From

Location

Message

Date Posted

New Brunswick

Right now, I am watering by hand with a water hose. I have a rain wave waterer which I have used the past two summers when the plants are larger and was wondering if getting the leaves wet on hot summer days and in bright sunlight is a good idea....or would a soaker hose be better? Also at this early stage, with my plants still in their little huts, how often should I use miracle grow?

6/12/2003 10:22:24 PM

Montoursville, PA

The watering question comes down to this. If you use overhead the water should be hitting the leaves at ambient temperature to reduce or eliminate thermal shock. Soaker hose eliminates some of the thermal problems and keeps the leaves dry, increases the life of sprayed on fertilizers and other chemical sprays.

What you may not know is how much heat stress your were avoiding by overhead watering. You may still need misting or overhead watering to eliminate heat stress.

It is possible to mist and not keep the leaves wet! There are examples in the grower's diary section of BP.com.

I have never used that type fertilizer so others will have to take a shot at that part of the question.

6/13/2003 10:22:41 AM

Chico, Ca

Out in Northern California We see dry heat at 100 F in summer. I figure our plants get 80-90% of their water just from overhead misting! We also fertigate (inject fertilizer into misting water)with all the nutrients we apply. We see that our leaves stay wet for about 15 min after the misting session. We run 5-10 min once an hour right now but will soon switch to 3-5 min twice an hour. We also use 30% shade cloth overhead as well. just shadecloth with soakerhoses can also reduce heat stress but keep your leaves dry if that is an issue. We do not have mold problems here so wet leave are ok. We also only need to spot spray for aphids so we are not worried about rinsing off anything with misting. If you live with high humidty, misting is not as effective at cooling so go with shade cloth.We do not see any leaf burn misting UNDER shade cloth your results may vary. Picts of our misting setup can be seen in the growers diaries.

About fertilizing... I would not go ape with the miracle grow. Most people over apply ferts. We found out that we really overfertilized last year when we got back this years soil test. We are using just a touch of 12%N from bloodmeal. Our plants are growing better this year with less ferts... All depends on your soil conditions. Read Brett Hesters Featured Growers chat on this site. He opened our eyes on fertilizing and so far it works! Our picts in the growers diaries don't lie.

Good Luck, Robert

6/13/2003 10:55:35 AM

New Brunswick

My plants are growing in two feet of decomposed horse manure. They are on a side hill so drainage is good. I guess the rainwave might be ok then....as I have had no water damage from it previously. I will do it in the early morning however.... and maybe early evening.

6/13/2003 12:57:49 PM

syracuse, ny

okay, and there's another taboo that might be of a concern--
watering late in the day may increase the chances of mold or fungus or mildew having a better place to grow on your plants. because they don't get dried off before the dew sets in.....although i've read someone's comments of not being worried about it BECAUSE the dew sets in, and if you can't prevent that, why NOT water late??? hmmmm......'pal

6/20/2003 6:13:01 PM

Southern WI

If there is any kind of breeze in the evening, watering and feeding has not been a problem. I have high humidity and knock on wood, no mold or fungus problems the last 2 years. If my plants are thirsty, they are fed. It doesn't matter the time of day. I should let you know this is AFTER fruit set and all culling has been done.

8/27/2003 9:36:50 AM