Internet photo
Ocean Grove. Using the Rapitest in Eileen’s garden. Needs water. © Blogfinger.net photo. July 21, 2015
By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger, Editors @Blogfinger.net
We saw a man watering everything in sight on his property yesterday. Of course it is a heat wave and it is reasonable to assume that everything in the garden needs a lot of water. But that is not necessarily true. How about adding a little science to your efforts?
- You can save money on your water bill if you engage in selective watering. You can use a moisture tester to decide if each component of your garden requires water. Sometimes you can be surprised because a variety of factors will determine the moisture status of a given plant.
- There are several kinds of moisture detectors, and some are now digital; but all are made in China. We recommend the simplest and cheapest one which is the “Rapitest” designed by a company in Illinois. It requires no batteries, and it measures moisture from 0 through 4 on the meter. Zero is the driest, and 4 is the wettest. It costs about $10.00 at Brock’s in Colt’s Neck, but other gardening stores have them. The meter comes with detailed advice.
- Plants require more or less moisture for their optimum care. The goal is to not allow dryness to kill the plant and to avoid over-hydration for those that suffer from too much moisture.
- The manufacturer provides a list of over 100 plants and rates their watering requirements from 1-4.
—Among the plants that like to be on the dry side: Jade plant, verbena, African violet, hibiscus and euonymus.
—-Among the plants that like to be on the wet side: ferns, hydrangeas, tomatoes, begonia, and coleus.
Or maybe it will rain soon…..
RITA GARDNER from The Fantasticks: