Can I water my garden from two stories up?

May 21, 2008 12:19 PM

I recently planted a vegetable patch. There is no outdoor water, so water must come from the apartment. My window is around thirty feet from the ground. Would it be bad for the plants if I misted them with water out the window?

I live on the third (ish) story of a divided Victorian, three flights up or about 20-30 feet above ground level. My landlords have decided to hold off landscaping their backyard for a year and let me plant a veggie patch (yay!). Due to the construction, there are no outdoor water sources and carrying buckets of water down three flights of stairs is a pain.

The sprayer on my sink has a mist function and the mist easily reaches all areas of the garden patch. Would it be bad for the plants if I watered them out the window with the mist sprayer? I have three tomato plants, a pumpkin plants, two pepper plants, basil, and rhubarb, all smallish established plants, and live in Oakland, if that matters.

Bonus question: if it is bad for them (and I suspect it might be for the tomatoes from half-remembered gardening books I read in high school) would it be worse for me to water daily from the window or occasionally forget to water at all from ground level and end up watering daily only about 70% of the time?

Thanks!

posted by arnicae to home & garden (23 comments total)

I seem to recall hearing about a very successful method of watering plants from high above. What was it called...?

Oh, yeah.

Rain.

Your plants should be just fine.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:27 PM on May 21, 2008 [10 favorites has favorites]

I don't garden myself, but I did take care of some gardens for places I was house-sitting last summer, and they were very specific, especially with the tomatoes, that the plants needed be to be watered directly at the base of the plant. I was also told that getting much water on the leaves of the tomato plants was bad. So, from my experience I'd say the answer is no.
posted by nuclear_soup at 12:27 PM on May 21, 2008

Why would watering from above be bad? Just be sure to give them a good soaking once or twice a week rather than a daily sprinkle -- deep watering sends the roots deep.

Place several cups around your patch and measure the depth of water collected to make sure you're watering enough. Rule of thumb is an inch of water a week, more in hot weather or periods of active growth.
posted by ottereroticist at 12:34 PM on May 21, 2008

I was also told that getting much water on the leaves of the tomato plants was bad.

But then... I'm genuinely confused. How do tomato plants outdoors survive normal rainfall, then?
posted by limeonaire at 12:35 PM on May 21, 2008

Rain's not going to work in Oakland, since it probably won't rain from now until October. (Really.)

Get yourself a good watering can and use that. It will encourage you go go down there every (other) day, which will encourage you to weed. You will be able to see if one plant is developing weird spots or mold or scale, so you can get rid of it before it infects everything else. You'll want to stick a finger in the dirt anyway, to make sure you've watered enough or not too much. Also - good exercise carrying the can up and down the stairs!

Many plants react badly to having water on their leaves in full sun - they will burn. Plants hate that.

I also live on a 3rd floor (in the Mission), and out garden patch is downstairs. We do have water down there. But if we didn't I can't quite imagine how I'd accurately and adequately water the veggies from 3 floors up.

How do tomato plants outdoors survive normal rainfall, then?

It's usually cloudy or overcast, in that case.
posted by rtha at 12:38 PM on May 21, 2008

Ah, never mind, I found an answer. Apparently even normal rain can provide the conditions necessary for leaf blights, black spots and fungi to occur on leaves and cause the plants to deteriorate. Interesting. Wonder what my parents used to do about that, considering they formerly grew buckets and buckets of tomatoes each summer.
posted by limeonaire at 12:38 PM on May 21, 2008

Depending on how fine the mist is and the humidity and temperature outside, you are likely to lose a lot of the water to evaporation. Sprinklers at ground level can lose 30% of their water to evaporation on a hot day, so I'd imagine mist from 30ft could be pretty bad.
posted by ssg at 12:42 PM on May 21, 2008

Have your landlords ruled out running a hose out the window? You can get adaptors that will screw onto kitchen sink or bathroom sink in place of the aerator, or onto the outlet for your bathtub/shower that will allow you to hook up a hose.
posted by Mitheral at 1:07 PM on May 21, 2008

A good layer of mulch around the plants will help prevent disease transfer from the soil if you do decide to water from above.
posted by steinwald at 1:10 PM on May 21, 2008

Personally, I don't think watering from that high up is a great idea, but I don't really know.

