Fruit quality, quantity of it, and continuity in tomatoes production, depends on many variable factors, including, and this is very important: How much water you apply
By water regime, I mean the availability of water during its various stages of growth from planting through fruiting to harvesting.
In a nutshell, for it to thrive, and result in healthy fruit, tomatoes need nutrient rich, moist soils.
So irrigating your tomatoes is key to its yield, in terms of quality, and quantity. But how much water is really enough for your tomatoes?
Okay, so you know that too little water is bad for tomatoes. That is why you have decided to water/irrigate, especially since the temperatures are really hot.
Would you rather not apply as much water as you can possibly fetch? That is the instinct, and you should fight it!
Yes, although tomatoes need moist soils to thrive, too much water, like too little of it, is just as equally bad for its healthy growth.
For example, over irrigating/watering tomatoes;-
- Easily ruins/stales its flavor.
- It could even bring an end to your tomatoes before the fruits start to set
Whereas some environmental conditions can easily mislead you to conclude that your tomatoes is over watered/irrigated, such as early morning dew, there are other clear-cut signs and symptoms which when you see, should ring your alarm bells to intervene lest your tomatoes fail.
Look at its leaves
This is the first place to look at if you wish to know if you have overwatered/over irrigated your tomatoes. If you notice older leaves rolling upwards and becoming brittle, then you know your tomatoes could be suffering from overwatering.
In addition, both the young and the old leafs turn yellow or prematurely drop if the plant is over irrigated/watered. Indeed, this is the same case when the tomatoes are suffering from too little water.
So tame that instinct to increase your water when you see your tomatoes leaves turning yellow. Yes, the leaves of tomato plants that are water-stressed and wilted, indeed, remain green! Yellow leaves however imply that the tomato plant is oxygen starved.
And this only occurs when the soil has too much water. Of course there are other reasons why your tomatoes leaves could turn yellow, but we are here assuming all those other factors constant, with the only limiting factor, being water quantities.
In addition, overwatered/over irrigated tomatoes produce excess foliage, but very few fruits.
Fruit quality
Are your tomatoes cracked, particularly at the bottom or at the end of the stem?
Such a condition finally results in ugly/distorted that likely will not grow and reach their expected full size.
And then, are your fruits puffy/hollow inside?
Again, you are not watering/irrigating your tomatoes properly, namely, you are over watering, and there is too much moisture in the soil.
The roots
Many soil borne tomato diseases result from too much soil moisture due to over watering/over irrigating.
The result is often roots rotting. The crown becomes soft, in addition to browning in some sections, which are desiccated. This ultimately leads to plant growth decline/death.
Related Posts
- Tutorial #1 - Basic steps to design a Drip Irrigation system (10m×10m) for tomato growing
- Tutorial #2 - Basic steps for laying out irrigation system
- Tutorial #3 - How frequently should you irrigate/water your tomatoes?
Feel free to ask any questions, make suggestions from your own experiences.
I will also gladly take a personal initiative to guide any farmer who wishes for a deeper knowledge of how to go about irrigating his/her farm/agronomy.