Am I Overwatering Or Under Watering My Barberry Orange Rockets?

Question

I live in central New Mexico. I planted 2 barberry shrubs 6 weeks ago. They are in full sun for about 6 hours/day. The shrubs were doing well until 2-3 days ago and many of the leaves are wilted. We went from 100 degree weather to low 70’s and then to mid 90 degree weather. The major temp change back to mid 90’s has been in the last week. The shrubs are not on a drip line and I water them by hand. The first 2 weeks I watered them daily, and then transitioned to every other day. On extremely hot days I water them daily. They receive about 2 gallons of water with each watering.

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Answer 1

I suspect they are getting too much water. Trim off the fried looking part and reduce watering but let the hose run slowly next to them so they will be watered deeply but less often. See if they can go three days without water to begin. Eventually once a week should be enough.

When plants are waterlogged, it damages the roots and they can't uptake water. Then the leaves look like they need water but it's because the roots can't deliver, not because the water isn't available.

When watering less often, but deeply, it encourages deep roots, which benefit the plant, especially in your climate.