Jake,
I posted this elsewhere before. Thought it may be useful to you. It was about Azaleas, but the general advice applies:
Watering . . . . . ho hum . . . . . . the age old question. Most important is to understand what you need to achieve with watering, and then you need to use your grey matter to work out how often to water. Some points.
1.) Don't let an azalea dry out totally.
2.) Don't keep the tree permanently soaking wet
3.) Water in a pot is taken up by two things. Evaporation and the plant. The hotter and windier, the quicker the water gets used both by the plant, and by evaporation.
4.) The bigger the pot, the more moisture it will hold and therefore the longer you can go between waterings.
5.) The more thoroughly you water the tree, the more water you'll place back into the pot. Misting lightly is not watering, and neither is light rain!!!! Think about your pot like a sponge. If you dip it in water for half a second it takes on little water, with only the outsides getting wet. If you dip it in water for a minute, the sponges gets wet through.
6.) Aim to have the tree growing in a medium (soil) that is permanently damp. The more organic matter and the finer the soil, the more moisture it will hold.
So . . . . .
First things first - have a look at your soil mixture and see how much water it holds. The less it holds, the more regularly you will need to water. Then figure out whether the tree is living in a shady place, or a hot sunny place. The later means more evaporation and use of water and therefore more frequent watering required. Same check on wind - a windy spot will mean more regular watering.
What I'd suggest is that you dunk the pot in a tub of water just shallower than it's rim. Leave it in there for about 5 minutes until you see the water having been drawn up to the top of the soil. Remove it and let it drain out and then place it in it's usual spot. Keep an eye on it through the day and see how quickly it dries out. Remember that the top centimeter of soil will dry quicker than the rest of the soil as it is more affected by evaporation from wind and sun. To get a real indication, scratch down a bit and see if the soil further down is dry. Once this becomes on the "dryish side of damp", it is time to rewater the tree. It must not get bone dry. Only you will know how regularly this is going to need to be as only you have access to your tree in your pot in your mix in your climate in your spot!
It is easier than it sounds if you are willing to use your noggin, but most trees die from one of two things (with beginners). Either they are forgotten and dry out and die (getting into the habit of watering regularly is difficult), or they are loved to death and are just kept far too wet for too long. This can cause rot in the roots and the roots start to die. So what does the beginner do? Well, the roots are dying, so the leaves can't get enough water, and they start to wilt. The beginner then sees wilting and decides that he or she is not watering enough and so they water even more - more root rot, and eventually a dead tree! So, what I'm telling you is that watering is a balance, and that with a few exceptions (azaleas are not one of them) you can both under water and over water. Finding the happy medium is the key, and if you see wilting of foliage, understand why, don't just water more!
Finally, roots need air as well as water. You may not think it, but there's a lot of air in soil, and so keeping the soil permanently soaking wet deprives the roots of this air. The ideal would be a permanently damp but airy soil, but as it is impossible to achieve this you have to aim for a happy medium. This means soaking well when you water, and allowing it to go through damp to almost dry before rewatering.
Even more finally - once you get this balancing act correct you will find your plant thriving. If you find that you need to go away for a few days, then rather lay down the rules so that whoever waters for you overwaters, and not underwaters. A plant can handle overwatering for longer than it can handle drought!
.........and most finally - remember that the trick to watering is to remember that you are watering the entire soil volume, and not just the top centimeter!!!!! Think about how much water you are putting into the pot, and whether it is enough to properly wet all the soil volume and not just the top layer. A good way to ensure you have watered well is either by dunking for a few minutes, or by watering with a fine hose nozzle until the water runs out the hole in the bottom of the pot, and then give it a minute or two and redo the same again. Your soil should allow water to drain quickly through the pot. If you water and you see a puddle on your soil and it hangs around for longer than 5 to 10 seconds, then I recommend a more regular dunking as evenly watering is more difficult.
Information overload???
Good luck!
