By Jeff Favelle July 17th, 2023
Water is the lifeblood of our gardens. Comprised of over 90% of it, plant tissues and cells use water to carry out nearly every life function. Its no surprise that watering our plants is so key to having successful crops as well as harvests.
Just like us, plants are mostly made up of simple water!
What is surprising however, is just how much the time of day has an effect on this success!
If we break up the day into logical sections, there are 3 key times we COULD water. Morning, afternoon, and night. Only ones of those however, is when we SHOULD water…let me explain why.
There’s one key time of the day to water your garden…
Hands down, the best time of day to water your garden, is in the morning. There’s 3 main reasons for this and the first of those is fortification. Watering in the early hours of the allows your plants to uptake all the water they need to fortify themselves for protection against the heat of the day to come. Being prepared for the heat rather than wilting and then playing catch up means a way healthier crop all around.
Wilting is a physiological response to drought/heat
The second reason to water in the morning is that it is more efficient. In the cool, early hours of the day, less water is lost due to evaporation meaning more water makes it to your plants and their roots, rather than being lost to the atmosphere. This is key on those really hot days where you can lose half or more of the water before the plants even just a chance to use it!
Watering in the morning reduces the amount lost to evaporation!
And finally, the third reason we water in the morning is to avoid fungal and disease outbreaks. Normally, we try to avoid hitting the leaves when we water. Its unavoidable, especially in mature gardens as summer rolls on. Wet leaves over night is a breeding ground for mildew, fungus, and other nasties that can attack our plants. By watering in the morning, we ensure that the leaves have dried off before sunset, allowing the our crops to stay healthier for longer.
Water on the leaves over night is a definite no-no!
Three reasons that watering in the morning is better for our plants. For a bit of a deeper dive, here’s a video explaining it further.