Tips please?

[peanutgallery007]

So I'm new here and not quiittteee sure on how this works. But I have a couple questions and I didn't know where to post them. So I'm making a new topic... I hope that's alright...

I've never grown anything before this year, but so far everything was grown from seeds, and we followed the directions on the packages and they're all growing fine so far. But I was wondering these things;

1. Out of these plants (corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes, watermelons, onions, zuchini, and swiss chard), which ones like their leaves watered?

2. My watermelons are dying and I have no idea why. One of their stems just turned brown and it's leaves all wilty and the next day it was dead and I don't know why...?

3. My tomato plants are also dying for no reason. I water them every day, give them lots of sun... I have no idea why they're just withering.

4. how do you make swiss chard grow?!

5. I read something on another website that says when corn grows further along, they need lots and lots of "food". I don't know what "food" to buy them. I also don't know when they're gonna need it?

Just to tell you, I'm in a dry, hot climate. But I water these plants thoroughly every day. Also, I'm just asking this stuff for tips. My garden is growing very well so far, I just wanted some more info.

Thanks in advance! I hope I did this correctly, posting and stuff...

[rainbowgardener]

You did everything just right re how to post, etc. But it's a lot of questions and some of them are hard to answer without more information and preferably pictures, eg what is happening to your tomato plants and watermelons. Here's a link to information about how to post pictures:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3724

Re how to make swiss chard grow, the general answer is you stick the seeds in the ground, keep them moist all the time until they have sprouted and then get out of their way. Swiss chard is usually one of the easiest things in the garden to grow. But apparently that's not being your experience, so tell us more about what you did and what the results were.

So if you break this up into several different posts, each with one or two questions and a lot more info and some pictures, you are likely to get lots of good help... Welcome to the forum!

[jamesy]

Do any plants particularly like having the leaves watered ? I was under the impression that wasnt the case with some if not most.

[jal_ut]

I am in a situation where the way to water is to sprinkle. I give my garden a good drink about every 7 to 9 days. Yes, using rainbirds. The leaves are wet for 12 hours each time I water.

I grow all the varieties you mention and a bunch besides. They all do well. FWIW

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/rainbird.jpg[/img]

[jem218]

I water all my veg with a sprinkler and they are fine. Some advice I can share is to watch when you are watering, I tend to water mine in the morning and evening, so as not to burn the leaves with the sun! I have lost a few plants that way in the past
jane

[pepper4]

Do any plants particularly like having the leaves watered ? I was under the impression that wasnt the case with some if not most

I try to water mine when the sun is down because I heard it can burn the leaves but when I do I don't worry about not getting the leaves wet. Think about it, they get wet when it rains and that's natures way and it doesn't seem to hurt them. Just my thoughts for whatever that's worth

[jamesy]

Thanks Pepper4 , you know I thought about the rain idea , same thing..then I thought its worth considering under normal circumstance a lot of plants don't see much rain in summer.
I'm not entirely sure why I seem to think ground level watering is prefered to aerial watering , something to do with the leaves being wet,maybe that was particular plants , I'm not sure.

[rainbowgardener]

It's usually suggested to water in the morning, because if you water in the evening the water doesn't dry up and stays on the leaves all night. This can be an invitation for fungal problems. That doesn't mean that if you water one evening all your plants die. It means if that's your usual practice and water stands on the leaves all night frequently it sets up favorable conditions for fungal diseases.

Also some plants are sensitive to sunscald. Having droplets of water on the leaves can act like little magnifying glasses when the direct sun hits it and lead to sunburned spots.

In general I only water the roots of my plants, but I have pampered back yard plants in raised beds and I can walk around them with hose or watering can and do that. If you are tending fields of crops, can't do that. Plants do just fine being rained on and watered by sprinklers.

[applestar]

I'm not entirely sure why I seem to think ground level watering is prefered to aerial watering , something to do with the leaves being wet,maybe that was particular plants , I'm not sure.

Rainbowgardener pointed out the increased susceptibility to fungal diseases which is a big problem for us in the humid Mid-Atlantic region. I think someone, maybe it was THG, pointed out before that when it rains, it's not a localized sudden event like artificial sprinklers, and ALL of nature know it's coming -- some flowers close up to protect their pollen, leaf pores open up, etc. So that's a difference too. In arid regions though, I expect that the plants actually NEED overhead watering to hydrate the leaves.

On the other hand (and please don't take this as any kind of criticism) another reason to use ground level watering systems like soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems is that there is less loss to evaporation, so you can conserve water. In other words, it's