Posted on July 11, 2009

Just a Wash, but No Wax Please

Normally I water my garden at ground level using a watering wand, but I’ve decided to give it a "rain bath" two or three times a month. I basically use the wand as a shower to give the garden a heavy rain from above. This serves a few purposes:

1. It knocks down some pest insects, like aphids or cabbage moths.
2. It rinses off the plants and the fruit, keeping everything healthy. I find this particularly important to clean off the leaves after I compost or fertilize the garden. Soil has organisms in it that will break down my fruit, and dirty leaves are not getting all the sun and air they need.
3. It shows me what branches need trimming or staking, especially on tomatoes and peppers. Tomato and pepper plants with a heavy load of tomatoes can bend and compress or break overnight from the weight of the fruit. You’ll want to stake them before they get too heavy. Adding water from the top makes these potential problems sag gently from the weight of the water so you can easily see them and secure their branches better.

To give your garden a rain bath, here are a few tips to remember:

• A gentle but heavy shower will do its job without knocking off any fruit or damaging leaves.
• The best time to give your garden a shower is in the morning. At night, wet leaves and cooler temps encourage disease; at mid-day, water on the fruit could cause scalding. A morning rain is enough to clean off your garden while also allowing for evaporation before the heat of the day or the cooler temps of night.
• A rain shower is going to be a shallow watering. Your plants (especially tomatoes) will need a deeper watering applied directly to the soil a few times a week to minimize evaporative loss and encourage healthy root gowth.
• A top watering is always recommended before releasing beneficial insects (like ladybugs) to give them an inviting environment to stay in.