Pulse Watering

Another cornerstone of our Grower Achiever system is to apply irrigation water through frequent, pulses rather than long, infrequent watering periods that result in runoff and waste. Plants need water when they are actively photosynthesizing, but most plant roots don’t grow deeper than a foot down into the soil. When you water deeply, as popular opinion suggests, you lose most of that water to the deeper levels of soil where the plants cannot access it. There’s some LIMITED evidence showing that certain plant species grow roots deeper than a couple of feet, but it cannot be overstated that the evidence is sparse. In our own experience, using a pulse watering strategy has resulted in 50% water savings AND increased growth.

For example, we used to water a garden for an hour every day. You can imagine how big the water bill was. A lot of the water ran off into the street. We switched to watering 6 times a day for 5 minutes. From one hour to 30 minutes, we cut the water usage drastically and had zero runoff.

Plants need water the most during critical periods of growth. This is usually when solar energy is the highest. This also means its the hottest. By applying water in small bursts in the critical periods, you alleviate water stress and help the plant maximize its photosynthetic potential.