Water Your Plants the Way They Want to Be Watered

The time to make a plan for watering your garden is now, when you're designing and installing said garden, not when your plants are thirsty. Water is, of course, an essential part of the kitchen garden setup. Vegetables love consistent water that’s as close to rainwater as possible. Most of the edible plants you'll grow need about 1 inch of water per week.

Plants thrive with a reliable routine, so let's plan a watering system that will help you water your plants on a schedule. We'll start by looking at the three key principles of watering your garden and why they're critical to your success.

One: The Best Water Source for Your Garden

It probably goes without saying, but rainwater is best. Rainwater has dissolved minerals in it that you won't find in the water that spews from your faucets. Most home tap water has been treated with chlorine and other additives to ensure that we’re not drinking anything that could cause us harm. But sometimes those chemicals can interfere with the growth and health of plants in our garden. Using rainwater helps us avoid that, plus we get all the nutrients our plants are expecting.

So how do we go about putting rainwater to good use? It doesn’t have to be complicated. You could simply have rain barrels attached to your gutter system to grab all the runoff from your home, if possible. You can simplify it even more by leaving your watering cans or some buckets outside to catch the rain. If you’re working with a small bed size, a few filled containers could be the water supply for your garden for a week or more.

Two: The Best Time to Water Your Garden

You obviously can’t control the timing of rainfall, but you can control when you’re doing the watering yourself.

Water on a Schedule

First, make sure that you’re watering consistently, especially if your weekly rainfall is hit or miss. Plants—like us—prefer to eat and drink on a regular basis. By giving them a consistent watering schedule, you let your plants feel safe to keep growing to the next level. When they get a little drink every other day or every third day or so on, that consistency gives them the signal to grow fruit and flowers and whatever their DNA has set them up to be able to do.

As you can see, setting up a consistent schedule is very important. It’s also helpful to us, so that we can set a schedule we can stick to.

Water Early in the Morning

When it comes to timing, it’s not just consistency, but also the time of day. My recommendation is always to water your plants early in the morning. This gives them a nice drink to prepare for the heat of the day and the bright sun shining on them, while they are less stressed and well-rested.

You also want to make sure you water near their roots so that they’re able to draw on that moisture during the heat of the day. I generally don’t recommend watering at night because that’s the time when the pests are coming out to feast, especially the insect-type pests like slugs and snails that thrive in the cool, wet, and dark.

Water Deeply

Another watering tip is to water deeply and less often, rather than more often and shallowly. This encourages the roots of your plants to dig down deep instead of staying near the soil surface.

Three: The Best Direction to Aim Your Water

Most gardeners love to water from the top. There's something about seeing all those beautiful leaves covered in drops of water that's so magical!

But here's what's not so magical: Wet leaves can end up with mildew, mold, fungus, or disease. Water droplets can also scorch the leaves if they're present during the brightest part of the day.

Keep your leaves dry by watering down at the soil line, right over the roots. That’s where your plants need it most.

Another benefit of moving away from overhead spray watering is that you’ll save water, as you lose more than a third of that water to evaporation.

So don't forget to save rainwater, water consistently (and preferably in the morning), and aim your water at the roots.

Now that we’ve talked about the principles of watering, it’s time to discuss the different watering systems to consider setting up in your own kitchen garden.

Watering by Hand

The first option is the most basic, and that is simply watering by hand. You can water with a can using rainwater you’ve captured, or you can use a hose and spray nozzle or wand.

The primary benefit of watering by hand is that you’ll avoid overwatering (because it can be a chore to do). You’ll also be aware and responsive to rainfall, watering only when you need to. The downside is that it may happen less consistently, and there are going to be times when your plants are stressed because you just didn’t head out to water them when you should have.

For best results, use a spray attachment that enables a soft spray (think about imitating raindrops), rather than a hard and forceful one. There's no need to power wash your garden soil.

Ollas/Oyas

An oya is an ancient way of watering your raised garden bed using a porous vessel like a terracotta pot with a closed bottom. To use an oya, you'll need to plan ahead and set these into your garden below the soil surface near the roots of your plants. You’ll fill them up with water, and as the soil dries, it will pull the water through the terracotta and release it into the soil right at the roots.

Oyas have a little top on them, so they are easy to fill. An oya is a fun way to keep your garden watered where it counts, but they will require some consistent effort for you to keep them filled up. I had to refill mine almost daily during the hottest part of summer.

Another drawback is cost. You’ll need an oya every 2 to 3 square feet or so in the garden, so it’s easy to see how quickly the costs could add up. However, if you have one box or a patio planter, this might be a fun (and consistent) option for you. You can keep your roots watered without having to worry about hand watering.

Spigot Connection

The third option is to connect a system to the outside water spigot for your house. If you have planned out your garden using Part 1 of our How to Start Your Garden Series, then you’ve already mapped out where your water sources are. You can create your own irrigation system that’s connected to that spigot with just a timer, a two-way water shut off, and a hose. Using the two-way shut off will allow you to have your hose running to the garden while leaving one side free for another hose for household use.

There are tons of inexpensive drip irrigation kits and soaker hoses available for purchase online and in stores. Drip systems will need to run 2 to 3 times longer than a normal spray irrigation system would, but you'll actually be conserving water and getting moisture to the place you want it most: the roots.

This is a happy medium between hand watering and having to install a formal irrigation system. And with the addition of the timer, you can automate this task and fine-tune it for your needs. Just make sure to check the battery on the timer frequently. If you don’t pay attention and the battery runs out, it could mean bad news for your garden. You'll also need to intervene and turn off the timer from time to time to adjust for rain.

Formal Irrigation System

The final system you can use is a formal irrigation system. In this case, you’ll want to hire a professional such as a certified irrigationist to help you. These systems are hardwired and plumbed into your house with timers and sensors, so they are very consistent and reliable.

The downside is they're the most expensive, and if you haven’t installed a rain sensor, you could end up overwatering your garden. You'll also need to adjust your system each season to prevent under- or overwatering.

Let your specialist know that your preference is to keep the water spray low and focus on the roots of the plants, not the leaves and fruit. I truly believe that hiring an irrigationist is worthwhile if you're interested in automating your water system. It's great to know it's done right the first time.

Choose the System Best for You and Your Garden

There is no perfect system, and our weather isn’t as predictable as it’s been in the past. That means that we still need to pay attention to whichever system we choose to make sure our garden thrives. Make your decision based on which system best suites your budget and your lifestyle. Keep in mind that consistency is key, and you'll be well on your way to gardening success.

Next up, it's time to get to know your climate a bit better so that you can nail the timing in your garden, another key to success.