Apparently, the idea that water on the leaves would refract the sun’s rays and scorch the leaves is a horticultural myth (many other sources) because the sun will evaporate the water too quickly for such an effect on the leaves.
Still not the greatest idea in that it’s not a very efficient use of water, but if your plants are struggling and haven’t been watered in the last 12 hours, better to give them some water than let them dry out and die!
Sarcastic/aggro tone not called for dude. If you google “water drops leaf scorch” or any other such combination you can get plenty more sources outside the UK including actual research into the premise. Whether scorching happens isn’t because of the heat (if anything the water is likely to dry up faster at higher temperatures), it’s due to the shape of the droplet forming on the leaf (and obviously assuming the water isn’t high in salt or other compound).
Sure, it sometimes can be a problem on a few plants where the water sits on the leaf in full sun in a puddle long enough for that effect to happen, such as succulents.
But for the average person just wanting to water their average plants, where the process of watering is likely to leave only droplets and they have petioles down which the water can roll off? No. And between “oops I forgot to water my plants so I’ll just let them desiccate even more” vs “oops I forgot to water my plants so I’d better give them SOME water now rather than let them curl up and die”, I would really rather people do the second than the first.
Apparently, the idea that water on the leaves would refract the sun’s rays and scorch the leaves is a horticultural myth (many other sources) because the sun will evaporate the water too quickly for such an effect on the leaves.
Still not the greatest idea in that it’s not a very efficient use of water, but if your plants are struggling and haven’t been watered in the last 12 hours, better to give them some water than let them dry out and die!
Thanks for the info! I checked just now and they’re doing fine, and I’ll water them earlier/later next time
I have…serious doubts there because i’ve literally seen scald happen in real time
Oops nope, it’s talking uk conditions. We Are Not The Same
Sarcastic/aggro tone not called for dude. If you google “water drops leaf scorch” or any other such combination you can get plenty more sources outside the UK including actual research into the premise. Whether scorching happens isn’t because of the heat (if anything the water is likely to dry up faster at higher temperatures), it’s due to the shape of the droplet forming on the leaf (and obviously assuming the water isn’t high in salt or other compound).
Sure, it sometimes can be a problem on a few plants where the water sits on the leaf in full sun in a puddle long enough for that effect to happen, such as succulents.
But for the average person just wanting to water their average plants, where the process of watering is likely to leave only droplets and they have petioles down which the water can roll off? No. And between “oops I forgot to water my plants so I’ll just let them desiccate even more” vs “oops I forgot to water my plants so I’d better give them SOME water now rather than let them curl up and die”, I would really rather people do the second than the first.
I haven’t got academic journal access any more to find the actual papers researching it. But here is a decent summary of several answers in one place. (and here you can find a long argument in the comments involving the author of that last paper from Hungary about whether hairy leaves actually do get leaf scorch more)
No sarcasm or aggravation actually invoked, but very tempted after you come at me like that.