How much should I water my brand new-to-me cherry tree? And when?
I just planted a Lapins Sweet Cherry from Miller Nurseries, and a week from today, I have to go away for about 3 weeks.
I have a Nelson water timer that will turn the water on up to 3 times a day, for the times I choose in one minute increments, up to 11:59 hours. I can choose the days of the week I water. (Up to 3 weeks I think, but so far I've only been working on the first week. It only has Su, M, Tu, W, Th, F, Sa, 2nd, 3rd, so I'm thinking it does the 2nd and 3rd weeks like the first one, but I don't have the full instructions anymore.)
I have a week to watch it and get it right. I live in Baltimore and it will likely be in the 70's during the day during the time I'm gone.
As instructed, I filled the area around the newly planted tree with water twice, and it was still damp then next day.
I have a metal ball with a bunch of holes in it, that I placed 2 or 3 feet uphill from the tree, in order to water the whole area. It is uphill a little bit, a couple inches at 3 feet, but enough that the water is sure to head towards the tree, and have time to spread out.
The soil seems to have a little clay but not much. I had an apple tree growing there well for the last 20 years, until it got cedar apple rust and died.
The default start time in the timer is 11 AM.
If I figure out how long the water should be on to keep the ground moist ??, should I water at dawnshould i break that time into 2 or 3 segments during the day.
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