dad, the master gardener.
This is how much I love you, Curbliers, because whenever I call my dad for gardening advice, I can count on a three hour conversation about how his roses are doing, how wonderful organic compost is, and myriad other topics that I really don't care about. (Sorry, Dad, I love you, but I know better than to ask you about gardening by now!)
So I was shocked when I called and this conversation occurred:
Me: Hey, Dad. The reason I called was because my tomato plants have yellowing edges on the leaves. I thought it might be related to watering. How often should I water?
Dad: Feel the soil. If it's damp, no watering is necessary. If it's dry, water it thoroughly.
Me: What about other sorts of plants? The Curbliers all seem to have the same problem.
Dad: It works for all plants. Damp soil, no watering. Dry soil, water.
Me: And that's it? No 42 hour lecture about the miracle of drip irrigation systems?
Dad: You're not quite up to the 42 hour drip irrigation system lecture. Just feel the soil. Now if you'll excuse me, my roses are feeling lonely and I need to go talk to them.
So there you have it, Curbliers. Here we all thought there was some major rocket science to watering plants, and there's not. Just feel the soil. That's from the master gardener himself.
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