Watering?

[Jonnyhat]

I am in Zone 6b, Temps right now are ranging between 70 and 85 durring the day and 50 to 70 at night. my plants were started indoors at the beginning of March, they went in my raised bed garden at the end of April and all are between 12 and 18 inches. How often per week should I be watering these?

[Cole_Robbie]

I think it's impossible to give you a precise answer; there's just too many variables from garden to garden. I usually just stick finger in the ground to see how it feels. If I can feel moisture, and the plant isn't wilting, I wait longer to water.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Jonnyhat

I am in Zone 6b, Temps right now are ranging between 70 and 85 durring the day and 50 to 70 at night. my plants were started indoors at the beginning of March, they went in my raised bed garden at the end of April and all are between 12 and 18 inches. How often per week should I be watering these?

First thing, I would mulch heavily.
Second, would check the soil about 2 -3" below the surface . If it feels dray I would than water. One gallon per plant, approx. That is like 2" of rain.

Gardeneer

[Patihum]

At those temperatures once a week should be plenty IF

1. plants are mulched
2. the watering is deep - if you're unsure water and then dig a hole to see how far it's gone down. You're aiming for 6-8 inches.
3. If your soil is sandy you'll have to water more often.

[Jonnyhat]

my beds are not mulched and are a fairly loose mix of Dr Earth Soil, compost, vermiculite, worm castings, peat moss, coconut coir with tomato tone and azomite tilled into the soil. I do not plan on mulching them and have all plants set in 4ft cages. all but 2 are about 2ft tall. I have no problem watering 2 times a week or 3 times however initially I was told to water daily which I am now hearing is not correct. I water by hand but was trying to do so with the frequency of a drip irrigation system. I guess this is incorrect?

[Tormato]

In my one season where it basically didn't rain, I watered every 5 days (bare ground, no mulch).

With temps around 90, it put some stress on the plants (and killed P20). The tomatoes were the best tasting in all my years of gardening.

As an experiment, I watered one variety (where I had two plants) every 5 days for 1 plant , and every 2 1/2 days for the other. The plant with the 2 1/2 days between watering had near tasteless tomatoes.

Gary

[Worth1]

There isn't any set in stone frequency to water.

Mine are on a automatic drip system and I am constantly turning it off or adjusting the time and amount it waters.

As the heat sets in and the plants get bigger you may very well need to water every day.
In that situation my system runs for 2 hours in the morning and two in the afternoon.
You may very well get away less because you dont live in Texas.

As for saturation I want my plants watered any time the soil is dry 1 inch down.
If the soil drains well out the sides of the raised beds you cant really over water them.

I know this for a fact.

In my garden in the back that I used it is in the ground and it is a whole different ball game.
Once a week soaking is good enough.
Also what else are you watering?
Are there tree roots in the beds sucking up water like mine?
If so you will have to compensate for them.

Worth

[b54red]

Keep them well watered now that they are entering the blooming stage and will be setting fruit. If they get too dry they will drop a lot of blooms and you will get fewer tomatoes. I always cut back on watering when the fruit are getting mature so as to have better tasting tomatoes but sometimes the rain will take that out of your hands.

It is really difficult to over water in raised beds with no mulch once the summer heat gets going so it will probably be better to err on the side of too much than too little until the tomatoes get fairly large. I think you should mulch for a couple of reasons. It aids in keeping the soil moisture level more even thus saving you some watering. It keeps the soil temperature cooler which helps with fruit set when the summer gets hot. It also helps prevent so much splash back on the lower leaves which can encourage more disease.

Bill

[Jonnyhat]

my beds do drain well and are very slightly pitched which helps even more with drainage due to my lot layout. I started inside as well under florescent lighting and they were going like crazy until i did over water (darn you peat pots) and they started to yellow. they took about a week to rebound but now they are kicking butt. I think I will ease into watering every 3 days until i see the fruits set and then cut back as my soil mix drains well.

Is it too early to see flowers? the plants started in doors beginning of March from seed, went to 4 inch peat pots in 3 weeks and into the ground April 20th. Also my raised bed was turned into a temporary hot house from April 20 to May 5 and any time the temp goes below 50 at night.

[PA_Julia]

I'm just up from you in Allentown. I have grass clippings, straw and shredded leaves as mulch. I hand water one gallon per plant due to their relatively small size currently (approx. 12 to 16 inches tall) every three to four days of no rain.

The reason why I hand water is due to only wanting non chlorinated used. I obtain that water from my small artificial pond.