There’s an art to watering your garden. When you know the best time of day to water outdoor plants, and the tricks to watering them most efficiently, you’ll have happier plants.
The Best Time to Water Plants
The best time to water outdoor plants is in the morning when temperatures are usually cooler. This gives the plants time to absorb the water so they can get through a long, hot day. The second-best time is late in the afternoon or early in the evening. Night-time watering is not ideal because your plants’ leaves may not be able to dry off as quickly as other times of day. Wet leaves are more susceptible to diseases.
That said, water your plants the moment you notice they look wilted. A wilted plant equals a stressed plant that needs immediate help. For example, if your tomato plants are wilted when you get home from work in the evening, don’t wait until morning to water them. Repeated wilting can weaken and damage plants, making them less able to withstand other challenges such as heat and pests.
Test garden tip: If getting up at 6 a.m. to water your plants isn’t your speed, install drip irrigation or soaker hoses. You can set them to run on a timer and they will deliver water directly into the soil, not on the leaves.
