Start Watering The Garden

Purple cauliflower -- beautiful and sweet!

Multi-harvest: broccoli, bok choy, purple and white cauliflower chard, cilantro, lettuce. The white cauliflower has matured to the "rice" stage since it's teeny florets look like grains of rice; it's still tender and sweet.

Succulent blooming.

Succulent blooming.

Succulent blooming.

Succulent blooming.

Aeonium 'Sunburst' succulent.

70-year-old jade tree blooming.

First bloom: purple bearded iris.

First bloom: Chasmanthe aethiopica.

First bloom: Chasmanthe floribunda 'Duckittii'.

Row of peas have begun to bloom and set fruit. Each cage is a different variety, hence different heights and schedules for blooming and bearing pods.

Alaska pea blooms and pods.

King Tut pea blooms and pods.

Laxton's Progress pea blooms and pods.

Arctic Star Nectarine blooming.

Iochroma coccinea continues to bloom with nary a break.

The difference a couple of weeks makes: from one to many camellia blooms.

      As lucky as we in Southern California are, being able to sow seeds and transplant seedlings every day throughout the year, some timings are potentially more successful than others.  And equally mysterious in trying to gauge what the future will bring.  Now is one of those times.  Should I continue to sow and plant more cool-season plants, with this week’s forecast of 80+ daytime temperatures? The short answer is yes, since we really don’t know what the future will bring, nighttime temperatures promise to remain in the 50s, and it is only February.  If it was mid-April or May, I’d say to shift to warm-season crops exclusively.  But, for now, continue to go with cool-season veggies and posies through at least March.
 
Start Watering:  Methods
     Since it’s been more than a full month since it rained, though, the garden will definitely need irrigation, so start applying water either by hand or via soaker hoses or drip irrigation or overhead sprinkler.  Each method differs in how it moistens the soil surrounding the plant, and consequently different plants do best with different modes.

• By hand is best for individual attention to plants when they need specific attention like filling a basin of a tomato plant.
• Soaker hose that weeps along its length (not just with holes a foot apart) can be strung about 9” apart throughout and around plants so the entire bed is moistened. This is ideal for closely-planted vegetable beds.
• Drip irrigation can be applied to individual plants that grow several feet from other plants. Be sure to use the appropriate head that will moisten the soil completely around the plant.  One great fault with this method is for the head to provide water only directly onto the center or stem of the plant alone, and leave the rest of the rootzone dry.
• Overhead sprinkler is ideal for grass.  The problem with its use for perennials or other ornamentals is that once they attain some size after a year or two, chances are the sprinkler spray will be blocked for any longer-distance plant.

 
Start Watering:  Depth and Frequency

• Depth of watering is consistent year-round depending on the individual plants -- however much is necessary to reach just below the full root zone of each plant.  For grass, this is 6”.  For most ornamentals, this is 12”.  For many vegetables, this is 12”; for tomatoes, it can be 3 feet! For trees, it’s 18-36”.
• Frequency of watering changes with the seasons because of the intensity of the heat and evaporation, and the bulkiness of the plant’s foliage.  Test how long it takes for water to reach the desired depth – water one day, and dig into the soil the next day to see how far down the water went.  Then, adjust the length of time you applied the water.  If your soil is heavier, like clay, you may have to water some on one day (until runoff) and then again more the next day (until runoff) to get the soil moist deep enough but avoid having runoff.  Timings may be as little as once a month during winter, once every two weeks in the Spring and Fall, but as frequently during our Summer as twice a week during our weeks of more than 100 degrees.

 
For more of what to do this month, see February’s Monthly Tips
 
For more main-topic articles from past blogs, see Home Page