To water or not to water?

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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Westi
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Been flicking through the internet & getting lots of different opinions on how much to water & how often with certain plants with some very passionate responses.

The main plants they are taking about is tomatoes, cucumbers & melons. Most agree when small they need a water regularly but once they set fruit then the changes in opinion set in. Most claim it gives a better tasting fruit, some say it makes the plants more vulnerable to splitting & pests (& blight is mentioned occasionally), and that it limits plants reaching maturity not to water regularly.

I water greenhouse crops more or less daily, they are in pots though, but only water the lottie crops a couple of times a week and they are mulched. I personally can't taste much difference, but most years my melons don't ripen so maybe stressing them a bit might help? My tomatoes only seem to split if I get lots of rain.

Any way over to the Forum Folk - contributors as well as readers welcome to offer their preferred way!
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Monika
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Outside, I water only if absolutely necessary after a very long dry spell and the plants have just been sown or planted or they are very thirsty mature plants, like cauliflower, courgette etc.
For pots in the greenhouse, I poke a finger into the soil to see how moist it is or pick up the pot to weigh it. Mature tomatoes in growpots inside growbags are watered at least once a day.
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Primrose
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We have stoney soil which dries out incredibly quickly and I notice my veg just don't seem to thrive unless they're watered regularly because even deeper down the soil dries out quickly. Therefore not watering reasonably regularly is not an option for me.
I do try to dig in as much moisture retention material as possible as well as mulching with grass cuttings during the summer.

I've read the theory that tomatoes especially shouldn't be watered too much when fruiting to improve the flavour but when I see the leaves start to droop through dryness, I chicken out and water or the skins can get very tough. I think how you water is probably important too and directing it straight to the roots rather than spraying overhead is far more effective. I always grow some agardeners Delight tomatoes and always end up with a number of split skins, whatever the level of water supplied to their roots! Other varieties seem more resilient.

I also grow mini cucumbers outdoors in a border and when it's dry I water them most days otherwise the supply of new fruit starts to dry up fairly quickly. I think the amount you water probably depends on your type of soil too as much as the weather - a heavy loam soil or clay which retains moisture for longer will obviously keep your plants going for longer before artificial intervention is needed.

I think growing on an allotment is probably more difficult because of lack of access to a regular convenient water supply and you may have to go along with what nature determines. Growing in a garden with easier access to water butts and a hose does allow you to cheat nature which possibly provides some rather artificial results about how plants best respond to water levels.
tigerburnie
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I'm on thin sandy coastal soil and tend to under water(that's if we get any summer up here), now growing most of my veg in raised beds that is predominantly compost and manure, hopefully the moisture retention will be better. Not grown in a greenhouse for a long time, so this year is much about trying remember how I used to do it.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
PLUMPUDDING
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My soil is clay with years and years of added manure and compost so is good at retaining moisture, so I only water seedlings and newly planted things outdoors unless there is a prolonged drought.
In the greenhouse I test the soil in individual pots and containers the same as Monika, by finger test and weight and water daily in hot weather, or every two or three days when it's cooler. In the tomato border I follow my father's practice of flooding the whole border every week or two and then feed and water into their individual bottomless pots/cut off drainage pipes daily or less to just keep them moist.

I grow lots of small salad crops in the tomato border and they thrive on this treatment.
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Pawty
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Hi,

I water the allotment a couple of times a week (depending on rain). Although the two raised beds do dry out incredibly quickly, so do often give these a bit more water. We have to pump our water by hand from a stand pipe so only water when necessary.

Tomatoes are grown in a raised bed in the back garden. I water them every couple of days - but after reading this thread, maybe I'll change this? Trouble is, the sign of limp leaves makes my go into panic! Mr Pawtys a bit more ruthless so maybe I'll put him in charge of this this year!

I also worry about seedlings in the windowsill. You shouldn't let soil dry out, but you don't want them too wet as the seed will rot - where's the balance? This has always confused me - and I suspect is the reason for some of the poor germination results? Any tips?

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Primrose
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Pawty, I struggle with the same problem with my germinating pots on windowsills. It's hard getting the right balance, especially if they get a lot of sun. I don,t know whether it's worth trying to water from the bottom, i.e. Putting water in the drip trays a little at a time and letting it soak up gradually until the surface gets some moisture, but not too much, encouraging little roots to reach downwards. That way the compost at the bottom gets moist first.and the seeds near the surface perhaps don,t get so saturated.
They recommend you water cyclamen bulbs in pots that way.
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