Photo by Michael Hofferber © All rights reserved.
Morning. That’s absolutely the best time to water plants and flowers around the home because lower temperatures mean less evaporation, it’s a time when plants are using less water, and because foliage has a chance to dry out before nightfall.
“In the early morning, plants are less stressed and have low respiration rat, so watering during this time of day is great for them,” advise Sean and Allison McManus in The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers. “You have to water more and longer during the hottest time of the day because the water is evaporating from the plant and the soil at a faster rate. This can also lead to under watering your plants. Watering during the hottest time of day is inefficient.”
The McManus’ tell gardeners to water the soil around the base of plants rather than dousing the leaves, stems and flowers. This puts the water where it needs to go, but be sure to use a low water pressure setting on the nozzle to keep from washing away soil or causing runoff. “The closer your watering is to natural rainfall, the better,” they say.