Watering Tomatoes, Growing Tomatoes, Watering Tomato Plants

The best tips for watering tomatoes in container gardens, or when backyard vegetable gardening. Learn when and how to water tomato plants for best results.

There are differing opinions among gardeners about watering tomatoes while the plants are still in containers or flats

before they are transplanted to the garden.

Some gardening experts claim that the tomato plants should be allowed to dry so the roots will begin to stretch seeking moisture and become better established.

On the other hand, it is the viewpoint of others that the seedlings should be kept quite moist to reduce transplant shock and to help retain the soil surrounding the roots.

To find a happy medium, follow the sound advice to "puddle the plants in" as the wise old timers say.

This means as soon as you set out your plants, water well enough to create puddles.

As the season continues, when watering tomatoes, less is more! That's right! Less water will encourage the tomato plant to be more productive with fruit instead of foliage. Using mulch as a top-dressing around your tomato plants is a good idea, as it helps prevent the soil from drying out so quickly.

Watering tomatoes at a moderate to high level is a necessity during the early growth cycle, but reduce to a low amount through maturity and harvest.

Tomatoes are deep-rooted crops so there are separate guidelines for watering mature plants.

While you want to cause puddling for young plants, puddles should be avoided as tomatoes ripen.

In our area (Pacific Northwest), many gardeners water their tomato plants very little after the 4th of July. This encourages the plant to develop fruit, instead of putting excessive energy into growing foliage.

Causes of shallow pools of water forming around your plants could be an indication of more than a case of over-watering. Other reasons include: inadequate drainage, compacted soil, or insufficient organic content.

Plants with deep roots like tomatoes naturally benefit from a few inches of comparatively dry topsoil.

This is because too much surface moisture encourages the plant to grow extensive surface roots which are then subject to stress if the soil dries out later. In this instance, the condition of the top few inches of the soil does not indicate conditions down where the roots are.

In a well prepared bed, most vegetable plants are able to grow far-reaching root systems if provided with through, deep watering.

They will do so unless you train them to do otherwise by providing water and food inadequately in only a small circle right around the stem.

Watering tomatoes is when the inch-a-week rule becomes useful. Whenever a week has gone by without an inch or so of rain, be sure to give the entire vegetable garden a good soaking.

Source : http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/watering-tomatoes.html