Watering at the wrong time can cause plants to be sunburned, study proves

15:01:20 13th January 2010

Watering plants at the wrong time of a summer's day can cause them to be burned by the sun, a new study has confirmed.

Green-fingered enthusiasts have long shied away from watering plants not kept in greenhouses when the sun is at its highest in the sky, believing that water droplets can serve to magnify rays and thereby burn leaves, flowers and stems.

Now such a strategy has been given scientific backing, with researchers in Hungary having proven that plants with 'hairy leaves' do tend to hold small, hard-to-see water droplets on their surface and that this does lead to the sun's rays being magnified.

At the same time, the research, carried out by a team at the Eotvos University, has served to prove the widespread belief that having wet skin can also increase the likelihood of humans getting sunburned.

Furthermore, lead researcher Dr Gabor Horvath noted: "If the focal region of drops falls exactly on the dry plant surface intensely focused sunlight could theoretically start a fire."

Meanwhile, the BBC has confirmed that its Gardeners' World show is to go 'back to basics' after viewers complained that it had become too gimmicky and moved away from its core purpose of handing out important gardening advice such as how to get the most out of greenhouses.