A retired landscaper told me to stop watering at noon, huge difference

I used to water my raised beds right when I got off the night shift, around 11am, because that's when I had time. Last month I ran into an old guy at the Ace Hardware on Division who saw me buying a second hose and told me I was basically steaming my plants. He said water before 8am or after 6pm so the roots actually soak it in instead of it evaporating off the leaves. I switched to a cheap timer from Amazon and set it for 6:30am, and my basil and tomatoes stopped looking crispy by 3pm. Has anyone else seen a big jump just from changing the time of day?

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wilson.sam15d ago

The bit about "evaporating off the leaves" is close but not quite it. Water on leaves doesn't really evaporate that fast, it's more that the soil water gets sucked up by the sun before the roots can grab it. Also, watering at noon can cook the roots if the soil's already hot, especially in raised beds. I switched to 7am myself and my peppers perked up way more than my tomatoes. That timer idea is solid, just make sure it's not set too early or you'll get mold on the leaves.