Watering Techniques 

After a week with Temps of 37.7 degrees in the afternoon, it got quite hot for us on the Port Hills. Of course other parts on NZ had similar Australasian drifts of wonderful hot air and soil and plants dried out very quickly. 
 
How to Water? 

I’ve never been a fan of sprinklers. I try to keep my leaves dry as much as possible; wet leaves often give fungal spores opportunity to settle on the plant, causing leaf-spots, rots, downy mildew and powdery mildew. 

Try to water the root zone of a plant, by depositing the water – gently – on the soil. A fierce jet of water can clog the porosity of the soil (not so good either!), so a nice shower-setting of your hose hand-piece is perfect 
 
Evening or Morning? 

It doesn’t really matter a lot, I think. The water cools the soil remarkably and in the morning (when it’s cooler) most of the water will actually penetrate the soil. In the evening (with warmer temperatures) a proportion of the water will evaporate, become a “cloud” of H2O gas and meet its mates, somewhere high up in the sky. In other words it doesn’t do the plants much good. 

But watering in the middle of the day makes a huge percentage of the water disappear into the stratosphere. 
 
Established shrubs and trees? 

Most Nature Nerds that go walking will see in dry summers how established trees show severe signs of dehydration or wilting. Even without any rain those leaves will often look a lot better in the evening. Wilting is simply a strategy to shut off the leaves’ stomata to save the moisture escaping from these openings in the heat of the day. This wilting can go on for weeks, sometimes. 

A thoroughly good soak (hours and hours of watering) can re-set the water deficit in the soil. This deep watering is far more beneficial to soil and shrubs/trees than daily “piddle-waterings” 
 
Regular droughts? Which plants are suited for water-stressed areas? 

Think Mediterranean species that often don’t get much during the 5 months of summer in Spain and Morocco and Italia.  Often plants with blue-ish or white-ish colours or with thick hairs on the leaves (that stop water loss). Euphorbias, Echiums, Watsonias, cacti, succulents, phlomis, Jerusalem sage, rosemary, lambs ear.  
 
Checking SOIL moisture of indoor plants 

Indoor plants are totally controlled by the owner; when to water? When they start showing signs of wilting. Stick your finger into the potting mix and when plenty of particles stick to your finger, there’s plenty of moisture still in the mix; when your finger emerges totally “clean”: time to water! 
 
Plants that can NEVER dry out  

Ferns have got a different vascular system in their stems and fronds; these bundles are not as strong and lignine-supported as other “Vascular plants”; So when a fern gets too dry, its bundles simply shrivel up and irreversibly collapse.  

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