Liberated Gardener

Pure Water for a Thirsty Rhubarb

Keeping rhubarb happy in the south takes a bit of care. Keeping them happy through the summer let's you know you're a serious gardener. Our friends Tim and Helga have been growing a big row of rhubarb for 20 years and sell it at the farmer's market. 

Here's the trick: 

* Grow a variety called Victoria which is best adapted for the south. 

* Afternoon shade.

* Plenty of organic matter in well-drained soil. 

* Only harvest about half the stalks in spring. 

* Remove the flower stalk as soon as you see it. 

* Keep them watered through the summer. 

Which brings us to the photo below:

 

That hose comes from a dehumidifier in our otherwise slightly damp basement:
 

 

We were already running the dehumidifier to keep the basement dry, so I put it on top of a shelf so that the reservoir can drain down through a garden hose and empty out near one of our rhubarb plants. I rented a hammer-drill to create a 1" hole in the wall for the hose. I'll fill the gap with spray foam insulation. 

Occasionally I'll let the hose drain into a bucket so I can water some other plants. It puts about a gallon of water in the bucket in a day. 

 

So the hotter and more humid it gets, the more water the dehumidifier puts on the rhubarb--just at the time of year that the rhubarb is getting thirstier. So the pure water doesn't go to waste and we don't have to use tap water to keep the rhubarb juicy and growing. And I don't have to empty the reservoir by hand anymore! 

An alternative water source would be an air conditioner. The water that drains out can be fed through a hose to your rhubarb (or other thirsty plants). Our AC is downhill from the rhubarb so that won't work for us. Maybe we can work something out with our downhill neighbors...

Water Timer Saves Both

Summertime heat makes me incredibly thirsty--I'm always making sure I have a bottle of water with me when I leave the house. Plants get thirsty too, but a lack of mobility and opposable thumbs means that they look to us to open the tap. 

I'm not telling you anything new to say that one of the most demanding chores in gardening is keeping new plants, containers and annuals watered in summer. Perennial plants, shrubs and trees that are well placed can survive dry spells and droughts. But containers can easily get too dry, annuals have shallow roots and new plants have roots in too small an area to be able to get through a dry spell without help from us hominids. 

I believe it helps to think of plants as being similar to cold-blooded animals. Meaning that as the temperature gets higher, their metabolism goes faster, so they suck up more water from the ground. But as the temperature gets past the mid-80's some plants' leaves are transpiring water at a faster rate than the roots can suck it up. That's why some plants wilt in the afternoon even if there's water in the ground. An afternoon wilt is often just a momentary condition that passes overnight as the roots finally catch up on supplying water. If plants aren't showing signs of wilt in the morning, they are probably fine. 

The thing to watch for is wilting leaves in the morning. I teach my helpers to recognize that as akin to hearing a baby cry. Which means it's time to put down what you're doing and see what the baby needs. Or in the case of a wilting plant, to get the watering can and do the equivalent of spoon-feeding. 

If you're going to water on a larger scale--with a sprinkler or drip line or soaker hose, then you'll want to use one of the best time and money savers available to a gardener. The inexpensive ($10-$15) plastic water time in the photo below slashes the amount of time spent on watering and if you've had the bad habit of leaving the water running too long or forgetting to turn it off,then it will save you some money too (and conserve water). 

Also in the photo: a brass elbow that makes it easier to attach hoses to the spigot and a large "Y" valve that lets me have a hose for hand watering of containers and another hose with the timer that leads to a soaker hose. 

 

The timer is a simple device, like an egg timer. You simply attach it to the spigot and attach your hose to the timer. Set the timer, turn the spigot on all the way and go off to work. The timer will turn off the water while you're busy doing something else. 

You might leave the house and wonder if you've turned the oven off, but at least you can be sure that the water won't still be running when you get back from work. 

With our water pressure and with nearby trees sucking up a lot of the water, I normally set the timer on the full two hours, unless I see lots of excess water running off the surface.

One caveat: don't leave these timers outside in the winter. Even a little bit of water inside them will freeze and crack the plastic. You'll know that's happened when you turn it on in the spring for the first time and get the shower that you meant for the plants to have.