subject: Careful Not To Damage The Plants When Watering Tomatoes [print this page] "But it's only a plant", you might say, but when watering tomato plants it is best not to get the leaves wet if that is at all possible. Two problems can occur when the leaves get wet. One is that they can become more prone to disease and the other is that the leaves will be scalded.
Scalding The Leaves.
This can happen when the watering of the plant (or any plant for that matter) is done when the leaves are already heated up from the sun. The leaves are warm and the water sits on the leaf, then with the heat from the sun it burns the already warm leaf. The plants that are more susceptible to this are the plants that have very thin leaves or those that are hairy. Instances would be the lettuce and the tomato plant.
Some fruits with very thin skin can actually have this happen to them as well, such as strawberries.
Promoting Disease On Leaves.
At the other end of the scale is when the day is cold and the water on the leaves does not dry very quickly but sits there and attracts the disease spores that are in the air. The spores then enter the leaves and before you know your plant is suffering from one or several forms of leaf disease. In actual fact, the stems of the tomato plant can be affected in this way as well.
How To Get Around These Problems.
What most gardeners do is water early in the morning. This has several benefits in that the leaves are not going to be affected if our methods are used and the plant has plenty of time to drink up some water before the heat of the day.
Method 1: use a drip system, running a hose along the top of the soil where the tomatoes are planted. This will work for tomato plants in the ground or in containers on the ground.
Method 2: use a low sprinkly directly onto the soil surrounding the tomato root area. Again, this system will suit either the containers or the in-ground plants.
Method 3: when planting the tomato plant, sink a can that has had holes punched in the side, into the soil about 6 inches away from the stem and fill the can with water and this will slowly release water into the soil where the plant can get the full benefit. This method works with in-ground tomato plants, container plants, including hanging plants. Another benefit of this methods is that fertilizer can be added into the water going into the tin can.
As a full-time worker trying to look after my vegetable garden I decided to buy a timer for the tap. I looked at this as being a great investment, such a wonderful time saver and stress reliever as I knew the tomato plants were being watered at the right time of day and for the right length of time.
