Plant THIRST (s1e06)

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You might hear some birds on today's.

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But that's only because it stays light here in Portland,

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crazy late in the summer.

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It's actually about nine 30 right now.

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And the reason that we're joining each other on this after hours,

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garden excursion is because this is the thirst episode.

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You guessed it.

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We're watering plants.

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and I know you might be wondering besides the irresistible sort of

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double Tundra, uh, why this time of day, well, we're gonna get into it.

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So let's get outside.

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It's crazy.

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I could read out here right now.

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Okay, maybe less bird sounds and more.

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Children playing innocently in the neighborhood.

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So pardon the children?

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It's hopscotch season.

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So the cats are psyched because they're not usually allowed outside this late.

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The neighbors, when we moved, warned us in very dire terms that they're

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sometimes coyotes in the neighborhood.

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So apparently it's not safe to have your cats out around like Twilight.

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Uh, but if we're all together, I can ward off any Mero bands of Wiley coyotes.

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I'm psych.

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Because unlike most episodes where I join you when it's like 10 in the

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morning, uh, because it's at night, I brought a beer outside with me.

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Don't worry.

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It's very on brand for Portland.

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It's an IPA.

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Uh, so we're gonna hit this before we really get into it.

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Cheers.

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Um okay.

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Lance, answer the teaser first.

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Why are we watering after dark?

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you know, some of you guys might have guessed it, but one of

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the reasons is it's just plain wasteful to water during the day.

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Uh, a lot more of the water evaporates.

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If it's getting direct sunlight, if it's hotter.

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So it's not making it into the ground, it's not making it to the plant.

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It's just, you.

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Turning your city just a minute, bit more muggy.

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Second reason is maybe less known, but plants actually do

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most of their hydrating at night.

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So during the day they're actually not sort of opening

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themselves up because they don't.

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Lose a lot of water to evaporation.

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And then at night when it's dark and there's much less risk of losing a

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bunch of water, they open up their roots, they open up their leaves.

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So they take in a lot more moisture.

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So it's better for your plants to water them at night as well.

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All right, so let's get the hose going.

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Put the beer down for a second.

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Okay.

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First thing we're watering is my Gardenia, cuz it's been a little thirsty, but it's

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thirsty cuz it's blooming like crazy.

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Uh, it's just, I don't know if you guys know what Gardenia smell like.

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It is just intoxicating.

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It smells to me like coconut and peach.

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and just like white perfume.

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It's incredible.

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So this thing deserves a big, long drink because it's been going over time.

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Oh, that sound was Millie attacking.

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So why now the garden thirst episode?

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Well, summertime is just where plants are demanding a lot more water.

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We all know that, but why watering episode in general?

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It seems like it should be pretty self explanatory, but actually

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watering is the number one way that most gardeners go wrong, especially

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if you're new at gardening or if you're just new to the plants.

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Um, and you dunno what they need nine times outta 10, if a plant dies and it's

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the Gardener's fault, it's probably due to watering under watering overwatering.

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There's a few basic rules of.

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That can actually help you avoid a lot of the mistakes and keep more of

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your plants alive and keep them happy.

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first tip, uh, don't water frequently and lightly water infrequently and deeply.

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It's actually really, really, really important if you water often and only a

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little bit, what happens is that the water soaks through only to the very top of the.

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And that means that the plant grows its roots there because it wants to maximize

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the amount of water that it can take in.

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But then that means that your plant is not as Hardy because water tends to evaporate

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from the top soil, much more quickly, Millis hunting a butterfly right now.

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Uh, water plant, uh, evaporates much quickly from the top.

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whereas deeper levels in the soil, water sticks around much longer.

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So what you wanna do is by watering less frequently, but watering

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really, really deeply you're training the plant to send its roots.

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Deep down into the soil.

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That means that your plant is gonna be hardier.

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So it actually means you have to water it less frequently.

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Um, and that means that you're wasting less water and it means that your

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plant is gonna be healthier and more Hardy in case there's a heat wave

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or you forget to water at one time.

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So remember deeply and infrequently.

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One of my favorite aspects of watering at night.

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And I don't know if this is kind of just like a comparative thing.

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Um, and it happens cuz it's darker.

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So your other senses pick up, but when I'm watering a really pick up

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the sense of the things that I'm watering more so when the water hits

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the Gardenia blossoms or the sort.

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Woody dry Sage leaves or that sort of like really fragrant, lavender blossoms.

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I feel like all of those really come alive.

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I can smell the greenery.

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I can smell the wood chips and the moist earth.

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Um, it just feels like a much more sort of integrative like immersive experience.

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I feel like I'm really connecting with the garden and some senses that I

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don't usually appreciate during the day

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Just making my way around my little bed that I built into the grass that is

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kind of the centerpiece of my Victorian Moonlight garden, inspired backyard theme.

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Um, I'm gonna do another episode about that and devote it to the entire thing,

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cuz I've been really excited about that theme, but little teaser, more to come.

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One exception to the rule of don't water during the day is if you're

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just gonna have a really crazy heat.

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Um, and you didn't water your plants the night before, get out there

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and water them, no matter what time of day it is, cuz a really gnarly

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sort of like day of unusual heat.

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If it comes out of the blue and catches plants unprepared, it can

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just, that can be the difference between life and death for your plants.

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So I don't mean to get dramatic, but they can really get fried.

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You can have scalded leaves.

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Um, if they just don't have enough water to.

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bolster their systems.

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So if you're worried your plants are dry and you notice it's really

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hot outside, just go out and give them a drink, and then you can

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give them a deeper drink later on during the day to help them recover.

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Oh, we're back.

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Sorry.

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Uh, I had to put the mic down for a bit because the 101 Dalmations

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moment was getting pretty intense.

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Let's get back to it though.

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Okay, so it was hot.

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Your plant was.

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it got crispy.

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It completely fell to the ground.

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You're freaking out.

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You watered it twice.

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It doesn't look like it's coming back.

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Have some faith, keep them water, keep the soil moist and give it a chance.

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I have seen plants completely come back from being totally fried, lost all

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their leaves or were just completely, you know, smashed into the ground.

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Oh my.

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I think milli caught a mouth.

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Did you hear that?

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Squeak?

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Geez.

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Gardening after dark.

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Uh, no, she doesn't have it.

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If she did have it, it got away.

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Now she's just chasing grass.

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Maybe I give you more credit than you were, do nails.

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All right.

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Um, so I've watered pretty much everything in the backyard got the Moonlight

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garden, got my precious umbrella pine and then my little kitchen herb garden.

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things have plenty of water to soak up overnight and they'll

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be happy for a few days,

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but speaking of thirst, uh, I'm almost done with this beer.

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So with the plants sated it's time, I sate myself.

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Don't forget to check us out on Instagram.

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We are fresh clippings.

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If you have any questions, feel free to send them to us.

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Also, if you have pictures of your own garden, I would love

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to see 'em tag fresh clippings.

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I'd love to share pictures of listener gardens on the Instagram.

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So show us what you're proud of.

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Show us what you're working on.

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Send questions or pictures.

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We'd love to.

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thanks so much for joining me on plant time.

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I'll see you in the garden again soon.

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And that is it.

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Time for new one.

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You ready to go back inside?

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Agnes and Millie?

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Just on cue.

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Still.