For the record, I am getting a good crop coming off now both in the greenhouse nad hte garden (maramande). I have watered thorouglhy wice a day through this drought. No sign of blight nor on my potatoes - I think the weather is far to dry for that. Watering heavily in hte greenhouse and direct to soil does not seem to cause blight. I have also damped the greenhouse floor and occassionally misted, but door are open. What I have learned is that watering regimes are dependent on climate. My old method for pot plants, touch the soil and see if it's damp seems to be about right.
I wait till mine are looking thirsty, then water thoroughly. Mine are always grown undercover [in pots] - it's not really possible here to grow outdoors with any success. I followed your advice from a few years back Italophile - re the consistent watering, and controlled neglect, as you so aptly name it. I always used to feed quite a lot - something we seem to be led to believe. I stopped doing that a few years back,only feeding a couple of times - three at most - and the crops are the same. Never had blight or any real cultivation issues, but perhaps I'm lucky that no one round here gardens to any great extent! In fact, wherever I've lived it's been the same.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Mine in pots have been watered every day. They were struggling in this heat so i had to put a saucer underneath. Its full still in the morning but all taken up when i get home. Grow bags have been okay though.
Gardening. The cause of, and solution to, all of my problems.
Lots of different answers, lots of good advice! My tuppence worth: Tomatoes are one of the easiest plants to germinate and almost impossible to kill by differering watering regimes. However, keeping water off of the leaves (including condensation) will help enormously in reducing the chances of your plants being infected by fungal diseases, which are the main blight (which simply means disease) of tomato plants. However, as Italiophile and others have mentioned, 'Early blight' and 'Late blight' are names attributed to very destructive but specific fungal diseases which affect this family of plants. There are far more common fungal diseases which can and do infect our toms but these can also be 'kept in obeyance' by growing them in low humidity conditions. Fungal spores are in the air all around us but need need water to germinate.
Spraying or misting tomato leaves with water is definitely the worst possible thing you can do, no matter what the weather is like. Don't do it.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
I wait till mine are looking thirsty, then water thoroughly.
That's the key. There is nothing wrong with letting the mix dry out. It doesn't cause disease, Blossom End Rot, whatever. It won't kill the plant. Tomatoes are very tough critters, a lot tougher than most people realise. Providing you are consistent with the care, the plant will be fine.
Tomatoes produce fruit because they are seeking to reproduce themselves before they expire. A plant loaded with moisture (and/or fertiliser) has no fear of expiry, it will be in no hurry to reproduce itself. That's one reason why you see sometimes see lots of flowers but little fruit. Obviously you will get fruit, but maximising a crop boils down to kidding the plant it needs to reproduce itself. It can be a fine line, particularly when you get freak summer conditions, but it's always better to err on the side of less is better.
Posts
What I have learned is that watering regimes are dependent on climate. My old method for pot plants, touch the soil and see if it's damp seems to be about right.
I followed your advice from a few years back Italophile - re the consistent watering, and controlled neglect, as you so aptly name it.
I always used to feed quite a lot - something we seem to be led to believe. I stopped doing that a few years back,only feeding a couple of times - three at most - and the crops are the same.
Never had blight or any real cultivation issues, but perhaps I'm lucky that no one round here gardens to any great extent! In fact, wherever I've lived it's been the same.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Tomatoes produce fruit because they are seeking to reproduce themselves before they expire. A plant loaded with moisture (and/or fertiliser) has no fear of expiry, it will be in no hurry to reproduce itself. That's one reason why you see sometimes see lots of flowers but little fruit. Obviously you will get fruit, but maximising a crop boils down to kidding the plant it needs to reproduce itself. It can be a fine line, particularly when you get freak summer conditions, but it's always better to err on the side of less is better.