[Tomato Dirt] It's Good to Be a Drip - When Watering Tomatoes

Tomato Dirt Newsletter
Volume 2, Number 8

Dear Tomato Dirt reader,

Welcome back to Tomato Dirt! Once or twice a month, we’ll send you this newsletter packed with tips about growing tomatoes and using them.

It’s Good to be a Drip - When Watering Tomatoes

Tomatoes are fast-growing, heavy-producing plants. They make a lot of food (sugars) in order to grow blossoms, develop fruit, and put out more branches. It takes a considerable amount of water to convert sunlight into energy for a tomato’s many branches and blossoms.

Deep watering forces roots to burrow lower into the soil to get water. That helps your plant build a strong root system, which in turn allows it to withstand the stresses of hot or dry weather.

In contrast, light surface watering guides the roots towards the soil, where they’re more easily damaged and susceptible to drought and exposure. Of the 3 most common forms of watering tomatoes – hand-watering, sprinkler watering, and drip watering – tomato gardeners have most success with drip watering to ensure moisture penetrates deeply into the soil.

Drip hoses (or soaker hoses) are the easiest and least expensive form of drip irrigation. They are made of recycled tires and have tiny pores along their entire length. Gardeners connect the drip hose to a water source and lay them along a row of tomatoes or wind them in between plants. Water leaks slowly from the hose at a rate of about ½ gallon a minute per 100 feet of hose. Learn more about drip hoses for tomatoes – and get them here .

Drip Watering (Soaker Hose Watering) Tips

Drip hoses work best when they lay flat.
Place hoses directly on top of the soil, not underneath it.
For best results, use 50 foot lengths or less as water seepage diminishes at hose ends.
Hoses may clog. Flush out hose by connecting it to a regular garden hose and turning on water to dislodge debris.

(Get drip hoses through Gardener’s Supply.)

More on watering tomatoes …

Watering Tomato Plants: the Basics	Watering Tomatoes FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)	Techniques for Watering Tomato Plants	Am I Watering My Tomatoes Enough?

For many, it's not too late to buy tomato plants ...

Heirloom and OP (open-pollinated) Tomato Varieties

Tomato Dirt recommends TomatoFest, which offers over 600 varieties.

Hybrid Tomato Varieties

For hybrid tomato seeds, we recommend Burpee, a leading home gardening and seed company since 1881. Shop Burpee.com for Tomatoes

That’s it for now. More next time!

Until then, happy gardening!

Kathy with Tomato Dirt
www.tomatodirt.com
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