The best tips for watering tomato plants in backyard vegetable gardens?
Learn how much and how frequently to water when planting tomato plants in the garden!
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When and how much to water tomatoes are two big questions for beginning gardeners.
Watering these plants sufficiently is important because tomatoes grow in full sun and use and lose more water than plants grown in the shade.
Tomatoesneed plenty of water especially during the early growth, flowering, andsetting fruit cycle, because they grow so fast.
During this cycle, make certain to water thesoil before it dries out.
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Watering Tomatoes
with Saved Rainwater
Using rainwater is typically recommended as the healthiest technique with tomatoes.
You can also use tap water or follow traditional recycling practices.
In the "olden days", gardeners caught rainwater in water barrels and tubsand used this to water the vegetable garden.
Water that had been usedfor cooking, washing, or cleaning, was sloshed onto the soil.
Thesewatering practices can still be useful today if you follow carefulstorage and use guidelines.
Watering Tomato Plants with Warm Water
"Tomatoes need water quite warm."
Many traditional gardeners stillfollow this vegetable gardening guideline handed down through thegenerations.
The saying stems from the belief that watering plantswith very cold water is too much of a shock to their system.
Greenhouseplants like warm water because it reflects the temperature of theirenvironment.
If you have to transplant or plant tomato plants on a cool day, puddle the roots in warm water first
Vegetable Gardening Tips for Watering Tomatoes
Although, rainwater is certainly better for watering your tomato plantsthan tap water in hard water areas with high calcium deposits, stagnantwater can be dangerous.
Cover your water storage container.
Exposure tolight will turn it stagnant quickly in hot, dry weather conditions.
Stagnation breeds bacteria that can spread plant diseases, which mayprevent the roots from soaking up the necessary nutrients.
Using Tap Water when Watering Tomato Plants
If you do not have any rainwater collected, run tap water into awatering can and allow it to settle for an hour or two before watering tomato plants.
This allows any chlorine present in the water to evaporate before using it on young plants.
Recycling Water
Never use gray-water, which is dishwater or bathwater, when watering tomato plants.
Gray-water contains household detergents and soaps that adverselyaffect the soil.
The chemicals and bleach in gray-water hinders theability of plants to soak in nutrition and may contaminate the watertable as well.
Water-Conserving Devises
Garden centers sell all sorts of water-conserving devices for use when vegetable gardening.
However, you can make your own.
Soaker or seep hoses are a good option, especially in beds ofvegetables.
Pierce a length of hose with tiny pinprick holes along itslength and lay it among your plants, attaching one end to the faucet.
Soaker hoses work best in short lengths.
Drip Systems for Watering Tomatoes
- Installing a drip system to water your vegetable garden plants is agreat way to go.
- Drip systems conserve water, and offer a slow steadysupply of water to the tomato plant without disturbing the plant rootsystem.
- It is actually very easy to install a drip system, so don't beoverwhelmed by the idea!
- Adding a timer to the drip system will allowyou to water your garden automatically at the same time each day, orevery other day as desired.
Add Mulch to Conserve Water
- Adding a 2-3 inch layer of organic mulch to the topsoil of your gardenwill help prevent the soil from drying too quickly through evaporation.
- Mulching also is an effective way of adding slow-release fertilizer ornutrients to your garden plants each time you water.
How Much Water is Enough?
In general, most vegetable garden plants, including tomato plants,require about 1" of water per week.
During especially hot dry weather,or if you haven't added a layer of mulch to prevent evaporation, it maybe necessary to water an extra half-inch per week.
Many expert gardenersgreatly reduce the amount of water to their tomatoesafter the plants have reached maturity and have set fruit.
The ideabehind this is that stressing the plants a bit encourages fruit todevelop more quickly.
I think this technique is helpful, but is notabsolutely necessary if it is not convenient for you to do this.
How to Water Tomatoes While You're on Vacation
Again, installing a drip watering system on a timer is the best way toensure regular and adequate water for your vegetable garden.
If youdon't have a drip system, there are several other workable, but lessconvenient ways to do this.
If you cannot find a neighbor to entrust with watering your tomato plants while you are away for a few days, help your precious tomato plants by mulching well and covering the plants with straw for insulation.
Place container-grown tomato plants in buckets or trays of shallow water until your return.
Enlivened Water
Some bio-dynamic gardeners follow an ancient practice of enlivening thewater for their gardens.
They take a tub of rainwater and stir it with awooden spoon clockwise for 40 turns.
This method is justified by modernscience because water that goes through a spiraling shape picks upenergy.
Watering tomato plants with water that is energized promotes healthier growth.
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