Causes of Dehydration

Inadequate watering is usually the main reason for dehydrated plants. Sometimes plants become dehydrated due to careless gardeners who do not water plants enough. At other times, plants may require plenty of rains and despite a gardener’s best efforts, if it is a drought prone region, plants may eventually experience dryness.

While lack of adequate water is usually the primary cause for dry plants, unsuitable weather conditions are equally harmful. Plants often dehydrate due to dry weather conditions. Often during hot, dry summers, the moisture from the soil and plants completely evaporates. Extremely cold temperatures can dehydrate plants as well. Just the way a hot summer makes plants thirsty, cold winter breezes can strip a plant of its moisture and leave it dehydrated.

Lack of adequate moisture in the soil could be the reason behind your dry plants. This may be due to irregular watering but this may also be due to poor quality soil. Plants require the right type of soil with enough moisture content otherwise they are at risk of becoming dehydrated. Dryness in plants can also be a result of inadequate nutrients in the soil so it is important that you check this. Your plants can become easily dehydrated due to salt stress so you must ensure the soil has just the right amount of salt in it.

Symptoms of Dryness

The first signs of dryness appear on the top of a plant and begin on the outside. As the plant progressively dehydrates, the symptoms will move downwards towards the roots and inwards, closer to the stems. Spotting a dehydrated garden is fairly easy with plants usually showing the following symptoms:

• Leaves become limp and brownish at edges
• Plants start to wilt
• Stunted growth
• Shriveled flowers
• Fruits and flowers drop
• Plants turn yellowish, especially lawns
• Plants begin to die in extreme cases

Treatment of Dehydrated Plants

Regularly watering plants is the most obvious cure for a dry plant. Learn a little about the plants in your garden because some might require buckets of daily water while others may only need to be watered every once in a while. Proper watering usually does the trick during the hotter months and daily watering in the evenings can reduce evaporation.

Adding mulch to flower beds and shrubs early in the season is also a good way to prepare for dry seasons, both hot and cold. Water-retentive gel is also popularly used in container plants or hanging baskets.

In freezing temperatures, plants must be watered very carefully to avoid dehydration. It is best to water plants monthly when temperatures are not so freezing and the ideal time to do it is early in the day or evening. It is important that the plants do not become over-hydrated or the ice will cause further damage. Watering earlier in the day gives enough time for the water to reach at least six to eight inches deep into the soil while at the same time giving the soil enough time to soak in the moisture before night. This does the dual job of beating dehydration due to the cold as well as maintaining soil moisture.

As a gardening enthusiast, it is important to check your soil to ensure it is right for your plants. Some soils are very moisture retentive while others do not soak up water very well so you will need to tailor your watering according to the soil type. You must also ensure your plants receive adequate nutrients from the soil, especially salt or they will become easily dehydrated. Your local nursery should be able to suggest ways to improve your soil but adding some organic matter to the soil usually helps.

If you like to grow delicate plants, you might want to consider a greenhouse for better protection. Greenhouses are good for temperature control and provide tender plants the protection they need without leaving them at the risk of dehydrating outside.

Last but not the least, while there may be no cure for a drought, there are plants that will not suffer from dehydration in such a region. If you live in a similar area, the best way to keep the dryness out of plants may be to opt for xerophytic plants in your garden.

Believe it or not, gardens account for about 25% of water usage in a household and a lot of this is due to unnecessary wastage that can be avoided if you are conscientious. To optimize your usage of water, some of these garden watering restriction tips might be worth considering.

No Garden Water Sprinkler System

Most water restricted areas will probably put a ban on the use of garden water sprinklers, so a hand held watering cans or small buckets are the best way to save water as they dramatically reduce wastage of water. If you are using a water sprinkler system, use a timer to control your usage.

Choose Xerophyte Plants to Conserve Water

As a gardener, you probably already know that some plants “drink” more water than others. A good way to be water wise is to choose plants that are drought resistant, consume very little water (xerophytic) or use non-invasive exotic plants instead. I have also found that plants with foliage do extremely well when you are trying to conserve water and in keeping with the current container gardening trend, foliage plants do very well in containers. Yuccas, Agaves, Escheverias, Cycads, and various types of Flax are some examples. Plants with grayish or silver leaves also do well in drought prone regions so Lavenders, Westringia or Bearded Iris are all good choices. If you are unsure of how to choose the right plants for your garden, your local nursery is a good place to look for advice on plants that do not need large amounts of water to survive.

Conserving Water when Watering

Most gardens only really require about one bucket of water for every square meter to avoid wilting; so most of the time, we tend to use more water than necessary. I have always believed the easiest way to save water is simply being smarter about the way we use it while gardening. For example, I always group plants according to how much water they need so I use only the amount of water that is really needed. Also, remember to water plants at their root zone as this will help them retain water longer and also encourage the growth of deeper, hardier roots.

Saving Water by Slowing Evaporation

Another good idea is to mulch your garden beds and even potted plants as this slows evaporation and keeps your plants hydrated longer. Over 70% of water evaporates instantly if the soil is not protected by a layer of mulch. Soil wetting agents are also great because they hold water in the soil longer. In fact, early mornings and evenings are the best times to water your garden as evaporation is least during these times.

Weeding to Conserve Gardening Water

Every gardener knows this but when it comes down to reducing wastage of water, weeding is especially important because they are in competition with the rest of the plants in your garden and are soaking up water that would otherwise be used by your plants.

Recycle Water for Gardens

We love our plants, but they do not necessarily need clean filtered water to grow. Your garden can successfully survive if you use “gray water” to keep your plants hydrated. Gray water is domestic waste water, that comes from your laundry or bathroom and this water is suitable for watering the lawn, fruit trees and garden beds.

Gardening with water restrictions may seem a challenging task for the inexperienced but smart thinking and creative water usage can not only help you stay within legal water usage limits, but also make you an environmentally conscious gardener.