A popular gardener is busting a common myth about the time of day that plants should be watered.
Many gardeners believe that water droplets in the sun cause leaves to burn, causing damage to plants. However, this simply is not true, at least according to this Instagrammer.
The scoop
Dagny Kream (@thecottagepeach) has 114,000 followers and describes her channel, The Cottage Peach, as a place that is "crushing your garden fears and empowering you to grow food in your backyard easily."
"Water droplets causing burned leaves is about as real as a unicorn in your tomato patch," Kream assures us.
In the Reel, The Cottage Peach tells viewers that if this myth were true, farmers would be "dancing in the rain one day and mourning their crispy crops the next," and how the diffuse rays of the sun are definitely not powerful enough to burn your plants.
However, she does admit that the best time to water your plants is early in the morning, but "if you have to water them later than that, it's not going to hurt your plants."
How it's helping
There are many benefits to gardening. For one, when compared to the usual grass lawns, natural gardens use much less water, which is especially important for those living in increasingly drought-prone areas.
Gardens also actively help the planet by sequestering carbon, helping remove the planet-warming gases in the atmosphere.
Aside from increasing biodiversity and improving soil health, many people are also unaware of the fact that being surrounded by trees and plants actually helps boost our well-being.
Growing our own food, which is the main purpose for many gardeners, can save us lots of money in the long run.
What everyone's saying
Plenty of questions and comments arose from viewers:
"Doesn't watering them later in the day cause evaporation that can cause powdery mildew?" one person asked, to which Kream responded, "It can if conditions are humid and plants aren't spaced to allow proper airflow, but still not the end of the world generally!"
Another person doubled down on the Instagrammer's message by writing: "Yes! It's a myth that just won't disappear! Anything but watering at night is fine (although watering at night isn't a disaster); watering late can be helpful for slugs and snails, and some plants, eg tomatoes and roses, keep water on their leaves for too long."
"Hold onto your gardening gloves," Kream wrote.
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