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Another "Watering Tomatoes" question from newbie

If I tell you, that I give my tomatoes about 1/2 gallon each plant daily using drip irrigation ( 15 minutes with 2GPH emitters - raised beds ) no rain and temps in central Indiana 80-90s, Would you say...


A. Overkill - You are definitely applying too much water!
B. Average - That sounds about right!
C. No Clue - Hoping from some comments from the Pro's.

Comments (14)

  • 7 years ago

    I noticed that a couple of the tomatoes have leaves that are curling, my soil is rich but it dries fast, im always feeling the top 2 inches and it gets pretty dry quickly.

  • 7 years ago

    That's why it's best to encourage deep root growth early in the season so the plant's roots can reach the moisture deep down in the soil when Ma Nature turns up the thermostat.

    Roxana *** ZN 5 Indianapolis IN *** thanked LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
  • 7 years ago

    These are in the ground, not in pots? Are they mulched? If not, get them mulched. I would say daily watering for tomatoes in the ground and mulched is overkill. I would water very deeply once a week only. If they are in pots or a raised bed, they should still be mulched, but would have to be watered multiple times a week and, if in pots, basically daily.

  • 7 years ago

    In raised beds in the ground, straw mulch around them... I’ll go back to 3 times per week and see if the leaves get better.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    It is understood that one response to tomato overwatering is that the topmost leaves curl inward and upward. Especially as the plants set fruit. It's called "leaf roll." Leaf roll can be a response to various stressors, but overwatering is a common one.

  • 7 years ago

    I believe that physiological leaf roll on tomatoes is caused by improper watering usually too little. Too cold or too hot temperatures can also cause leaf roll. I'd like to see you water deeply and regularly, making sure that the whole root zone is able to gain access to water.

    There are other reasons for leaf roll but I suspect that inadequate watering is the issue here.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Hard to assess this without understanding the spacing of the emitters. If you have ONE emitter, 0.5 gallons from that emitter is the equivalent of 1 inch of water over 1 square foot. But the roots of a plant cover a lot more area than that. So that 1 square foot is getting plenty of water, but if all the other square feet around it are dry, that would make for inadequate watering.

    I have to assume you have lots of emitters. If you do, with 2 foot emitter spacing (which is standard) in your bed, you'd be laying down the equivalent of 1/4 inch of water every time you water every day for 15 minutes.

    In high heat, I put down 1 inch of water every week over my whole bed. You'd be putting down twice that. BTW, my high heat is hotter than yours.

  • 7 years ago

    Sounds like too much....but it admittedly depends on mulching and soil type.


    I am for 1” a week on mine, and they are mulched, in a loamy soil, with high organic content.


    Many weeks, they end up getting a bit more than that, because it never fails, when I feel like things are too dry and there aren’t many prospects for rain, I water (deeply), and then we get dumped on by an isolated thunderstorm a day later.


    But as long as the soil drains well, that’s usually not too big of a problem.

  • 7 years ago

    If you skip watering a couple of days and the plants wilt worse, you are not watering enough. Agree with others, watering less often but deeper will be better for the tomatoes. I would water twice a week in July due to the heat.

  • 7 years ago

    The only tomato plants that I ever had to water every day were when I tried growing them in containers. It's easy at first. small plant/large 10 gal pot, but by this time of the growing season the large adult plants are water sponges. For in ground/raised beds, that set up gets my deep watering every five days vote. If no rain there, water at least 1.25 - 1.5"/week, or at least 1" every 5 days.

  • 7 years ago

    I watered today, first time in a couple months. 25 tomato plants and 45 potato plants left. Also other annuals and a variety of fruit trees. All planted in the ground. If it rains regularly it's going to mess up any schedule.

  • 7 years ago

    Regular rain doesn't mess anything up. It just makes you be smarter about how much to water.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Is there something underneath your raised bed such that the roots can only grow to a certain depth?

    I'd say a half a gallon a day is too much, especially in a place like Indiana, with mulch, but if there's a limit to the soil depth, you'll probably want to water more than if there were no limit.

    Mulch can seriously reduce watering needs, though, including when container gardening.