Re: watering tomatoes

richard sargent wrote:
> 
> I've always thought that tomatoes should not be watered after they start
> to set fruit. I've had pretty good results with that method. But since my
> tomatoes all failed last year, probably due to el nino, I'm open to other
> suggestions. For example, someone keeps writing to a gardening newsgroup
> saying that tomatoes should be watered every day and are the one exception
> to infrequent deep waterings.
> 
> I'm in Berkeley, California. What are your experiences and opinions?
> 
 Barbara

In another posting to this list I have dealt with a method of
drought-proofing by development of a deep water-root system. With this
in place and a deep summer mulch my plants usually get by with just one
watering a week, but I continue this until the fruit begins to ripen. If
you stop at fruit set there may not be enough moisture, even with deep
roots, to swell the fruit properly.

I think with most caring for living things, it is best to "play it by
ear". If your plants are sitting up and the leaves nice and turgid, they
have enough water, but if the leaves are soft and wilted, particularly
early in the day, they really need some help. Daily watering is not good
for most plants as it makes them soft and lazy. The roots just stay in
the surface soil and if that gets dry then they may collapse.

Moira
-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, 
New Zealand (astride the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
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