There is also the situation when watering is inconvenient, either because of a watering ban or because the garden is too far away from the water source. This is when vegetable plant spacing becomes an important issue. In climates where there’s a good deal of rain, you may be able to get away with a limited amount of watering if plants have enough open ground around them.

Hi Bobby – It depends on how hot the temperatures are and how much rain you have received.

If you are experiencing hot, dry weather I would let the soaker hose run for about 2 hours, twice a week to give them a good soaking. If you are getting about an inch of rain per week then I would just run it about an hour a week.

It takes some practice to get it down just right. The one bad thing about soaker hoses is it is very easy to over water your plants (especially when you forget it’s on and leave it running for 6 hours. Yeah, I’ve done that.).

If using a soaker hose, how often and how long should you water?

I grew some great tomatoes in the Florida Keys. I had my best luck with a timer and drip irrigation system set to water three times a day. Worked great, even in the summer. Now I am in the mountains of Virginia and plan to use the system again. Wish me luck.

[...] Tips For Watering Tomatoes Deep For Awesome Results : Veggie Gardener – Properly watering tomatoes is arguably one of the most important steps for growing plump, juicy tomatoes in the vegetable garden. Watering too much or not enough can destroy or limit tomato plant production and can contribute to … [...]

Hi Jackie – The Tomato Craters are a good way to water your tomatoes and other plants (like eggplant or peppers). One drawback to using them is you need to refill it every day. Not a huge deal but still a factor. It basically is two halves. Once the tomato grows to about a foot high then place the two halves together around the stem of the plant. If I remember right, it snaps together. It’s almost like a big saucer with little holes in the bottom. You fill it with water then the water slowly trickles down into the ground and to the roots. This is much better than watering overhead.

I’m looking forward to hearing about your tomatoes this year

Tee

Great ideas. I’m going to use a drip system this year I think, and lots and lots of mulch. I’d like to know more about how those tomato crater things work ~ there wasn’t much of a description on the product page.
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