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I know, I know; I deserve extra time in purgatory for using bad puns as headlines. My journalism profs would NEVER let me get away with them, so maybe that's why I like them so much.
There have been lots of occasions for addressing heat related woes in some of my past articles, and in order to keep your keyboard time as efficient as possible, I'll put some of them in this piece as well. After searching the Florida databases, I found a very informative site which has been bookmarked here, and included as text. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/scripts/htmlgen... DRASTIC MEASURES FOR WATER CONSERVATION DURING DROUGHT The following recommendations should be followed when drought is so severe and water use is so restricted that landscape plant survival is in question. Only irrigate plants when they start to wilt. Apply chemical wetting agents to soil so it will absorb water uniformly and prevent dry spots. For bahiagrass lawns, stop irrigating and allow the grass to go dormant. Bahiagrass will turn brown, but it recovers well when irrigation resumes. Prune plants severely to reduce leaf area. Remove weak plants. Thin dense beds of plants to reduce competition among plants. _______________________________________________________________
And yes, it's hot everywhere...and some of us have water bans in effect as well. Here is one of my personal tricks for watering key specimens when watering is restricted: I use one and two gallon plastic containers, fill them with water and place them next to a needy plant. Poking a tiny hole just above the bottom of the container will allow it to drip very slowly into the soil. I re-fill these from a bucket or directly from a tap, plugging the hole with duct tape or plumbing clay for later removal. Invest in a soaker hose and take the time to bury it under a couple of inches of soil. Take care to water during evening hours which DO NOT overlap dew set. Plants need this time for transpiration. Should you have recently planted trees or large plants, place a hose on a very slow drip next to the root ball for at least 24 hours once a week, when there is no rain. Growth of newly planted material will most likely be arrested during stress conditions, but keeing the root ball damp will keep the specimen alive.
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