What is wrong with this Nandina?

[CrazyConure]

I didn't know that. I have a sprinkler that works for 5 min a day. I haven't had any problems. I don't think my plants can live on one watering a week. The soil gets dry if not watered in one day. They'll just wilt, won't it?

 

[Chuck]

I didn't know that. I have a sprinkler that works for 5 min a day. I haven't had any problems. I don't think my plants can live on one watering a week. The soil gets dry if not watered in one day. They'll just wilt, won't it?

Out in nature does it rain everyday? Of course it doesn't and plants do just fine. If you deep water your plants the water stays in the soil for a much longer period of time and the roots of the plant uptake the water they need when they need it. By watering 5 minutes a day all you are doing is keeping the top couple of inches moist thereby making the roots shallow. And also by keeping the top of the soil continually moist you are inviting fungal diseases. When you water you should saturate the plant. I don't know how much water your sprinkler head puts out but in 5 minutes it can't be all that much water. Place a tuna fish can out there and see how much it collects. It probably needs to run at least 30 minutes for a deep watering. As for wilting if the plant is wilted in the early morning it needs to be watered. If it is wilted in the afternoon this is normal. Just about all plants wilt in the heat of the day but that doesn't mean they need watering. Watering too often kills more plants than anything else. You cannot overwater a plant but you can and will kill a plant by watering to often.

 

[CrazyConure]

Thank you! I'm going to adjust the sprinklers to work once a week for 30 minutes. Does that sound good? I have a pomegranate tree, tomatoes, peppers, corn, pumpkins, and winter squash using the same ground. Should I make it twice a week? The more water we save, the better.

 

[Chuck]

Thank you! I'm going to adjust the sprinklers to work once a week for 30 minutes. Does that sound good? I have a pomegranate tree, tomatoes, peppers, corn, pumpkins, and winter squash using the same ground. Should I make it twice a week? The more water we save, the better.

First of all if you are going to water with a sprinkler system you MUST know how much water is being distributed in a certain amount of time. For instance how much per hour. Get some straight sided tin cans and place them around the area to be watered. Turn on the sprinkler for one hour and then go measure how much water is in the cans.

The tree will need a lot more water than the vegetables but only about once a month. On the vegetables if you give them 1-2 inches per week that is more than sufficient, less if it rains. Sprinkler systems are for lawns and are the most inefficient of all watering systems for everything but grass.

 

[Beth_B]

A soaker hose would be better for your vegetables. Or watering by hand, directing the water directly to the root system.

Mind you I'm in a very different climate. It doesn't get nearly as hot and we can have quite a lot of rain and cloudy days in summer. Too much rain sometimes! I rarely need to water once plants are established.

 

[CrazyConure]

I think I'll keep my sprinklers as is. My plants are doing very well. I'm not having any problems anyways. Why fix it if it ain't broke, ya know?

 

[CrazyConure]

I changed my mind lol. I made the sprinklers go from 5 minutes a day, (30 minutes of water a week) to 3 times a week for 10 minutes. It's the same amount of watering, but more water at less frequent intervals.

 

[Chuck]

I changed my mind lol. I made the sprinklers go from 5 minutes a day, (30 minutes of water a week) to 3 times a week for 10 minutes. It's the same amount of watering, but more water at less frequent intervals.

That's the idea! But you still have to know how much water you are dispersing

 

[Beth_B]

I changed my mind lol. I made the sprinklers go from 5 minutes a day, (30 minutes of water a week) to 3 times a week for 10 minutes. It's the same amount of watering, but more water at less frequent intervals.

I really think that's the wiser plan.

Overwatering, or too frequent watering, is the number one most common mistake people make with plants (you can google that.) I know from experience!

Uncommonly rainy summers this last two years, coupled with our rather short growing season, led to blight all over my garden plus a biblical-strength slug invasion. Much of what we grow isn't native to our growing zones so we have to adjust. Tomatoes and squash most certainly aren't native to Michigan!

Many years ago when I lived in California I knew a woman who very successfully raised exotic cactus, commercially. She monitored the daily indigenous weather for all her cacti and adjusted the conditions to mirror their native climate. She was internationally known for her cacti. (This was in the 1970s so I have no links, I'm old lol.)

 

[CrazyConure]

I'll try the saucer pan idea you told me about next time it waters (tuesday). What will the saucer pan filled up sprinkler water tell me? I saw the sprinkler work today. It got the soil wet. lol.

 

[CrazyConure]

Also, some parts gets more water than other parts (for example, right under the sprinkler aim.) Do you want the pan to go where the most water hits?

 

[Chuck]

Also, some parts gets more water than other parts (for example, right under the sprinkler aim.) Do you want the pan to go where the most water hits?

Not a pan. The thing that catches the water MUST be a cylinder. Just like a rain gauge. It doesn't matter the diameter, just so long as it is a cylinder. And NO, not where it gets the most water, but an average of everywhere, especially where your plants are that are being watered. If your sprinkler head puts out more water in one place than it does another, your sprinkler head needs adjusting. It is supposed to put out an equal amount of water everywhere.

A "pan" normally has a wider diameter at the top than it does the bottom. If it is a sauce pan where the top is the same diameter as the bottom that will be fine.

 

[CrazyConure]

Thank you. The sprinkler is kinda tall, so if something is under it, it only gets the mist. Other than that, it's even.

Also, saucer pan was what I meant.

Would you mind I show pictures of the saucer on Tuesday? I would like to hear your expertise.

@OP, I'm so sorry for hijacking your thread. Did you have any other questions? I'm learning a lot from this thread.

 

[Chuck]

Any pics would be a help

 

[420benz]

Now back to the OP. I used Neem oil first then I sprayed with a Dawn and baking soda and the leaves are still falling. I planted 6 in the same area and 3 are in bad shape. Am I wasting my time trying to solve this problem?