Scrappy Coco
Cool Member
Posts: 83
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 9:32 am
Location: Israel, Nazareth Illit

Question | How much to water cherry tomato plants?

So I had two cherry tomato plants germinated about two months ago, I transplanted them into the garden and the begun.. Paling out. Instead of green they've gained something about 50% white hue, something around this instead of this. I suspect I water it too much, I just didn't know how much to water, but I'm not sure if I'm overwatering it either. I water the plants about 1 liter a day for each, is that too much?

User avatar
jemsister
Senior Member
Posts: 248
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 7:15 pm
Location: Western Washington, USA

I wish I knew--I'm still fuzzy on what "moist but not soggy" means exactly. I did read online somewhere that you should water when the top 1-3 inches of soil is dry. A lot depends on your climate. Soil stays super moist here in western Washington, so I don't actually water mine much unless it gets really hot. But when I lived in the high desert of Boise, Idaho, you practically couldn't water enough, especially when the temps pushed 100. I tried growing a tomato there once and it died of thirst. =P My MIL always had great success there though. Hers were in the ground though, mine was in a container. Not sure how that all balances out.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

A quart a day does not sound like much, but that depends on the soil too. If the soil is well drained it is not much. Instead of watering on a schedule, you should also check the soil by poking your finger down into it to check if it is damp, dry or muddy. You should water as much as you need to get the soil deeply watered to a depth of four inches or more and not water again until the soil is almost dry. That way the plant roots will go deeper and be more tolerant of hot dry weather than roots that are shallow.

Tomatoes are heavy feeders. What are you fertilizing with and how often? Generally a nitrogen deficiency starts at the bottom but in the later stage the whole plant will look pale and stunted.



Return to “TOMATO FORUM”