Pulse watering to the rescue
How does water move… drip by drip
Conceptionally it makes perfect sense if your root system is deep undrground. We've been taught to water deeply and infrequently which may work fine for trees and deep-rooted shrubs...
But flowers do not develop deep root systems, they are fairly shallow.
WHOOPS!
If you water deeply the water tends to create downward channels and water moves quickly along those paths. New plantings of flower starts may not even have the root development to reach those water channels.
Using the pulse watering system you take that same 30 min of watering and break it down. You DO NOT want to create deep channels.
By watering 5 min X 5x day, water does not have the volume to create the channels and instead moves outward by osmosis. (Drip water on a paper towel (just a few drops) and see how it moves outward. That is what is happening in the brief watering. The next water session occurs before it totally dries out. You still don't create channels but the soil retains the moisture in the upper layers.
You create a moist bed that is not waterlogged (i.e. it still has the air spaces in the soil that is needed for good plant health); the roots have easy access to water in the upper layers of the soil and don’t have to travel as far to reach it.
If you also mulch your plants you decrease the evaporation of water from the soil. You conserve the water for plant access.
BIOLOGICAL LIFE
Another benefit, the microbial life in the soil has easier access to moisture. It keeps them healthier and makes it easier for them to extract and deliver the nutrients needed by the root hairs.
TAKE HOME LESSON
Instead of watering 30 min once a day it is much more effective to break up the watering to 5xday for 5 MIN each.
Same amount of water expended! Significantly better results.
Listen to Jennie Love’s interview about this ground-breaking technique!
The No-Till Flowers Podcast: The Power of Pulse Watering: Effective Irrigation and Better Plant Health with Emma Horswill from Earthenry Farm
