Micro Water Irrigation System

To be honest if you are disciplined and can organise your life in a way that allows you to get out in the garden and use an old fashioned watering can you really shouldn't need any other watering systems.

One of the tricks my old dad taught me about growing tomatoes was to put a few buckets of water in the greenhouse and leave them so that the water got to warm up a little, ideally to the same temperature as the inside of the greenhouse. Then when you use the water there is no cooling of the soil and no shock to the plants and all you do is refill the containers after watering and leave them again until the next visit.

Tomatoes do actually like warm feet and warm soil to grow in so you can see where he was coming from, plus he was an absolute perfectionist and an ardent gardener so there were no shortcuts for him.

Unfortunately not many people have the luxury to tend to their gardens in this way and more often than not there is a quick dash outside, a sprinkle from the hose or a quick filling up of the watering can followed by a splash before shooting off to work or settling down for the evening.

So here is the crux of the problem, if this is the way you water your tomato plants then at some point in time it is pretty certain that you are going to encounter what is called, as previously mentioned, blossom-end rot which is due to a condition referred to as variable soil moisture, a condition that tomato plants really don't like.

Now that is not the only cause of blossom end rot, you could be over feeding them with too much nitrogen or it could also be your soil conditions, sandy or limey soil will cause the same problems.

But I am pretty sure that the main reason is down to infrequent and inconsistent watering , especially if you are growing tomatoes in a greenhouse or have periods of very wet or very dry weather.

It is pretty clear to me that if you want to resolve your plant watering problems and you fit in any category other than the absolute perfectionist, ardent gardener with time on your hands that you are going to need some form of water system which also means you will have to compromise on the warm water technique.

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Dobies of Devon are the keen gardeners choice and winner of best seed supplier as voted for by 'Which Gardening'. So a brilliant online resource for all your gardening needs, including tomato care and watering.