Sun shining? Then don't water your plants or you'll burn them
It's not just humans who wilt in the midday sun - plants can suffer sunburn, scientists have revealed.
Summer may well seem far away as garden thermometers plunge below freezing.
But experts today warned that when the warm days return, reaching for the watering can to revive your plants could do more harm than good.
Watering plants during the hottest part of the day can burn the leaves
Their research supports the long-held belief of many gardeners that watering during the hottest part of the day can burn leaves.
Plants with hairy leaves, such as geraniums, poppies and ferns, are most at risk, say the academics.
They found that drops of water become trapped by hairs and act like miniature lenses, magnifying the sun's rays and causing white burn marks.
The Hungarian scientists also believe their investigation could give a valuable insight into the cause of devastating forest fires.
Gabor Horvath, of Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, said: 'The problem of light focusing by water droplets adhered to plants has never been thoroughly investigated, neither theoretically or experimentally.
'However, this is a far from trivial question. The prevailing opinion is that forest fires can be sparked by intense sunlight focused by water drops on dried-out vegetation.
'If the focal region of drops falls exactly on the dry plant surface, intensely focused sunlight could theoretically start a fire.'
Hairy humans may also fall foul of the effect, with trapped seawater and sweat magnifying the sun's rays.
Dr Horvath, whose study is published in the journal New Phytologist, said: 'The same phenomenon can occur when water droplets are held above human skin by body hair.'
Experts say the best time to water plants is the morning, when cooler temperatures allow the moisture to be absorbed before it evaporates.
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