Rain water calculations

[Emeoba69]

As far as my need to be improving my gardening game I want to make sure my tomatoes don't crack and split this year because of draught/downpours. I hear the common wisdom is 2 inches of water per week. I found this nifty calculator. Having a space of 12x14 feet I'd need to use 210 ten gallons a week. I have 24 plants in that space. Around 8 3/4 gallon a week sound about right per plant? Am I missing something simple? I figured I'd get a rain gauge and measure percipitation week to week and water the difference that is needed so it's not 210 gallons of tap water per week......

What says the mob?


Thanks!

[jmsieglaff]

Might be a good starting point and good average point, but I'd have to think so much local conditions will change those numbers significantly.

Some things that will greatly impact those number:
1) What kind of soil?
2) Is mulch used? If so, how deep and what kind?
3) How much sun does the garden receive?
4) Weekly temperatures likely have a huge impact. As will weekly humidity and winds.

You get the idea.

For my garden, which is a slightly raised bed of very good soil, that is mulched with straw, gets a lot of sun, that would be waaaaay too much water. Maybe if we had a week of 95+ degree temps, but otherwise that would be too much. Now if I didn't mulch that might be a different story I'm not sure.

[Durgan]

I don't even think of calculating for water. I stick my finger around the root and dump about a gallon now and then if found to be dry. The water only gets to the root area. I make a little retaining hollow and pour the water in slowly.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?WLOBC 1 June 2014 Watering Tomato plants.
Rainwater collected in four barrels is used to water the garden.The water is transported to the garden area in a wheelbarrow with a milk carton to limit wave action and spilling. Each plant (25) received one bucket full of water. Keep it simple.

[Gardeneer]

Your calculation is based on 2 inches of water per week. I think that is on the up side.
I would do half of that ; One inch per week. If you mulch real well that should be enough, in my opinion.
As jm said there are factors ; like soil type, temperatures , mulch thickness, amount of direct sun.
I think probably two inches per week would be needed in the worst scenario.
I am gardening in sandy soil, over 10 hours of direct sun , highs in 90F (+/- 5 ) and I don't I water that much.

[Father'sDaughter]

I've been looking at watering amounts a lot now that I have drip lines in my raised beds and a new wifi irrigation controller. It has a "smart" setting that links into nearby weather stations and automatically adjusts the watering schedule based on the weather data after you tell it what type of vegetation each zone covers, the type of nozzles (heads, emitters, etc.), the type of soil, the amount of sun, slope vs. flat, etc.

Earlier this month it kept watering my beds much more than I would have expected, so I started doing some research on how much water is really needed. Quite a few posts in quite a few forums linked to this page -- https://bonnieplants.com/library/how...getables-need/ which explains why my system was running on the schedule it had been.

Now that we're in a pattern of rain every few days, the system is shortening and sometimes even skipping watering days. So I'm just placing my trust in the system and letting it do it's thing, and so far everything is doing quite nicely despite our recent heatwave.

[Emeoba69]

Thanks for the input.

Im getting frustrated with the unpredictableness of weather forecast. My fert schedule this week was for fish fertilizer and since the weather forecast had been predicting rain Wed-Fri this week I only lightly watered with the liquid ferts. No rain as of yet. Since my garden is semi out of the way for me I have been bungling the timing up my trips to it to water consistantly. Im guessing this might have more to do with the tomatoes cracking in the long run?

[tarheelchick]

somewhat on topic.....I have one of those inexpensive moisture readers. How far down are you supposed to poke that thing into the ground? (My plants are in the ground). If I go one or two inches, it reads drier than if I poke it all the way down (about 4 or 5 inches). Down there it reads wet.

I guess I don't know how far down tomato roots go

[Labradors2]

If you are concerned about cracking, just pick any tomatoes that have blushed before heavy rains are forecast.

Linda

[Emeoba69]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

If you are concerned about cracking, just pick any tomatoes that have blushed before heavy rains are forecast.

Linda

Doesnt that take away from the vine ripened appeal of garden tomatoes?

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Emeoba69

Doesnt that take away from the vine ripened appeal of garden tomatoes?

My buddy has a container tomato plant. He keeps the ripe fruits on the vine for weeks. He said he wants to take a picture. But maybe he just like those red balls on the vine.
I pick mine as soon as there is some color. Some times I miss few and I get cracked, spoiled tomatoes.

[Emeoba69]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

My buddy has a container tomato plant. He keeps the ripe fruits on the vine for weeks. He said he wants to take a picture. But maybe he just like those red balls on the vine.
I pick mine as soon as there is some color. Some times I miss few and I get cracked, spoiled tomatoes.

Sure there is a part of my that wants it purely for aesthetics. Id still be curious if picking them before fully ripe would effect the end taste?

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Emeoba69

Sure there is a part of my that wants it purely for aesthetics. Id still be curious if picking them before fully ripe would effect the end taste?

This question gets debated almost every year here on Tomatoville. You'll find people on both sides of the table -- ones who insist vine ripened are better, and others who insist they find no difference.

I'm in the no difference camp, so I pick at first blush and get to enjoy beautifully ripened, incredibly tasty tomatoes before the backyard critters decide to treat themselves to a bite or two from each before throwing them around the yard. The key is to wait until you see some color.

[Chapinz8]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

This question gets debated almost every year here on Tomatoville. You'll find people on both sides of the table -- ones who insist vine ripened are better, and others who insist they find no difference.

I'm in the no difference camp, so I pick at first blush and get to enjoy beautifully ripened, incredibly tasty tomatoes before the backyard critters decide to treat themselves to a bite or two from each before throwing them around the yard. The key is to wait until you see some color.

And, I picked about 15 totally green Carbons at the end of one season before frost. At least 10 turned ripe and pretty tasty. Surprised me.

[Emeoba69]

Back to my pain areas. Last year I put in 12" of Evans super soil, below that is just bad ohio clay mud. This year I went with the black soil covering sheets as a weed preventer/water retention covering, last year was pine fines I tilled into the soil after the season. Looks like the next two months will average in the mid to upper 80's. Plants get direct sun from about 10:30 to sundown.

Im thinking, like my struggles of spraying with the unpredictableness of rain, just picking two days a week and watering the suggested 4 gallons a plant unless there has been a large downpour or high percentage chance of one around the watering days?

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Chapinz8

And, I picked about 15 totally green Carbons at the end of one season before frost. At least 10 turned ripe and pretty tasty. Surprised me.

I believe that ripening after a certain stage ( when the fruit is not getting any bigger and there is some color ), becomes an internal process within the fruit. This is not just for tomatoes, it is applicable to many fruits , pear, peaches, melons, ....

It is possible that a tomato hanging down on the wine might develop better taste from the sunlight. It can be also just a time factor. But it won't be getting anything from the plant.
JMO