Topic: watering tomatoes

[weedgrower]

this may sound a stupid question but when tomatoes are on the vine how often are you supposed to water them. for the last two years i have got blossom end rot. the first year i didnt get down to plot so much so when i did i gave them a good watering. last year i only watered them when i thought they needed it and still got bloosom end rot. now some people i have asked have said give them just a little water every day, even if it is really hot. others have said only water when the soil is dry which encourages the tomatoes to grow. others have said keep them moist all the time. my question to you all is what have you found the best way to water tomatoes. thanks for replying.     weedgrower

[saddad]

Irregular watering causes BER or Splitting depending on the development of the fruit. With outside vars. once growing strongly in the soil they shouldn't need watering if they have a good mulch as the roots will chase the water down into the soil. A pot for occassional feeding can help. Last year was exceptional. So fingers crossed this time....
PS what varieities? as some a re more prone than others.

[Tee Gee]

A simple question but no easy answers.

There are a number of factors e.g.

Are they in pots, in beds, what centres are they at ,what type of compost/soil?
and all these can be permutated with the state of the weather i.e. hot/cool.

It is quite a common problem so it is nothing to feel ashamed of, I have been growing them for over twenty years and my fruit is sometimes affected.

I think the answer is often in the soil i.e. is it water retentative or not?

Each year I add farm yard manure to my beds as this holds more moisture than my soil. If I am using pots/ring culture I fill the bottom third of the pot with farm yard manure and top off with compost.
 
I find this can help if I miss a watering because the moisture in the manure sustains the plants for a few hours longer.

I water daily and this is generally sufficient, although some will say water twice a day if the weather is exceptionaly hot, I would agree if the compost/soil is very free draining.

Some will say water in the evening or early morning when it is cool, although I agree with this it is not always practicle and one might have to water during the day.

I don't know if you are aware but tomato roots grow in basically two ways there are water seeking roots and feeding roots, the feeders are at the top of the root system and the water seekers at the bottom.

Knowing this, what I do is sink a 5" pot ( or similar)along side each plant at planting out time and water into this, this takes the water deeper into the soil i.e. where the water seeking roots are.

What can happen if you don't do this, particularly as the plants are maturing and the root system is quite large this can shed the water you are putting on to a spot where it is not required rather than where you want it to go.

I have gone on a bit but as I say there is no simple cure, then again you could go for a super dooper automatic watering system ::)

[cleo]

say no more-the total answer

[kenkew]

Ventilation.

[macleaf]

Ive grown Money Maker over the years,i admit it was for commercial purpose and they were drip fed and watered all the time,on ocasions i would use a hose pipe to give the plants a good dousing ,but iregular watering does cause problems ,splitting etc ,clean air is a must,and of course pinch out the shoots ,which no doubt you do,but as i said a watering of the leaves to me is important

[pye]

PS what varieities? as some a re more prone than others.

Which ones, dad?

Kitchen Garden (Dec) said Ferline and Legend are blight-resistant - anyone tried them? What's the flavour like?

[Laney]

I'm by no means an expert, this year will be my third growing tomatoes, but I grew three varieties last year and one got BER which I managed to rectify. 

I grew Gardeners Delight(a cherry tom), Alicante(a medium sized tom), and a Plum tomato.  The best by far were the Gardeners Delight, and I'm only going to grow them this year, they were so low maintenance and like little bite sized pieces of heaven.  ;D
It was the Alicante that got the BER, but as soon as I adjusted my watering habits they were fine.  It wasn't the amount of water they were getting, it was the timing of it.  I removed all affected fruit, then watered at sunset every day, the same amount of water.  I also sprayed them with the hosepipe most evenings too.

[king spud]

I always grow Ferline in the poytonnel border, planted up into large bottomless pots or buckets in good compost and down about two inches into the soil. keep the soil moist and don't let the pots dry out . really good blight resistant variety.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you find one particular variety develops it, grow something else; there are plenty to choose from. I found it was a real problem with the first trusses last year, but other people on the site told me it always is. After that, I still got a bit of it, but I put that down to the drought.

[okra]

I mulch quite deeply with leafmold and don't water that regualarly and touchwood ahve not had any problems to date

[redimp]

First year got loads of BER. Second year stuck a spade full of leaf mould in each planting hole and got very little.  I don't water anything except when first put in.  I like deep roots that seek their own moisture.

[agapanthus]

I'm trying the ring-culture method this year with growbag (on their sides)
sitting in a sump of water and peashingle.....just top the sump up with water when
the level goes down and put the feed in the ring.

[growmore]

I would Suggest you use bottomless buckets the super market ones will do ...Press them into Your bed   .Fill them a good third to half ful of hoss muck or any strawy water retaining compost ..Top to say to 2 inch from top of bucket with general purpose compost  or grow bag medium . Once they get established and you know you gonna be a day or 2 between watering you can puddle your beds around the buckets ... Dont be tempted to use grow bags for growng them in unless your constantly on  the lotty
watering em ..cheers Jim.

[Marymary]

I agree that regular watering is the answer to BER but i also think that the toms which don't get too much water taste better.  Last year I grew some inside the greenhouse & others outside - same varieties - & the outside ones which got really baked in the sun every day & really dried out tasted SO much better.  Also the ones with BER were fine with the ends chopped off! 

[supersprout]

I found the same marymary - my first ever greenhouse toms were a bit of a flop taste-wise :-\ but the outdoor ones made up for it :)