Noticed my tomato plants got twice the fruit after I stopped watering them every day

I mean, I always thought you had to keep veggie beds damp all the time. But last July I went on a 5 day trip to visit my sister in Boise and forgot to set up the drip timer. Came back to droopy leaves on my San Marzanos but they bounced back and then suddenly I had like 40 tomatoes instead of the usual 15. It was wild. My neighbor told me deep watering less often forces roots to dig deeper for moisture. Been doing it since and it's made a huge difference. Anyone else mess up their watering routine and accidentally get better results?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylerrobinson1d ago

Ugh, I gotta disagree with this one. I think you just got lucky or maybe the weather was just right that July. Ive tried the whole "deep watering less often" thing and all I got was wilted plants that struggled for weeks. My tomatoes need consistent moisture or they drop blooms and get blossom end rot like crazy. If I skip even one day in a heat wave, the leaves curl up and the fruit splits. Maybe it works for some soils but my sandy dirt drains way too fast for that method.

jackson.matthew12h ago

Did you mulch heavy first or just go straight to deep watering?