Jimmy boy!

WHy all the worry? You/we live in the desert - nearly impossible to overwater between now and December! I'm stokin' up the heat this week, and I think you're warmin' up pretty good too.

Well let's see - let's start with a rule of thumb. Young plants ALWAYS need more frequent watering than established ones. The reason being their roots have not penetrated deep enough to create a wide drinking system for less occassional and longer watering times. So as a rule - anything in a pot, when it gets above 85 degrees (say), and the drainage is good, could be watered everyday. As should those 1 inch, two inch plants you are growing - anything new.

And if they are in pots, do not leave them out in the hot sun - they should have partial shade - ESPECIALLY on the west (setting sun) side.

And in the summer, I have to water twice a day when it gets above 100, although that is mostly for more shallow rooted things like grass, flowers and any young unestablished plants.

As far as how long, it depends on what kind of gph (gallons per hour)your emitters are. Are they all on 1/4 inch feeder lines, or are there some bubblers and sprayers on 1/2inch or 3/4inch PVC lines? So many factors. Has it been hot for a straight week or two, did any rain come down, how about recent extended cloud cover, do you have lots of trees on your property that give a certain amount of shade, what is your soil like - has it been amended with greater water-holding capacity, do you just have a barren yard with just these plants just planted - it will be hot and have diff. requirements.....nothing is set in stone

RIght now I'm watering mine about 12 min. EACH station every other day, and my neighbor has his on 5 min. every day - and we are around 90 right now. Neither one of us have plants that look like they are suffering, so it seems to work either way. I'm just trying to get the plants to send deeper roots as I'm told that is key to stronger healthier plants.

So I would say try this. Put yours on about 5 min. each day for now (at 80 degree days), moving to 7 min. when it hits 90 and maybe 5 min. twice a day come summer time when it hits 100. And then at some point perhaps move it to 10-12 min. a day if it stays that hot. If only in the 90's maybe 8 min. once a day. The key is every single day for the first month - go out and walk your property and see what looks dry and adjust that emitter, and if another looks like it's watering with too much gush for the size of the plant, turn that down.

Ultimately it is all about the feel and look as you familiarize yourself with the needs of your plants. Overwatering for 8 months of our year is not a bad thing, but you don't want to waste water either.

And certainly come fall and winter the requirements can shoot down dramatically. When it's only the 60's daytime and 40s at night in december, I will only water twice a week, and maybe 5 minutes....and it's all just this feel i get on how the plants look.

If you are located off the 60 I could come by on my way in to L.A. sometime and tell you what I think...or....i can send you my address out here so you can see my set-up and you can translate what I have to your own distinct needs and climate.....

It's really tough to answer this in a few sentences, so I feel my answers are pretty choppy.....anyway...hope that might help

mangoarfy

Great advice MangoDog,

you are becoming quite an expert....I don't water at all in the winter. I just started my fertilizing schedule so I'll be wartering all away till Nov. We hit 87F today 93F tomorrow, happy days are here again!

JF

Thank you for your advice and offer I might take it some day. Here's what my set up and what I plan to do. I have almost every plants on drip system but my banana and lawn. I plan to give my fruit tree about 7 to 15 gallons a week depend on location and size of trunk. I also set up drip system for all my 5 jasmines which will get about 3 to 5 gallons weekly.

Now the biggest tree I have will receive about 14 gallons a week so I have 7 emitters rate @ 2Gph. I plan to water 2 time a week each time about 30 mins long. I will also have to do 3 cycles for those 30 mins because water start run off if I let it run for more than 10 mins. I know it against some rule of deep watering to do a cycle but I don't want water goes to waste. Also I will water more frequently when it get hot may be every other day. Is that sound right to you or should I adjust anything you would recommend?

BTW, My soil is not really sandy but a soft clay. The absorb rate is not bad no water sitting more than 30 mins. I also create basin on every trees I planted.

I'm sooooo sorry I didn't respond sooner James....

I really don't know about total gallons per week as far as what I water my plants, so I can't say it's enough or not depending on the weather of course. I'm afraid unless you have someone who knows a bit about that actually look at your setup, that you're just going to have learn thru your own experience.

It seems like you have a plan so go with it. The key being EVERY DAY for the first few months look at each plant for signs of lack of water. I dont' think what you are proposing could be too much water for our climate, but again, there are so many factors.....you must have neighbors who have sprinkler systems who could take a quick look and give you their opinion......???

Good luck and keep us posted and POST PICTURES - it's always more enjoyable to praise/ and or help someone if we can see what they are looking at!!!!!!!!!

MangoPoochie