You could try using something like Aqua Spikes which might allow you to water less frequently. You have to find your own two-liter bottles to make them work, and then you just fill the two-liter bottles up. I saw it might help because in the heat of summer, my tomatoes would suck them dry in a day.

Another option - would your landlord let you set up a rain barrel near one of the downspouts?
posted by cabingirl at 1:10 PM on May 21, 2008

Oh, another option...is there a basement? Would the landlord let you run a hose through a basement window?
posted by cabingirl at 1:12 PM on May 21, 2008

Continually wet foliage on plants especially at night can lead to the plants getting fungal diseases or blight. This is why sprinkler systems for lawns and gardens are supposed to go on at dawn, not dusk. (Of course, some of my neighbors are stupid and have theirs go on at 10 PM.)

So make sure to water the plants in the mornings, and I think your setup should work out just fine -- the water left on the leaves will evaporate before noon, so it won't burn the leaves, and the plants won't be all moist and disease-prone during the cool of the evening. Both problems would be covered.

And as a veggie gardener who used to illegally grow tomatoes on my apartment building's roof by continually climbing in and out my window with a watering can and soil bags, I applaud your dedication and ingenuity. :-)
posted by Asparagirl at 1:17 PM on May 21, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Is it really MIST that you'd be spraying out the window, or more like a spray, like from a shower head?

If it's mist, forget it. It won't reach the plants well. If it's a rain-looking shower spray, yeah, go for it.

As far as fungus, etc., you can help keep it to a minimum by watering in the morning. That way the plants have all day in the warmth and light for water to evaporate off their leaves, flowers, etc. Watering at night or in the late afternoon makes it easier for fungus or mildew to grow.

Tomatoes are a tropical plant. They like lots of water and sun. Just relying on rain isn't going to cut it.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:18 PM on May 21, 2008

If you mist in Oakland you're going to lose too much water by evaporation before it gets to the roots, and we're facing a drought this summer. I've always heard drip is the most water efficient--could you run a mini hose out a window from your sink? Some guy named Matt wrote about creating a simple drip system on Lifehacker.
posted by tula at 1:31 PM on May 21, 2008

Hey guys, just a clarification - by mist I meant that it isn't a super condensed water-cannon-type jet that will eviscerate the plants, more of a dense rain that patters down.
posted by arnicae at 1:43 PM on May 21, 2008

It's inefficient, so if water's scarce, not a good choice. You might be able to find an adapter to fit a hose to your kitchen faucet. Or if you have a washer, that fitting will work with a hose - get a Y adapter, and attach a a garden hose, and the washer water line. 3 stories = @ 25 feet.
posted by theora55 at 2:28 PM on May 21, 2008

Nthing that it would be totally cool to do this with a hose attached to your sink.
posted by desuetude at 2:36 PM on May 21, 2008

Theora55 just beat me to it.

You'll have to stand there for a long, long time to get enough water out of your faucet sprayer.

Get an adapter like this and run a garden hose from the faucet and out the window. Much more efficient. [And be aware that the East Bay is likely going to have water rationing by summer. :( ]
posted by mudpuppie at 2:37 PM on May 21, 2008

Can you put a soaker hose in the veggie bed and connect it to your sink via a regular hose that hangs out the window? That would allow you to avoid the splashing water and wet leaves that can spread the fungus on tomatoes and (bonus!) you wouldn't have to stand and spray for 20-30 minutes.
posted by weebil at 2:58 PM on May 21, 2008

Looks like EBMUD has already put rationing into place.
posted by rtha at 3:45 PM on May 21, 2008

Tomatoes do best with a good, deep soaking, then allowing the top two inches of soil to dry out a bit before watering again. Daily water is not something they want, unless they are growing in sand. You'll just end up with watery, unflavorful fruit, as well as plants whose excess of soft, tender growth attracts pests and pathogens. Sprinkling from a kitchen sprayer is going to take a very long time to soak the soil, on top of contributing to disease. I used to carry a six gallon container of water up three stories and out the window to water my tomatoes on the roof of my warehouse. It's much easier going down.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:30 PM on May 21, 2008

Could you put a rain barrel in the garden, fill it up occasionally via a window hose (and/or downspout connection), and water from that?
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:52 PM on May 21, 2008

get a bucket ($5) get some rope ($5-$10). Fill up bucket in apartment. Lower bucket off of balcony/out window. Go down stairs and water plants.
posted by silkygreenbelly at 7:16 PM on May 21, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]