While everyone knows that under-watering can harm your plants, less is known that over-watering is bad for the soil. Over-watering before stagnation damages the soil, and deep watering promotes vigorous plant growth.
Over-irrigation is damaging to soil because it increases the likelihood that soil will become waterlogged. This means it will bear an excessive amount o water, and the content will be so great plants will no longer grow there. The best way to undo the damage caused by irrigation is to cease the activity and wait.
Keep in mind that over-watering, until it is full of water, can damage the soil, while over-watering promotes vigorous plant growth. Providing deep irrigation allows moisture to penetrate deeper into the soil, causing plant roots to grow deeper.
If too much water is applied to the soil, vital nutrients are washed out or pushed out in layers so that plant roots cannot reach them. Excess water resulting from over-irrigation leaches nutrients or leaches them into layers where plant roots cannot reach them.
This not only harms the plants, but overwatering also affects various important balances in the soil. However, in addition to causing damage to plants, over-irrigation can affect various vital soil balances. It is not known that excessive irrigation can also damage the soil and not only damage the plant or soil, but also affect our daily life. Yes, of course, overwatering is not only bad for the plants, but also for the soil that supports them.
How Over-Irrigation Becomes a Soil Problem
Sometimes people go overboard with irrigation, which can lead to overwatering on the farm. Over-watering causes nutrient deficiencies and has a huge impact on plant growth and your plants can miss their vacation and even that can be a more serious situation. Too frequent watering can lead to the accumulation of salts in the soil, which will adversely affect plant health.
This leads to the accumulation of salts near the soil surface, which limits the uptake of nutrients by plants. When there is not enough organic matter in the soil, fewer nutrients enter the soil, and salt accumulates on the surface of the soil, preventing plants from absorbing nutrients. When water flows to the soil surface, it can erode the topsoil, leaving the underlying soil susceptible to wind and water erosion.
When groundwater is depleted, the salt in the soil rises to the surface, making the soil and water unsuitable for growing crops. Running water also lowers the pH of the soil, making it acidic, which is bad for all plants. Continued overwatering can make the soil more acidic, which can cause weeds to bloom instead of plants because weeds are more tolerant of acidic conditions. In particular, if the soil does not have proper drainage, too much water can lead to saturation or lack of oxygen.
How Water Moves Throughout the Soil
When water begins to seep into the soil due to overwatering, the water can push the salt inside the root zone up. When the amount of water in the soil exceeds the capacity of the plant to store water (field capacity), it begins to seep into the root zones of the soil, where the most damage to plants and soil occurs. When the amount of water in the soil exceeds the capacity of the plant (field capacity), it begins to seep into the root zone, where most plant and soil damage occurs.
Since water is not absorbed by plants, it is also a waste of resources, which is undesirable. Excess water is not only a waste of resources, but also a decrease in soil pH, fertility and porosity, which are vital factors for plant growth. The more often you water with fresh water, the less likely it is that your plants will be able to absorb nutrients from the soil, because they do not have enough time without watering.
When you combine your irrigation system’s watering rate with the amount of water available to the active root zone, you can determine how long the soil can be irrigated before leaching begins. To prevent soil damage due to overwatering, be sure to water properly. By following these steps, you will help keep your soil healthy and protect it from the harmful effects of overwatering.
Create a watering plan to water generously a couple of times a week, change the soil to facilitate drainage, or choose plants that grow naturally in moist soil.
Tips on Avoiding Irrigation-Caused Soil Damage
You can prevent soil damage from overwatering by watering less, adding compost to increase drainage, or planting plants in raised beds. The main reason over-irrigation is bad for the soil is because it affects aeration, making conditions anaerobic. Excessive or excessive irrigation is directly responsible for soil erosion, especially on arable land. Over-watering or over-watering results in waterlogging, where the soil is filled with so much water that it becomes swampy and dense.
Pouring water into the container every day without letting the soil dry out is also overwatering. Over-watering means too much water is entering the soil, and too much water can wash away some other important ingredients such as organic material. One of the biggest consequences of overwatering is that running water carries soluble nutrients along with the topsoil.
Over-irrigation can lead to wasted water, increased energy consumption for pumping, leaching of nitrogen and other micronutrients, and wasted time. Waterlogging from unrestricted irrigation can also alter soil structure and cause soil compaction due to the diffusion of clay particles. Heavy watering means higher water bills, more work, soil damage and stunted plant growth. If your plants feed you in a certain way, watering them regularly can be considered small-scale irrigation.
It is very important to know the amount of water that plants with inactive roots have access to and try to make it compatible with the irrigation rate of the irrigation method being used. In a new report, Dr. Brent Ruppe, Ph.D., explores how your irrigation water can harm your soil, even if you think it’s helping your plants.