'Rookie At Work' - Watering Dilemna

I'll keep this post short (at least shorter than my post about Fertilizer! lol). I've read a lot that talks about how important it is to keep the tomato plants well watered - especially in early months.

Some basic questions:
1. If mother nature does not, should I water daily?
2. Do you reduce risk of diseases if you water the ground while keeping the plant dry?
3. Is it better to water in morning, day, or evening?

I had lots of problems with last year's harvest (my first in 18 years), and I'm trying to get off to a better start this year.

Thanks for your help,
Dave

If I have my plants in pots I water daily (and generally include a light feed with each watering). If they are planted in ground I water very thoroughly twice a week unless it has been particularly hot or windy and then I do it every other day or when I see signs of wilt. My harvests have always been good. The only times I have had any blossom end rot evidence I can trace to being so busy that I missed the scheduled watering.

it is always better to water in the morning. for tips on watering and just about anything else regarding tomatoes see the different forums. weldcome to daves garden.

Welcome Dave. I use Soil Moist crystals at the roots of my tomatoes and all of my potted plants. I soak them in water and apply them to the soil after they've expanded. I mulch real well and water once or twice a week depending on the weather.

It is probably more important to water as "evenly" as possible over the course of the season. It is not necessary to water every day but one tries to keep the soil evenly moist. There is a great advantage to watering in a manner that avoids splashing the soil onto the plants. If you mulch properly you won't need to water as often because the mulch retains moisture in the soil. What kind of problems did you have last year? BTW welcome to DG

Although the problems were multiple, the two most severe included:

- a browning (pretty severe) of the plants from the bottom up. I had to prune pretty significantly. Eventually it took over more and more of the plant and major branches shriveled up entirely.

- Then later in the summer, I had 95% of my blossoms turn brown and drop off with no fruit. Admittedly I had used a fertilizer last year too high in nitrogen so I had huge plants with only a moderate number of tomotoes. Later in the year I switched fertilizers, got all kinds of blossoms, but most of them fell off.

I managed to salvage enough tomatoes to keep us happy, but it was sad to see the plants struggling to stay alive!, not to mention watching so many potential tomatoes turn brown and fall to the ground with no fruit produced.

Thanks
Dave

Quite a few varieties of tomatoes shut down production in the hot summer.The high temps fry the pollen and render it useless.This starts at around 90 degrees give or take a few,depending on how high the humidity is.Your flowers will die and drop off if they aren't pollinated.Most tomatoes will go through a 'dormant' period in the hot summer,and if some sort of blight doesn't kill them,they will have a little spurt of production as the temps moderate in the fall.

I would say Melody is probably on the right track. I do my summer gardening in upstate NY where excessive heat is DECIDEDLY not a problem, but the browning and shutting down of production sounds a little familiar. If water splashes the soil on to the lower leaves of the plants this can trigger one of the blights, which is what it sounds like you suffered with. It isn't a fertilizer problem but a stress problem in my opinion. Take heart in the fact that most tomato growers do battle with blight to some extent. It's part of the joy of gardening if you grow 'maters.

Oh yeah one other thingie! Year over year if you don't clean up the residue in your tomato area you are inviting disaster the following season. Soil borne diseases love to overwinter in left over tomato plant "stuff" and then come roaring to life the following season. rake out the dead and dying tomato plants and give them to someone you do not like AT ALL at the end of your season.

When you pinch off the 'bad' leaves...don't just drop them on the ground...take them far far away and dispose of them.Kikisdad is right...all you'll be doing is making a worse mess for the next year.

I also burn my garden off every fall...don't know if it actually helps,but it makes me feel better.

Melody's right... pollen fries at above 95oF.

I did a little scientific test in my conservatory this May. The lower trusses of my tomatoes did not set fruit, when the temperature rose above 95oF.

When I opened the skylights, and temperature dropped to 75oF, the upper blooms did set fruit.

Classic wisdom, but it's true.

Again, wonderful input. Everything being said makes sense.

LAST YEAR:
1. We had VERY hot weather coupled with a drought as well (of course thus far this year, we can't get it to stop raining!)
2. Early in the year (before getting wiser) I watered from above - I'm sure exacerbating the splashing issue and associated diseases.
3. I over crowded the plants (wanted lots of maters but don't have nearly the room I'd like in the garden) and therefore again increased issues with disease.

THIS YEAR (I got smarter - at least I think I did):
1. I joined Dave's Garden!
2. I expanded the garden AND planted less plants (may still be a little too tight).
3. When the soil gets warmer, I'll use cut grass as my mulch rather than shredded wood. I think the soil is still too cool.
4. I've started pinching off the lower branches to help minimize the splash effect. As the plant grows, I plan on keeping the lower 12-18 inches 'branch free'.
5. I'll fertilize less, and use a 5-10-10 fertilizer when I do.
6. I also planted the plants much deeper in the turned soil to enhance the root infrastructure.

So, I'm hoping for more success. However, I'm already fearful as the plants are growing like crazy, and I'm worried that I'm again going to have lots of plant and not so much fruit!

Cheers, Dave

Dave, quit worrying or I'm gonna come up there and have a conversation with ya! You ain't that far away ya know! ;>)

If you've been getting the rain we've been getting you're in the same boat as others. Now that it's warming up a bit you should start seeing some flowers soon. Once you see those you'll dance a little jig and feel much better about things. I didn't notice what varieties you planted. If they're a late season variety then it'll be a bit longer to witness any flowers on them. (I like to plant at least one early maturing plant as well as some mid-season ones.)

Will be watching for your progress report! Take good care!

Davekirk, Kikiesdad, gave you good info for tomatoes. I will tell you how I grow mine. First off i'm pretty much an organic grower which means I rarely use commercial man-made fertilize. this year I'm using Planters 2 and also Bio-Grow. Actually I have the fellow who helps me in my gardening, dig deep at least 24" and shovel wide holes. Then fill with layers of composted steer manure, leaves from last year, chippings that we make from branches etc. Then I plant my plants deeply, leaving only the top 3 or 4 leaves above ground. They look really good now. We rarely get temp. above 90 and also very dry here so no humidity to worry about. rutholive (Donna)