How do you know if you're giving enough water to your plants?

Question

I wanted to know if there is a certain amount of water you should give plants? because i was watering the garden and i noticed that a few of the plants where starting to die but some like perfect. I usually give a good amount of water, like until it puddles a little.

Answer 1

According to something I read once, most plants need about an inch of water a week, and most shrubs or bushes need about 5 gallons a week. 5 gallons is about 1 minute of water from a garden hose set at a medium flow. If it runs off, it doesn't count. Give it a little at a time until about 5 gallons is reached.

Answer 2

Different plants are more tolerant of dry soil than others. If you can give the plants a slow and deep watering, that's usually the best way. I have a lot of my plants surrounded with soaker hoses (the round black kind where the water "weeps" evenly out of the hose) so I can just hook up the garden hose to the soakers and go do something else. For the other ones, I will often leave the hose trickling at the base of the plant for a long period of time. What you want to do is to water deeply, because the roots of the plants will seek out the moist soil. Then the plants are deeply rooted, which makes them healthier and more tolerant to drought. Another good idea is to put a mulch of 1 to 2 inches on the ground around the plants after you have watered deeply. This helps keep the soil cooler and moister for longer, so you don't need to water as often.

Answer 3

let them dry out completely before watering again. they might wilt a little but they wont die. some of my plants like more water than others but its too much trouble to water some one day and others the next. So I just water every other day in the hot hot summer and they all seem pretty happy. m

Answer 4

water it a little. if it doesn't droop or die, it's good. if so, add more.

Answer 5

if you see it growing.