Growing plants in your own greenhouse give much pleasure and fulfillment. In your simple garden at home, you can grow a variety of plants and herbs for your home use and pleasure. Each plant in your garden has its nutritional needs, soil type, and environment that will just be right for it.

Each type of plant also has its water needs and having a good knowledge of these needs determines how well plants in your garden will get nourished. Some plants need much water to grow while some other plants can rot away as a result of excess water.

It will take some learning to know how much water each type of plant in your garden needs. You will also need to be attentive to know when water is given in excess or when it is inadequate.

Research about the Native Environment of Your Plant

Some plants have their origin from the wild. Studying the original environment from which the plants have come will tell you a lot about the plants. They may be from a tropical region or from an arid or semi-arid region.

If you live in a tropical region and the plant comes from a semi-arid region, you may not need to supply so much water to the plant. Also, in your tropical environment, you may not need to provide so much water for fruits and vegetables.

If you research the needs of plants, you will be able to find out the right amount of water needed by the plants.

Water Needs during Transplanting

When you are transplanting, there is a need to provide adequate water for the plant. As you transfer the plant to a pot or piece of ground, you need to have the pot or planting area soaked, so the roots of the plants can have access to water immediately they are planted.

Water the plants every other day and make sure that the soil around them is kept damp. During summer, you may need to water the plants morning and evening to make sure that they get sufficient water.

Checking the Moisture of the Soil with Your Finger

If you put your finger into the soil around your plant up to your knuckle, you will be able to know if the soil around it is still damp and moist. However, if it feels dry, then you should add some water to the plant.

Use of Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation is good for plants with shallow roots as it can be used to directly supply water to their roots. Water through the drip system is slowly released to the roots a little at a time.

As a result, plants always have access to water and do not get excessively watered. Drip irrigation is advisable for fruits and vegetable plants like tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, and peppers.

Seek Expert Advice

You can seek the opinion of a horticulturist or a plant biologist or you visit a nursery where such plants are grown to learn about the needs of plants in your garden. You will be able to get the right information from them.

Seek Information Online

One interesting thing about the internet is the availability of information and other resources on any sphere of knowledge that is of interest to you.

You can type in the name of the plant and the search engine will bring up all available information relating to your query. You will also find blogs and expert opinions that deal with such plants.

How to Prevent Your Plants from Getting Excess Water than

They Need

Placing a moisture meter in the soil near the plant is useful in monitoring the moisture condition of the soil. Meters that have a scale 1- 10 are quite easy to read.

The numbers 1-3 show dryness of the soil and 8-10 show that the soil is very wet while 4-7 are an indication of moist soil. The moisture meter can keep you informed about the water conditions of your plant.

If you have planted in containers, they should have an outlet for excess water to escape. If water cannot escape, it can build up at the bottom of the container and lead to the plant rotting away.

Placing your pots on top of a layer of stones can help drain out excess water easily. If your pots cannot drain off excess water easily, the roots of your plants will begin to decay. You can tilt the pot or dig down a bit to catch a glimpse of the root. Healthy roots should hold firmly and be sturdy.

Test Your Soil to Make Sure that it Drains Well

If your plants are planted directly in the ground, you need to be sure that the soil drains well. You can test this by digging a hole in the ground. Make it one foot deep and pour water into it. Take note of how long it takes for the water to drain. If it drains in 5-15 minutes, it is alright for planting.

If however, it takes as long as an hour or more to drain, it shows that it will be more suitable for swampy plants and not plants that will require soil that drains well.

Under-Watering Your Plants

Giving your plants insufficient water is another issue that should be prevented. Insufficient water can cause their roots and stems to wilt which can lead to poor growth and low yield. Wilting leaves will look weak and limp and will face downwards.

Using your moisture meter, you can check to make sure that your plant is not low on water. Always make sure that the moisture level is between 7cm to 10cm deep. Having adequate water is very important to fruits and vegetables.

Conclusion

You should have a way of measuring how much water your plants get. Excessive watering and under- watering the plants are both detrimental. Plants need water to survive but you need to be able to get the right amount of water that they need.

There are many ways you can find out the water requirements of your plants like conducting online researches or speaking to experts on such plants. After finding their water requirements, you need to take steps to ensure that they get just the right amount of water.

Excessive water can lead to rot of the roots and even yellowing and falling of the leaves and insufficient water can lead to wilting and poor fruiting.

I hope you enjoy reading these articles and if you have any questions or something to share about these articles, please leave your comments below and I’ll be happy to get back to you. Thank you so much and enjoy your gardening day.