Watering During A Heatwave

@powers_plants

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Why it worked

The video offers practical, actionable advice on a common gardening problem (watering during heatwaves) by demonstrating a clear, easy-to-follow method for assessing soil moisture and plant needs. The creator's relatable approach and clear explanations make the information accessible and useful to a wide audience of gardeners.

Summary

The video provides guidance on watering plants during a heatwave. It emphasizes checking soil moisture by feeling the top inch and observing plant leaves for signs of wilting. The creator advises watering in the early morning to allow leaves to dry and watering slowly around the base of plants. Established perennials, trees, and shrubs may not need watering if the soil retains moisture, while newly planted items require more attention.

Structure

1Introduction to watering during a heatwave
2Checking soil moisture in vegetable beds
3Observing wilted leaves on cucumbers and dahlias
4Watering timing and technique
5Established perennials not needing water
6Monitoring new plantings
7General advice on observing garden needs

Product placement

Under Armour (apparel): appears, removing it would not change what happens in the video. PowersPlants.com (website): appears, removing it would not change what happens in the video.

Original caption

Watering during a heat wave requires you to inspect your soil and observe your plants. There are no rules in terms of how much and how often it really depends on the type of soil you have how much rain you had recently, the type of plants you have and how hot it is near you. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly!

More from @powers_plants

On-screen text

Watering During A Heatwave Let me show you how to water during a heat wave First of all, most people just start panicking and watering like crazy We all need to learn to be a lot more cognizant of how we are managing our water resources in general and that includes in our garden I'm gonna inspect the top inch of soil and look, dark, cool, damp I can feel a little moisture coming off of it I don't need to water if that's what my soil looks like around my vegetables and herbs The bed next to the first one is showing me some wilted leaves on the cucumbers and the dahlias And sure enough when I pull that top soil back it's all crumbly and dry When the top inch of soil is fully dry like this it's time to water Ideally, we water first thing in the morning as early as we can That is going to let the sunlight dry off the leaves of any splatter or over-spray that got on the plants We don't ever want water droplets sitting on a plant That's how we get leaf diseases So we'd love for you to be watering at 6:00, 7:00 AM If you need to water after you come home from work you can do that too We just wanna make sure when we still have three four hours of sunlight left to dry the plant off We also wanna water slowly I'm on about 25% pressure here on the nozzle around the base of the plant We don't want a lot of splashing water getting up on the leaves When it comes to perennials, trees, and shrubs if your plants have been in the ground for three whole years or more I'm not watering them at all These perennials, most of them are established and they're not showing any signs of being unhappy We've had a lot of rain here where I live in the month of June and there's clay where I live which holds a lot of moisture So that's why I won't be watering this bed but I will be monitoring the brand new plantings I just put in a month ago So the new black-eyed Susans I'm just gonna pull the mulch back and inspect the soil Yep, dark, damp I can feel some moisture in there I don't need to water even though this is a brand-new plant So I wish there were hard and fast rules about how much to water and how often but there aren't It depends on your garden depends on your soil depends on your plants or not you've had rain recently And I can tell you right now, in my soil when it's still that damp under the mulch I'm not gonna have to water all week even with a heat wave What you need to do is become really good at observing your garden Pull the mulch back Put your hands on the soil And observe the leaves of your plants If they're looking wilted and unhappy some plants need more water than others

Transcript

Let me show you how to water during a heat wave. First of all, most people just start panicking and watering like crazy. We all need to learn to be a lot more cognizant of how we are managing our water resources in general, and that includes in our garden. I'm gonna inspect the top inch of soil and look, dark, cool, damp. I can feel a little moisture coming off of it. I don't need to water if that's what my soil looks like around my vegetables and herbs. The bed next to the first one is showing me some wilted leaves on the cucumbers and the dahlias. And sure enough, when I pull that top soil back, it's all crumbly and dry. When the top inch of soil is fully dry like this, it's time to water. Ideally, we water first thing in the morning, as early as we can. That is going to let the sunlight dry off the leaves of any splatter or over-spray that got on the plants. We don't ever want water droplets sitting on a plant. That's how we get leaf diseases. So we'd love for you to be watering at 6:00, 7:00 AM. If you need to water after you come home from work, you can do that too. We just wanna make sure when we still have three, four hours of sunlight left to dry the plant off. We also wanna water slowly. I'm on about 25% pressure here on the nozzle around the base of the plant. We don't want a lot of splashing water getting up on the leaves. When it comes to perennials, trees, and shrubs, if your plants have been in the ground for three whole years or more, I'm not watering them at all. These perennials, most of them are established and they're not showing any signs of being unhappy. We've had a lot of rain here where I live in the month of June and there's clay where I live which holds a lot of moisture. So that's why I won't be watering this bed, but I will be monitoring the brand new plantings I just put in a month ago. So the new black-eyed Susans, I'm just gonna pull the mulch back and inspect the soil. Yep, dark, damp. I can feel some moisture in there. I don't need to water even though this is a brand-new plant. So I wish there were hard and fast rules about how much to water and how often, but there aren't. It depends on your garden, depends on your soil, depends on your plants, or not you've had rain recently. And I can tell you right now, in my soil when it's still that damp under the mulch, I'm not gonna have to water all week, even with a heat wave. What you need to do is become really good at observing your garden. Pull the mulch back. Put your hands on the soil. And observe the leaves of your plants. If they're looking wilted and unhappy, some plants need more water than others.