Newbie question re: watering

Okay, I've never done any real gardening - a few houseplants here and there, but even those fairly few and far between. Having just purchased our first house ever in January, and having a basically blank slate for yards, I've been reading and researching and trying to figure out what we're going to do with it all!

Some things seem pretty straightforward, but a lot of it seems very "intuitive," and I don't think I have the intuition! So, please bear with my really ignorant newbie questions!

The one for today is about watering. How do you know how much water to give a plant that is planted in the ground? Is there a certain amount of time with a hose that equals a certain amount of water, or what? I mean, I see all these descriptions of how much water a plant needs, but I have no idea how to know if that's what they're getting or not.

I'm in Sugar Land, which is in the Houston area, so we get a fair amount of rain. But I see posts from some locals talking about how they're watering between rains. How do I know when the plants need it? If I do need to water, how do I know how long to let the hose go?

Any guidelines? Suggestions? Help!

Valerie

There is a thread just down from yours talking about a moisture meter. Look there.

Thanks Defoecat, I'll go check that one out!

A lot of it will be known by the way the plant behaves. I certainly don't recommend waiting to water until the leaves are crisp, but at least on some plants, they'll let you know right away. Whatever you plant, read everything you can about it, and keep a notebook about what works, etc. Happy gardening! I've just moved into a house with a yard myself, and it's so exciting and a little intimidating. But whatever mistakes I make, I can compost!

the Fort Bend Co extension office has a hotline. For watering lawns, 1" per week is recommended. Ask them to tell you how to measure for 1" of water in your lawn. Then write down beginning and ending times and you can arrive at a good estimate on how long it takes you to water your lawn with the 1" goal in mind.

In the very early days I used to count 1 mississippi, 2 mississippi, ... up to 25 for my pots 3 gallon (and smaller) and up to 50 for my very big pots. This method has absolutely ZERO academic or scientific value, but it helped me create some guidelines in my head, lol

Best advice is what Bridgid said, keep a journal. Record plants, how you care for them and whether or not your care is working. adjust as needed. input from others growing the same plants is very helpful.

happy gardening

I agree with Voss and Brigid. Read everything about the plant before you buy it. The plant tag or instructions usually gives you an idea of how much water the plant needs. In our climate I try to buy plants that don't require a lot of watering.

I have have a tendency sometime to over water so to make sure, I do the soil test which is poke my finger down in the soil to feel if it is damp or dry. If damp I don't water.

For Digigirl,
I have the same question on watering tomatoes some where at Dave's garden. On watering the lawn, I use a tuna can or something similar and put the can about 15ft from your sprinkler and wait until you have one inch of water. In Oklahoma at least at our house, we may have had 4 inches of rain since January plus no winter snow. I just don't waste the precious water on brown grass.