Wilting tomatoes
mareita
I bought two tomato plants last week and gave them a little water every
day except for one day when I stood them in water. That was 5 days ago
and they have been fine but today they are wilting.
I have read that you should only water them 3 or 4 times a week. Have
I done irreperable damage? If not what should I do?
Claire
--
mareita
Katey Didd
"mareita" <mareita...@gardenbanter.co.uk> wrote in message
news:mareita...@gardenbanter.co.uk...
You should water them when they need water, not a certain amount of times a
week. Are their roots rotten?
>
> Claire
>
>
>
>
> --
> mareita
Persephone
>How big are these plants? Are they 1 foot tall, 2 feet?
If they are still smaller, you may have drowned them.
Are they in the ground, or still in pots? It sounds like the latter,
since you say you "stood them in water". Even doing that
BRIEFLY shouldn't cause them to wilt, unless they were in so long and
got so soaked that they gave up the ghost.
You probably know that frequent light, superficial watering is a
no-no. Water usually doesn't penetrate to where it's needed.
Slow, deep, less-frequent watering is the way to go.
How often is a function of many variables:
Ambient temperature
Humidity
Size of plant
Amount of direct sunlight.
(slightly off the subject, ornamental plants
in a dormant state, e.g. have different
water requirements than an actively
blossoming/fruiting plant.)
Just to confuse you further <g> when tomato
blossoms show, most gardeners cut back SOMEWHAT
on their watering, so the plant will put its energy into
making fruit rather than making more greenery.
Tip for future: Use the first knuckle test to see if plants need
watering. IOW, stick your finger in. If you encounter moist soil
past the first knuckle, plant doesn't need water yet.
HTH
Persephone
Omelet
mareita <mareita...@gardenbanter.co.uk> wrote:
Oddly enough, overwatering will kill faster than underwatering.
I only water when I see my plants need it. Dry soil or heat wilting.
--
Peace! Om
"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein
David Hare-Scott
> day except for one day when I stood them in water.
Usually fewer deep waterings are better than many little ones but in small
pots you may need to water daily or even twice daily if it is hot and dry.
Just to make things harder overwatering will cause wilting too by allowing
fungal diseases to flourish.
That was 5 days ago
> and they have been fine but today they are wilting.
> I have read that you should only water them 3 or 4 times a week. Have
> I done irreperable damage? If not what should I do?
>
I take it these are in pots. How big are the pots? If the pot is too small
they will dry out very quickly and you may not be able to put them in full sun
(which is desirable) without heat wilting.
David
Billy
"David Hare-Scott" <com...@rotting.com> wrote:
wait for the surface to go dry, grey, then water plant until water
exits the bottom of the pot. In larger pots, you may wait for the top
inch of soil to go dry.
--
Billy
Bush Behind Bars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related