3508 



WATER ALOE 



WATERING 



tris. W.-Planta'n: Alisma Plantago-aguatica. W. Reed: Arundo. 

 W. Pest: Elodca canadensis. W.-Shield: Brasenia Schreberi. W. 

 Soldier: Stratiotes aloides. W.-Thyme: Elodea canadensis. W.- 

 Weed: Elodea canadensis. 



WATER-GARDENING: Planting, Vol. V, p. 2668. 



WATERING. The watering of plants usually exhibits 

 the skill, or the lack of it, of the gardener. It is a prac- 

 tice that cannot be well explained in print, although a 

 few general statements may be made. 



An abundant and convenient supply of pure fresh 

 water should always be a first consideration in locating 

 a garden or greenhouse. Having this, the next matter is 

 knowing how to use it, for here, good gardeners say, 

 lies nine-tenths of the elements of success. Certain it is, 

 especially in the indoor cultivation of plants, that more 

 depends on knowing when to give or withhold water 

 than on any other single matter. The art of watering 

 is unteachable; it requires experience, judgment, skill. 

 Some knowledge of the commoner facts of vegetable 

 physiology, physics, and soil physics will be helpful, 

 but even then experience will be necessary. 



In American gardens watering is usually performed 

 with a hose from a stored water-supply. Two common 

 types of watering-cans are shown in Fig. 3998. 



A fairly safe guide to watering is : never water plants 

 until the soil has become dry, though not "powder-dry," 

 and then give them a thorough soaking. Plants dislike 

 a continuously wet soil. In the care of plants in earthen- 

 ware vessels, a useful test is to thump the jar. If it rings 

 the soil is dry; if the sound produced is dull the soil is 

 sufficiently moist. Such rules, however, are only for the 

 novice. They presuppose activity of growth, and take 

 into account only one consideration aside from this, and 

 that is the condition of the soil as regards moisture. The 

 experienced gardener reads his practice in his plants and 

 the conditions under which they are being kept. The 

 following suggestions are based on the most impor- 

 tant considerations. 



Actively growing plants may be watered very freely, 

 as a rule, whereas in a dormant or semi-dormant state 

 the same plants will require only occasional waterings. 

 Soft-stemmed or rapid-growing plants ("soft-wood" 

 and "herb-like" plants), and those with large leaves, 

 need, as a rule, an abundance of water when growing 

 actively. Hard-wood or slower-growing plants, with 

 smaller leaves, must be watered with greater care. Soft- 

 wooded plants, with some exceptions, may at times even 

 flag somewhat for want of water, and recover without 

 permanent injury when a fresh supply is given. Hard- 

 wooded plants, as camellias, azaleas, and heaths, on the 

 other hand, suffer permanent injury from becoming too 

 dry. It is safest to allow no plant in active growth 

 to flag. 



The amount of foliage affects the plant's capacity for 

 using water. Plants which have been cut back, or which 

 from disease, insects, or other causes, have lost most 

 of their foliage, must be kept drier until they have 

 regained their foliage. Unhealthy plants are benefited, 

 as a rule, by being kept rather dry until they begin to 

 show signs of renewed vigor. 



Small cuttings, or any plants freshly potted or newly 

 transplanted, are not in condition to use much water 

 until the root-hairs have attached themselves to the 

 soil-particles and growth has begun. A thorough water- 

 ing at the time of potting or repotting the plants, espe- 

 cially if they are subsequently shaded for a few days, is 

 usually sufficient until they have become established. 



The character and bulk of soil should be kept in 

 mind. Porous and warm soils dry out much sooner, 

 while the heavier clay soils are in danger of becoming 

 water-logged and sour unless watered with care. 

 When there is a large mass of soil in proportion to root- 

 development, as in the case of greenhouse beds newly 

 set with young plants, care must be used in watering 

 until the soil is occupied with roots. 



Serious trouble often begins in the greenhouse from 

 a heavy watering at the beginning of a period of dark 

 muggy weather. Not only does such watering do dam- 

 age to the soil and roots, but the excessive humidity of 

 the air about the plants and its weakening effect on 

 their tissues invite the attacks of various mildews, 

 fungi, and insect pests. 



The time of day is important. In the greenhouse in 

 winter free ventilation is usually impossible. At night 

 there is a tendency toward a damp atmosphere. Care- 

 ful florists, therefore, water in the early part of the day 

 at this season, so that the house will have become some- 

 what dried out by nightfall. It is seldom advisable to 

 let plants under glass go into the night with wet foliage. 

 It gives the fungi a chance. Especially hazardous is it 

 to water cutting benches or boxes of young seedlings late 

 in the day in the winter season. The various damping- 

 off fungi find under such treatment the condition suita- 

 ble for their development. Excessive humidity on the 

 interior of a closed plant-house is most likely to occur 

 in moderate weather. During severe weather the con- 

 densation upon the glass is large and renders the air of 



3998. Watering-cans, capacity 3 to 4 gallons. Used chiefly for 

 sprinkling seed-beds or newly potted small seedlings and cuttings; 

 for use on older plants the "rose" is commonly removed. The can 

 on the left, flattened on the sides, is generally preferable. It can 

 be carried in greenhouse walks and in narrow rows. The long 

 spout enables the operator to apply the water directly to the roots; 

 and the greater force of the discharging water makes a better 

 spray from the "rose." 



the house drier. During summer, when there is free 

 ventilation, the watering may advantageously be done 

 late in the day. Midday watering at seasons when the 

 sunshine is very bright is often followed by scalding of 

 the foliage unless the plants are well shaded. Ferns, 

 Rex begonias, Chinese primroses and richardias are 

 among plants easily injured in this way. 



Consider the temperature at which the plants are 

 kept, the position of the heating-pipes, the amount of 

 light, and the freedom of ventilation permissible in 

 watering plants in glasshouses. It is better, as a rule, to 

 have the watering conform to these conditions; but 

 frequently the practice must be reversed. 



The temperature of the water exerts a marked effect 

 on the growth, flowering, and fruiting of plants. It is 

 now held that, in general, the water should be of a 

 temperature close to that of the air in the house where 

 the plants are growing, or about 10 F. below. 



Watering may be indirect. Shading the glass of 

 greenhouses in summer with some suitable material is 

 much practised by florists for the purpose of sheltering 

 plants from too great intensity of light, and for the 

 purpose of reducing evaporation and transpiration. 

 Certain kinds of plants, as palms, and some kinds of 

 ferns, require this; also newly potted plants. Syring- 

 ing of walks, by reducing the temperature and increas- 

 ing the humidity of the air, also tends to reduce trans- 

 piration and save watering. Watchfulness and attention 

 to ventilation are necessary, however, to av^>id exces- 



