Albuquerque Heat Wave 2020 Garden and Lawn Watering Tips – Part Two
The 2020 Albuquerque heat wave has led many of us outside to spend time in our Albuquerque home gardens and landscaped patio areas because after the sun goes down things cool off and these Albuquerque home Shangri-La areas pull us in pause, relax and rest after these blazing hot days. However, you must stay vigilant when it comes to watering during these triple digit heat days because they can bring on destruction to your home’s outdoor plants.
Outdoor temperatures from 90 degrees Fahrenheit and above mean plants require watering. The rub comes into play is having the proper knowledge of when the premier time is to water when it is so darn hot outside. Watering in the evening provides ample time for water from watering to sink into the soil around your Albuquerque landscaping plants and for the plant to use it. However, there is a worry that watering in the evening may provide too much time for the water to stay on plant leaves leading to a chance for disease to occur.
During heat waves there are water shortages from time to time. When water becomes completely scarce, plants will start to wilt away. At the start plants can recover when water is provided. However, plants that become completely dried up where all sections of the plant have wilted, the plant will most likely not recover and die. Occasionally plants handle severe drought by dying underneath the ground. Such is the case with garden flower bulbs like tulips and daffodils. Some plants may wilt completely, lose their leaves and plant stalk and stay to live another day by reverting down to seed status.
Plants Must Stay Out of the Complete Sun
It is common knowledge that 99 percent of garden plants and sun must not be given water when there is complete sun, such as the middle of the day. There is an urban legend that wet plant leaves on totally sunny days will result in plant scorch. It turns out that this is not true at all. However, there is no question that watering when the sun is at its complete apex during the day because watering then is no not effective at all. Most water introduced to plants during the full sun will evaporated prior to it getting into the soil and into a plants root system. Watering during the full sun when its hot out or worse yet, during a heat wave, is a complete waste of resource and money.
When it is hot and breezy out, the best time to water your Albuquerque landscaping or gardens is during the early evening. Watering during the early evening provides plants the needed time to become dry and it also provides the time needed by the plant to go through its root system. If you prefer to water at the morning, water early prior to the sun rising.
Effective watering success happens when the soil layers are fully watered all they way down into the root zone. Watering lightly and often causes plants roots to grow shallowly and be drought intolerant. The key is to water plants on a set occasion scheduled basis and completely. Doing it this way will keep the soil from drying out all they way, which makes it far more effective.
Watering the soil instead of the plant is okay but be sure not to permit the soil around the plant to not become hard and impenetrable by water. The best way to not develop hard pan soil around plants is add mulch such as pecan or wood chips or compost
Watch Out, Do Not Over Water
Plants are not receptive to over watering. The dirt surface may be visibly dry, but down below down in the soil, it may not be dry. Plants quite often have a better root system that is most likely bringing in water to the plant that is not visible.
If a plant is not wilting it more than likely is getting the water, it needs to do well. Several types of leafy plants wilt when the sun is up during the day at its highest point to conserve moisture. Later in the day plants will rehydrate when temperature drops occur and then the plants will stop wilting in the process.
Plants growing in containers absolutely need to be water sufficiently. Water in the early evening directly onto the soil itself, not the plant. Be sure to water fully and then wait to water again when there is a sign the plant needs water.
Lawn grass during major heat waves like the one going on now during the 2020 Albuquerque heat wave will dry out and go dormant. Grass lawns can regrow when water like watering or rainwater comes back into play. Be sure to not walk on dormant grass lawns. It will cause bald patches which will require those areas to be reseeded.
Get out there and revel on your patio and around your garden during the Albuquerque 2020 heat wave but be sure to water your Albuquerque home plants and do it wisely and efficiently.