drip irrigation

peter piper · May 28, 2016

how often and for how long do you water your tomatoes?

Salsacharley · May 28, 2016

I have a drip system with 1/4" tubing and 1 gal/hr in-line drippers, one to a plant. I am irrigating 150 plants with this system. I tested a couple of drippers for output and determined they are emitting a little under 1/2 gal/hr. I've been running it daily for 1 hr since I just set up the whole system and the soil was very very dry. I have very low humidity, too. I will continue at 1 hr per day, once daily until conditions dictate a change. Most likely I will have to go to twice daily when it gets brutally hot, but I might reduce the time to 1/2 hr twice per day then. I'm adding leaf mulch this next week and that might also reduce the need for so much water.

zeuspaul · May 28, 2016

My emitters are spaced 12 inches apart and are rated 1 gallon per hour. The tomato plants are 24 inches apart so 2 emitters per plant.

I water about once a week for about 4 hours. That works out to about 8 gallons per plant per week or a little over a gallon per day.

Worth1 · May 28, 2016

It all depends on the weather.
Right now I have my entire irrigation system shut down.
In the heat of the summer it will be on for about two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon around 4:pm.
If it is really dry it will come on everyday.
So that really isn't an answer you were looking for but it is what I do.
I let the heat and the weather decide for me as all I have to do is dump a program in from my computer.

Worth

May 28, 2016	#1
peter piper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: rhode island Posts: 5	drip irrigation how often and for how long do you water your tomatoes?

May 28, 2016	#2
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	I have a drip system with 1/4" tubing and 1 gal/hr in-line drippers, one to a plant. I am irrigating 150 plants with this system. I tested a couple of drippers for output and determined they are emitting a little under 1/2 gal/hr. I've been running it daily for 1 hr since I just set up the whole system and the soil was very very dry. I have very low humidity, too. I will continue at 1 hr per day, once daily until conditions dictate a change. Most likely I will have to go to twice daily when it gets brutally hot, but I might reduce the time to 1/2 hr twice per day then. I'm adding leaf mulch this next week and that might also reduce the need for so much water.

May 28, 2016	#3
zeuspaul Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: North County, San Diego Posts: 419	My emitters are spaced 12 inches apart and are rated 1 gallon per hour. The tomato plants are 24 inches apart so 2 emitters per plant. I water about once a week for about 4 hours. That works out to about 8 gallons per plant per week or a little over a gallon per day.

May 28, 2016	#4
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	It all depends on the weather. Right now I have my entire irrigation system shut down. In the heat of the summer it will be on for about two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon around 4:pm. If it is really dry it will come on everyday. So that really isn't an answer you were looking for but it is what I do. I let the heat and the weather decide for me as all I have to do is dump a program in from my computer. Worth