Should You Water In The Morning Or Evening?

Summer heat and temperatures above 30 degrees make not only people and animals, but also the plants on the balcony and in the garden to create.
Long dry periods are a particular challenge for every garden owner.

The evaporation rate increases sharply due to the high temperatures so that the plants must be watered regularly.

Nothing easier than that, get out the garden hose and watering can and off you go, or not.

Please read this article beforehand, because there are also important things to consider when watering vegetable plants, potted plants, lawns and the like.

In this article you will learn:

Whether it is best to water garden plants early or in the evening?
When is the best time to water plants in the garden.

Which mistakes you should avoid at all costs when watering.

Here we go.

At what time of day should you water plants?

Watering plants in the morning or in the evening?
Plants should be watered in the early morning. Garden experts recommend abundant watering in the morning from 4 – 6 o’clock.

At this time, the soil has cooled down and the water can be easily absorbed by the soil. This allows the watering water to reach the roots of the plants.
Due to the absence of sunlight, there is no danger of water evaporation.

Why should plants be watered in the morning?

• no evaporation due to solar radiation
• the soil has cooled down and the water can be absorbed without problems
• plants can replenish their water reserves, since they need most water during the day
• no danger from voracious snails, as they are nocturnal
• you do not sweat while carrying the watering cans

What should be considered when watering early in the morning?

Do not water the plants from above
Only the root area of the plants should be watered.

Sprinkling the plants from above should be avoided.

Droplets adhering to the leaves can cause fire damage to the delicate leaf surface later in the day.

Abundant or small watering?

I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying “less is more.” However, this does not apply when watering our plants.
Abundant watering is preferable to small watering. The advantage of large amounts of water is that the roots of the plants actually get water.

If, on the other hand, you only water small amounts of rainwater, only the surface of the soil can be moistened and the plant roots go empty.

Use stagnant rainwater as irrigation water
If you can, you should water your plants with stagnant rainwater. Rainwater is low in lime.

This saves you a lot of money and is also good for your plants in the garden or on the balcony.

Should you water plants early or in the evening?
Can plants be watered in the evening?
Of course it is allowed to water plants in the evening. Not everyone wants to water the tomato plants and the lawn at four o’clock in the morning.

However, you should know that watering in the evening has some disadvantages:
Disadvantages watering in the evening
Slugs are attracted, they are nocturnal and the moisture attracts them to the vegetable plants. Damage can be caused by slugs eating.
the soil is still heated from the heat of the day, thus more water evaporates
due to the high soil temperatures after a hot day, a crust can form on the surface of the soil, which allows a lot of irrigation water to simply flow away
you can sweat a lot when dragging the watering cans.

When should you water plants in the evening?

If you can’t water your garden plants in the morning, then I recommend an automatic drip irrigation system for your garden plants.

There is an old gardener’s rule, the hotter the day, the later you should water the plants.

On a hot summer day, you should wait until 10pm to water. Gradually, the stored heat of the day evaporates into the soil.

This reduces the evaporation of watering water.

At what time of day should not water plants?

In the heat of summer, watering at noon or in the afternoon should be avoided at all costs.

For one thing, the soil is very hot due to the sun’s rays and the watering water would simply evaporate uselessly.

For another, the high sun greatly increases the evaporation effect.

“Figuratively, you can think of it as a hot stove top onto which a drop of water gets.”

The irrigation water doesn’t have enough time to penetrate the soil to reach the plant’s roots.

Therefore, watering plants during the day on hot summer days is a waste of water.

Danger from dripping on the leaves

A danger for the leaves of the plant are water drops left behind.

These cause the so-called “magnifying glass effect” and act like a lens. This effect is described again in detail in this interesting article.
The leaves suffer dangerous fire damage, which weakens the plant and makes it more susceptible to pests and diseases.

How to water plants properly?

Plants should always be watered in the root zone, so as not to wet the leaves with drops. Morning hours and stagnant rainwater are ideal for watering garden plants.

Preferable are watering, with a watering can, in the root zone of the plant.

Not that you just save a lot of water, but also make sure that the leaves of the plants remain dry.

Wet leaves, which dry poorly or slowly, increase not only the risk of “sunburn on the surface of the leaves”, but also the risk of fungal diseases.

Therefore, you should refrain from watering with the sprinkler.

In this case, abundant watering is preferable.
For vegetable beds in the garden should be planned per square meter about 12 – 15 liters of watering water to optimally supply the plants with water.

Watering potted plants in the morning or in the evening?

Potted plants should be watered early in the morning between 4 – 6 am. This minimizes water evaporation and allows water reserves to be replenished for the upcoming heat day.

On the other hand, those who water their potted plants in the evening should water smaller amounts, otherwise there is danger from waterlogging.

Sprinkle the lawn in the morning or in the evening?

Your lawn should definitely be sprinkled early in the morning.

Watering the lawn in the early morning hours has many advantages. You save lots of money and help your lawn look healthy and vital.

Advantages of watering the lawn in the morning
Hardly any evaporation of the watering water
Early in the morning, the lawn and the soil is cooled down by the coolness of the night. As a result, very little water will evaporate during lawn watering.
This not only saves a lot of money, but also helps to have a well-maintained lawn.

Prevent brown spots in the lawn

Unsightly brown spots in the lawn, are a real nightmare for any lawn owner.

Lawn roots are very shallow and cannot root deep into the soil, thus sufficient lawn watering is necessary.

To ensure that sufficient water reaches the roots of the lawn, watering during the midday and afternoon hours should be avoided at all costs.

Due to the high sun, most of the water evaporates and the lawn roots literally remain dry.

Brown, unsightly spots in the lawn are the result.

To avoid this, the lawn should be watered early in the morning between 4 – 6 am.

If you don’t want to get up that early, you can hand this task over to the Gardena MultiControl watering computer. This has over 5000 positive reviews and costs less than 100 euros.
The magnifying glass effect is prevented
Watering the lawn in the morning prevents the so-called magnifying glass effect.

With this effect, the water droplets on the blades of the lawn can intensify the sunlight so much (catching sunlight with a magnifying glass) that fire damage occurs on the blades of the grass.

This should be avoided at all costs.