Rules for watering tomatoes

It is important for gardeners to know how to water tomatoes properly, since this crop is demanding on soil moisture. In addition, at each stage of development of vegetables, the irrigation scheme has its own nuances. Let’s look at how to irrigate tomatoes in the open ground and in the greenhouse to get tasty fruits and harvest a plentiful harvest.

Rules for watering tomatoes

Moisture requirements

This crop loves moist soil, but negatively refers to high humidity (if the first indicator can t reach 90%, then the second should not exceed 50%.) Excessively dry soil causes leaf wilting and shedding of ovaries, leads to the appearance of vertex rot and cracks on ripening fruits.

Excessive moisture also has negative consequences: fruits become watery and can crack, roots rot, the plant is at risk of fungal diseases.

Proper and timely watering of tomatoes allows them to comfortably tolerate the heat on a summer day: constant soil moisture promotes rapid evaporation NIJ through the leaves, causing the tomatoes cool. When calculating how much water a planting needs, it is worth remembering that the abundance and frequency of irrigation of tomatoes depends on weather conditions and soil characteristics.On average, it is recommended to moisten this crop abundantly, but not too often: once a week, using from 1 to 5 liters of water (depending on the period of plant development).

When growing tomatoes, it makes no sense to moisten the soil often and little by little, since their root system extends inland, the water will remain in the upper layer of the earth and will not reach the roots.

Watering at different stages of growth

When transplanting tomatoes into open ground, you must carefully moisten the soil using a liter of water for each well. After the plants are planted, they should not be disturbed for a week. Further, irrigation of tomatoes is carried out with a frequency of 1 time per week (or 10 days, depending on weather conditions).

In the period of seedling growth and during flowering, 1 liter of water is used per 1 plant, after the start of fruiting – 3-5 l. At the stage of mass fruiting, agricultural technicians recommend increasing the amount of watering up to 2 times a week. On a hot day, water the tomatoes in the evening, a few hours before sunset. If the weather is cloudy, you can water the tomatoes at any time, but it is better in the first half of the day.

How to water

How to properly water the tomato plantings and what water to use? Watering the tomatoes is carried out under the root (or along the grooves), making sure that the water does not fall on the stems and leaves.In the summer (especially in July and August), the hot sun can burn the plant: in this case, the drops of water on the sheets act like a lens. In this regard, for proper watering of tomatoes, it is better not to use sprinkling, especially from above. In addition, the pressure of water when watering under the root should not be too strong, otherwise the stream will wash out the soil and deprive the roots of the nutrient medium.

What should be the water

Rainwater is ideal for irrigation

Water the tomatoes properly with well-maintained warm water. It is best to take rainwater and warm it in the sun to 22-25 ° C. Since rainwater is not always present, agricultural technicians often recommend watering tomatoes with softened water. To do this, add a little compost or weed to the barrel, after which they defend water for a day or two. You can’t use water from the well to moisturize: it can turn out to be too cold and harm the root system.

Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):

Water from a well (from underground sources) before watering all garden plants, including tomato, must also be defended for several days in a separate tank to saturate it with oxygen and increase the temperature.

Watering in open ground

Watering of tomatoes in open ground requires that the temperature of the water be no lower than the temperature of the soil itself. The soil should not be too dense or too loose: in the first case, the water will remain in the upper layers of the soil without reaching the root system, and in the second it will quickly pass through the ground and will not have time to fully nourish the roots. So that moisture does not evaporate so quickly from the soil, you can resort to mulching the beds with dry grass or compost.

Watering in a greenhouse

How to properly water greenhouse tomatoes? The basic rules remain the same, but after each moistening the greenhouse is thoroughly ventilated.

It is advisable to water greenhouse tomatoes from a barrel installed directly in the greenhouse. This allows you to maintain the required temperature of the settled water. Moreover, if the barrel of water is placed in the greenhouse, it must be closed, otherwise the humidity inside will exceed the norm.

Watering seedlings

How often should you water tomatoes grown from seed for seedlings? For the first time, the soil is moistened with warm water 3 days after emergence of tomato shoots. You can use a small glass or just a spoon, irrigation is acceptable, but provided that water droplets do not fall on the leaves of plants. It is further recommended to moisten the soil as it dries, and also for two days before diving.

Watering dive tomatoes is done four days after transplanting. The frequency of humidification after a dive is once a week if the soil dries well enough. Shortly before transplanting into open ground, you can use the method of moistening the roots from the pallet: the roots will reach for moisture, which will contribute to their growth and development. Before the transplant, the soil in each pot must be thoroughly moistened: this will help protect the root system from possible damage.

Additional recommendations

1. How to understand how much moisture is present in the soil and whether it is enough for full growth of tomatoes? You need to dig the earth to a depth of 10 cm, then take a lump of soil for a sample, squeeze his fret If the earth sticks together in your hand and then easily crumbles, the soil is moistened normally.
2. Before moistening the soil, make sure that the water is used without harmful impurities. In particular, you can not take water from a rusty barrel: this will harm not only the growth of tomatoes, but also the people who will consume them.
3. 3-4 times for the whole season it is recommended to use water with ash to moisten the soil. Such top dressing is especially useful for tomatoes: they enrich the soil with minerals (without nitrogen), improve its structure and serve as a good prevention of fungal diseases.
4. For good growth, gardeners recommend watering the tomatoes with yeast infusion.The solution is prepared at the rate of 1 kg per 5 liters of water, insisted for a day, and then diluted with water (in the ratio of 1: 2).
5. Gardeners advise to reduce watering during the ripening period of the fruits, and a month before harvesting crop to stop them altogether (sometimes it is recommended to stop watering so that the fruits turn red in the shortest possible time). However, this method is relevant only for growing undersized varieties. Tall varieties ripen gradually: during the ripening period, do not change the moisture regime or completely stop watering. Each bush still needs at least 10 liters of water weekly (and sometimes more often: once every 4-5 days).
6. Growing a large number of tomatoes greatly facilitates the automatic watering system: with its help, life-giving moisture is delivered directly under root regularly and in uniform doses. A budget alternative is the drip irrigation system with plastic bottles, which you can build yourself. The bottom of plastic bottles is cut, and 2-4 holes are drilled in the caps. Then the bottle is buried in the ground at a distance of 15 cm from the stem of the plant and poured with water – the liquid flows drop by drop directly to the roots of the tomato bush. The bottle method can be used not only to moisten the soil, but also to fertilize.

Tatyana Orlova (Ph.D. S.-kh.Sciences):

Watering using drip tape is currently available to amateur gardeners, not just farmers. The cost of the drip tape itself is small. To organize drip irrigation, you need a container of water raised above the ground to create gravity in the tape and fittings for connecting parts of the tape and attaching it to the water source. The tape is laid out in the beds and through the holes in the dropper tape, water is supplied to the plants.