The Best Time to Water Your Garden & How to Get it Right

Being a new gardener is hard. There’s so much to learn when you’re tending a vegetable garden: how to start seeds, how to care for your plants, how to prevent diseases. The list goes on.

But one of the most common mistakes new gardeners make is actually one of the simplest to fix. This article will give you an overview of when to water a garden, but more importantly, it will explain why. Once you understand the why, you’ll never forget when to water again.

Grab your hose and nozzle and get started!

The Best Time To Water

If you’re a morning person (unlike me) you’ll be happy to learn that the early morning is hands down the best time to water your garden.

The reason is simple. In the morning, the sun is barely up and temperatures are still cool. Water has time to penetrate the soil and get to the root systems without being lost to evaporation.

Watering early also protects your plants from intense heat in the middle of the day (the worst time to water plants), as they will be full of water by the time the heat hits them. This is much better than trying to “save” your plants on a hot day by pouring water on them in the afternoon.

Some old-time gardeners insist that watering in the daytime will cause your plants to be “scorched” by the sun. They claim that the water droplets sitting on the leaves of your plants will have a magnifying effect as the sun comes out and will burn the leaves.

While this is physically possible, it’s extremely unlikely, simply because most climates don’t get anywhere near hot enough to cause this effect. And if they did, your plants would likely have more serious issues.

Bonus points if you use a drip irrigation system or a soaker hose to get your watering.

The Second Best Time to Water Your Garden

If you’re not much of a morning person, water your plants in the late afternoon or early evening. The principle here is clear: you’re trying to do whatever you can to avoid watering in the middle of the day.

While watering at the end of the day is a slightly worse time to water plants than the early morning, if you have no other option, it’s certainly better than not watering at all!

If you go with this time, do your best to keep leaves dry. Damp leaves are a cause of many pathogens and diseases, like the dreaded mildew that can decimate an entire garden. Best case scenario, you’ll have excess water lost.

When Not to Water

If you can avoid it, don’t water plants at night time, and avoid evening watering. You will be dampening leaves and plant matter when little to no evaporation will occur. And you’re not giving the soil time to dry. This is a great recipe for diseases and rot, but not a healthy garden.

If you absolutely can’t wait, then water at night. But use a bit less water than you normally would, because there will be no evaporation. That means all of the water you pour onto the soil will sink in and be used up by your plants.

Tips for Watering Your Garden

Now that you know the best time to water a garden, let’s cover a few other mistakes that gardeners make when watering:

Avoid Overwatering

Overwatering is one of the biggest mistakes gardeners make. It’s incredibly easy to do and the results can be disastrous. Watering too often can kill vegetable plants and container plants just as easily as watering too little. If you’re having trouble identifying signs of overwatering, look for:

• Wilting plants that are limp or “soggy”
• Rotting at the root or stem level
• Browning tips of leaves

Water Consistently

As a rule of thumb, give your garden and container plants about an inch of water per week. But this is just like any rule — it’s made to be broken. Some plants need a ton of water, while others barely need any at all. Research the plants in your garden to understand how much they need.

You may need to water sections of your garden and container plants two to three times a week, and other sections just once a week, if that. To judge if your garden needs to be watered, you can use the finger test:

Also, use your head! If you just had a storm, you probably don’t need to water for at least a week. A rain gauge can assist in determining how much you might need to supplement. If you haven’t had rain in months and have high temps, give your garden some extra liquid love!

Water the Soil, Not the Leaves

When you water your garden, you’re trying to get it to the root system. Avoid haphazardly pouring it all over the top of the leaves. This is just wasted water that will evaporate off.

Instead, water the soil right at the root zone. This way you’ll encourage root growth and water as efficiently as possible. Couple this with using morning time to water plants, and your garden will be properly irrigated.

Water Deeply

Instead of a light morning watering a few times a week, consider watering deeply once per week. This means staying on a spot until you’re sure that water has penetrated deep into the soil. The deeper the water goes, the less likely it is to evaporate out of the soil, and the more encouragement it gives your plants’ roots to spread deeper, developing a healthy root system.

Deeper plant roots usually mean better plant growth, so deep-watering plants even with a watering wand for a long period of time is often better!

Ways to Water Your Garden

Now that we’ve covered the basics of the best time to water plants, let’s discuss a few ways you can water your garden.

Soaker Hose and Drip Irrigation

Seasoned gardeners often spring for using soaker hoses in their vegetable gardens due to their ability to consistently water deeply. Ditch the garden hose! All you have to do with soaker hoses is place them around the base of your plants and turn them on when you want to water.

Similarly, drip watering is a slow watering method that uses emitters to irrigate above the soil surface from sprinklers, or via drip tape that slowly releases water into the garden bed.

An awesome feature of both of these watering methods is they can be set to a timer, allowing you to schedule watering for the amount of time you choose. In hot summers, this is a huge asset to have in your gardening tool kit. After I switched to timed drip watering, my summer crops began to pop!

Another great aspect of using timers is they help you conserve water in times of drought. This helps you comply with local regulations related to water conservation.

Passive Irrigation

There are tons of passive irrigation methods out there that are sure to help you water your garden.

Ollas are a time-tested way to passively water your garden via clay pot irrigation. Simply bury ollas in your garden and fill them with water. Over time, the pores in the clay pot slowly release water for plants to absorb at the root level. You can DIY your own or purchase specialized ollas online.

Other passive systems, like swales and rain gardening, allow your garden to soak up water from the sides and give you some dimension to your landscaping at the same time. Both include digging somewhat shallow trenches next to the growing area where rainwater will flow. As it collects in these areas, plants absorb water from the sides.

One other way to passively water is through rain barrel water collection. You can install an overflow pipe to the side of the barrel that funnels water into the garden when the barrel can’t hold it.

Frequently Asked Questions