Rainday counts as a watering day.

Early in season when not too hot water twice per week, I water on Monday and Wednesday, enough to go 8 inches deep, about a gallon of water.

When it gets hotter in summer, then 3 times per week, I water Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.... in mornings so soil heats up for evening.

Most problems with tomatoes comes from inconsistent watering.. or over watering and over fertilizing.

Early in season, I meant to say: Water twice per day, I water Monday and Thursday.

Watering needs is a moving target. You must keep the
soil a constant moisture level for best results.

Dig down a bit and see how moist the soil is and
adjust constantly to keep it at the proper moisture.

Rather a generic non-answer, I know, but you can't get
into watering a certain number of days for a certain length of time.

Sunlight, rainfall (or lack thereof), cloud cover, wind and other
factors all play a part in how much watering is needed.

"Early in season, I meant to say: Water twice per day, I water Monday and Thursday."

.......................................
Bit confusing. Also, EARLY IN THE SEASON it is normally not so warm and soil won't get dry as fast. Why then water more often?

About 5 days ago we hade about 2" within 48 hours and it had been partly sunny. I checker my garden and it is more than enough moist. Some of my plants look a bit pale. That tells me they've had too much water.

In normal summer days I water once a week, real deep. a 2" of rain is equivalent for one watering for tomato plants.
JMO

I tend to agree with seysonn and water deeply once a week. Maybe every five days in the heat of the summer. I do have a heavy layer of cut grass mulch over the roots, though.

I put the hose at the base of the plant and let it trickle for 10 to 20 minutes. Too much water makes for watery tomatoes which lessens the intensity of the flavor.

I have 2 different kinds of moisture meters - 1 dial one and a digital. Just don't seem accurate to me, they seem to always read moist. Maybe I'm just using them wrong? The old manual method is probably the best - I have all these useless gadgets lying around. How deep should I dig down to check moisture in the soil or could I use a stick instead?

Dave

A few inches should do the trick. Many times the surface
will be dry but not deeper down. Don't forget, tomato
roots can go down 3 feet deep or more.

A few inches should do the trick. Many times the surface
will be dry but not deeper down. Don't forget, tomato
roots can go down 3 feet deep or more.

GardenWebber sprouts_honor (Jennifer from Cleveland) had a wonderful suggestion on how to tell whether or not you need to water your tomatoes, and I quote here: "Get a wooden dowel rod (or two) and sink it in the ground near a plant or two and leave it. Pull it out when you think you need to water. If the top is dry and the bottom is a little damp, it's time to water. If it looks dark and feels saturated, wait to water. I use this technique with potted plants that don't like being over watered and it's helpful with in ground plants too."

Betsy