Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi all

Given the weather and the,for me, risk of blossom end rot I wonder if anyone knows of statistics on the water requirements of tomatoes at different temperatures.

I'm thinking if I know the water useage of my gardeners delight in the greenhouse at 35 degrees for a day then I can replace that and avoid them drying out or being swamped.

I would be grateful for any info or tips.

Thanks

David

A difficult one, David. I think there was an article in KG about this last year or the year before, which gave some guidance. Clearly the plants' water needs vary according to the temperature. But the other factors include how tall the plants are and whether they still have all their leaves,or whether you have stripped off some of the bottom leaves.
I've got the luxury of being able to pop over to the greenhouse at any time of day to keep an eye on them. At the moment, one 2-gallon can once a day seems to be enough to water 12 tall tomatoes and about six peppers (which need much less, obviously). As the temperatures continue to rise, though, I would expect to have to water twice a day.
I understand that if you keep the atmosphere moist, it reduces the plants' need for water. However, I've never had much success with that. I've sprayed teh central path with water, but it evaporates away very quickly...

After filinbg that note, I was reading the latest issue of the RHS magazine, The Garden. There's a piece in there in the problems and tips sections on growing tomatoes. They reckon that a fully grown tomato plant can use about 0.8 litres a day. On the basis that two gallons equal 10 litres, that works out pretty close to my figure above, that two gallons a day will water 12 tomato plants, with a little left over! (I'm happier working in old money rather than this new-fangled stuff.)

Thanks very much Ken. I'll work on those figures and keep my fingers crossed.

Best regards

David

Thanks, David. But make allowance for these extreme temperatures. I've had to water mine twice daily over the last couple of days...