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tillandsia Journal

Watering during a drought

8/29/2014

6 Comments

 
This Summer has been one of the hottest yet!  And to top it off in California we are experiencing our  longest drought.  Sprinklers are reduced to 10 minutes per station, only 3 days per week.  All the lawns are starting to turn brown.  At the nursery we can continue to water, as we have always done our watering by hand and that is not restricted. 

We always use, and recommend using, the Fogg-It Nozzles.  They are available in 1, 2, and 4 gallons per minute.  We use the 2 GMP on seedlings and the 4 GMP on everything else.  The nozzles produce a heavy spray that feels like it's raining, which makes your tillandsias happy too!  They also add additional moisture in the air, which is beneficial during periods of low humidity. And these nozzles work great for watering large clumps and balls.  They have enough pressure to get the ball spinning so you are able to water all plants and all sides quite easily.

During the long Summer days, I recommend watering either very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon, just before sunset.  This allows the moisture to settle on the leaves for a longer period of time, thus allowing the water to pass into the leaf tissue.  If you water midday you are wasting water and time, as the plants will dry off long before any of the water has been absorbed.

If you are growing under shade cloth, one trick you can do on extremely hot days is wet the shade cloth as you are watering.  This will cool the temperature of the air as it is passing through the shade cloth, almost as if you have turned on an air conditioner.

Here are two short video showing how the Fogg-It nozzle "rains" on your plants.


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    Pamela Koide HyattPamela Koide Hyatt
    Horticulturalist & Explorer Specializing in the Genus Tillandsia.

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© Pamela Koide Hyatt , Bird Rock Tropicals
Photos from cm195902, ggallice