If the water is going into the soil around the plant, why do you think the roots aren't getting any benefit? That's where the roots are located. One could always build a low soil or mulch moat around the plant to collect and hold the water as it soaks in.....

Foliar feeding is really quite ineffective - plants do not absorb much in the way of nutrients through their foliage, despite what one finds on the Internet to encourage this rather pointless process. They take up both water and nutrients primarily through their root system.....which is why you water and apply fertilizer to the roots.

Do you see a pattern here????

If your soil is compacted, the water may not penetrate well enough into the roots (if that’s the condition you’re alluding to).

You can amend the soil or provide more

frequent watering if you are experiencing run-off.

The water definitely penetrates the soil and I use an aeration formula as my soil is pretty heavy (clay?)

Theoretically, the moat I dig around my plant should lead the water to the roots but, right now, the roots don't stretch that far out. Garden community neighbors plant in a trench. Their stuff looks better than mine. Time to change the process.

What id like to know, and I'm not sure if i said this, is how you, say with a full grown tomato or a many branched Zinnia plant, get the water to the roots when you cant see where they are. Im thrilled to knock foiloar feeding off my list of things to do. When it comes to watreing the bushy plants how can I get the water to the right place? Should I use a spout and just aim or you a sprinkler head and just water in the general area?

I use a water wand. There is no issue with needing to see the base of the plant/root zone because you can just direct the wand to the base of the plant. Honestly, I have had some densely planted gardens in my day and now garden primarily in tightly packed containers and have never encountered a situation where I could not directly water the plant roots as needed.

Just water at the base of the plant. Nothing complicated.

spinach, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, broccoli, tomato, flowering branched flowers...and more

You tell me how to water the base of the plant when you cant even see it.

gardengal48 I used to, when i lived in a traditional home, used a water wand. It was great. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a hose so I'm stuck with the can. I watered the lettuce today but i felt like all i was doing was watreing the leaves