The Essential Tip You'll Want To Know Before Watering Plants On Hot Summer Days

Our plants need a little extra TLC on a hot summer's day. When the temperatures rise and the sun starts beating down on your garden, plants in everything from containers to garden beds get thirsty and dehydrated. Not only does water evaporate faster in extreme temperatures, but plants also use it to cool themselves. They soak up the water in the soil and transfer it to their surfaces, keeping cool on blistering days. Because of this, you'll find yourself outside more often, watering everything from your ornamentals to your vegetable patches. However, you don't want to simply pick up the hose and blast your plants with it. If you do that, you can do more damage than good. Instead, you want to take a moment to drain the water sitting in the hose before aiming it at your landscaping.

That's because the water sitting inside will be hot. Draining it will prevent you from accidentally scalding your plants. Using hot water can wilt the leaves, boil the roots, and wipe out the beneficial bacteria and microorganisms in the soil, which they need to grow big and strong. Anything over 90 degrees Fahrenheit can damage your garden, so make sure to drain the hose before watering your yard. Not convinced? Here's why it gets hot.

You might be wondering why there is hot water in your hose to begin with. When you turn off your sprayer after watering your garden, some water sits in the hose. While we're supposed to store them in dark and cool places after using them, the reality is that most people leave them outside. Whether sprawled on the concrete by the side of the house or neatly wound onto a hook, the hose is still outside and susceptible to rising temperatures. As the sun beats down on the polymer or rubber tube, the water inside heats up to high temperatures. When you turn the hose back on for its next use, dangerously hot water will come out. That's why you must let the water run for a minute or two before using it. 

In addition to high temps, the sun will also heat the hose material, which is often made from some sort of plastic. This breaks the product down, forcing toxins to leach into the standing water. If you don't drain it first, you will then transfer those toxins to your plants or vegetable patches. It's a good practice to do for multiple reasons.