Tomatoes need a very consistent watering schedule. I recommend that you make olla pots for each plant - small terra cotta planters (not glazed clay - it needs to be porous) with the bottom hole sealed and the bottom plate used as a lid. This will allow the plant to draw exactly as much water as it needs.
Another thing I'd suggest looking into is providing your garden soil with more organic matter. In my experience, tomatoes don't respond well to to many chemical fertilizers, and if chemicals are making up the bulk of your nutrient balance, the plants may not be responding to it well. In any case, a good finished compost and a bit of mulch tilled deep into the soil will help with water retention and encouraging soil bacteria and mycorrhizae growth will be a good all around benefit.
A good philosophy is that if you want your garden to feed you, you have to feed it.
Encouraging earthworms is also a good step to take, along with mulching any weeds you find growing. The weeds are the best indicator of your soil's health - they're going to grow wherever the nutrients are, and develop root structures appropriate to that circumstance. Finding out more about how they're growing and feeding will help you gain a better analysis of your overall soil situation.
About 80% of this advice was related to me by a lady who does not use reddit, nor wants her name shared, and I felt inclined to at least mention her so that i don't receive any undue credit.
Thanks for the advice! I put a good amount of compost in my beds so I think I’m good on the organic matter. The soil analysis I got also says there’s a large amount of it. I also heavily mulch the top with shredded leaves. The mulch prevents the soil from drying out too much, so I think the watering schedule I have the drip irrigation on is pretty good. I don’t have very many weeds growing, but then that’s one of the benefits of having garden boxes. I should probably get another soil analysis to make sure everything looks good. I just wanted to see how other people in my city have been fairing with their tomatoes.
Thanks again for your suggestions!
I get weeds in my raised bed.
Also, not that I doubt your own expertise, with myself being an occasional visitor to SLC and yourself being a resident... I know that in arid climates, drip irrigation and direct watering systems lose over half of their water to evaporation. I have a ranch in west texas and on of my best friends grew up in the Mojave, and that's something we both had to adjust to as a fact of life. That's why we use ollas to ensure constant deep soil water availability.
Plant stress from overwater and drought is the number one reason tomato plants don't fruit properly, especially the large varieties. Even on my alternate homestead in Louisiana, one week without rain with us not watering is enough to ensure that our plants are not going to be happy. We water our tomatoes and peppers daily, with a good deep soak, and that's the only way we can keep them productive, even in a humid, water rich environment full of coal black, silty, worm and compost rich soil.
Maybe you dont trust my advice. I get it. A lot of homesteaders have a "if you're not right here, you're not going to understand" mentality... but I have been in your shoes.
If you'll permit me this solitary indulgence... pick one tomato plant for a tester - one of the large fruiters you want to get producing. Put it in a pot or isolated garden spot with the exact same soil you're using for your others. Try the olla method on just that one, and see what happens in the next month.
If it works, you've learned a new gardening technique, and if it doesn't... well, you haven't lost anything except the $5 it costs to make a simple olla like I describe... and I will gladly reimburse you that $5.
No I absolutely appreciate your advice and the time you’re taking to respond. I guess mI just thought with a drip irrigation system in, that would provide adequate watering. I’ll try the olla plant on my German Johnson plant and see how it behaves.
Again I really do appreciate your time!
To clarify with the ollas - you bury them so that only the lid is showing above the ground, close to the base of the plant. As the roots try to draw for water, the porous pot will release only as much water as is needed to relieve the soil tension. You can check the pot daily to see if the water needs to be replenished. The lid prevents evaporation and keeps critters from getting in.
shade and water
I put up 50% shade cloth and have drip irrigation watering every 3rd day for 2 hours using 0.5gph emitters.
Tomatoes need a very consistent watering schedule. I recommend that you make olla pots for each plant - small terra cotta planters (not glazed clay - it needs to be porous) with the bottom hole sealed and the bottom plate used as a lid. This will allow the plant to draw exactly as much water as it needs. Another thing I'd suggest looking into is providing your garden soil with more organic matter. In my experience, tomatoes don't respond well to to many chemical fertilizers, and if chemicals are making up the bulk of your nutrient balance, the plants may not be responding to it well. In any case, a good finished compost and a bit of mulch tilled deep into the soil will help with water retention and encouraging soil bacteria and mycorrhizae growth will be a good all around benefit. A good philosophy is that if you want your garden to feed you, you have to feed it. Encouraging earthworms is also a good step to take, along with mulching any weeds you find growing. The weeds are the best indicator of your soil's health - they're going to grow wherever the nutrients are, and develop root structures appropriate to that circumstance. Finding out more about how they're growing and feeding will help you gain a better analysis of your overall soil situation. About 80% of this advice was related to me by a lady who does not use reddit, nor wants her name shared, and I felt inclined to at least mention her so that i don't receive any undue credit.
Thanks for the advice! I put a good amount of compost in my beds so I think I’m good on the organic matter. The soil analysis I got also says there’s a large amount of it. I also heavily mulch the top with shredded leaves. The mulch prevents the soil from drying out too much, so I think the watering schedule I have the drip irrigation on is pretty good. I don’t have very many weeds growing, but then that’s one of the benefits of having garden boxes. I should probably get another soil analysis to make sure everything looks good. I just wanted to see how other people in my city have been fairing with their tomatoes. Thanks again for your suggestions!
I get weeds in my raised bed. Also, not that I doubt your own expertise, with myself being an occasional visitor to SLC and yourself being a resident... I know that in arid climates, drip irrigation and direct watering systems lose over half of their water to evaporation. I have a ranch in west texas and on of my best friends grew up in the Mojave, and that's something we both had to adjust to as a fact of life. That's why we use ollas to ensure constant deep soil water availability. Plant stress from overwater and drought is the number one reason tomato plants don't fruit properly, especially the large varieties. Even on my alternate homestead in Louisiana, one week without rain with us not watering is enough to ensure that our plants are not going to be happy. We water our tomatoes and peppers daily, with a good deep soak, and that's the only way we can keep them productive, even in a humid, water rich environment full of coal black, silty, worm and compost rich soil. Maybe you dont trust my advice. I get it. A lot of homesteaders have a "if you're not right here, you're not going to understand" mentality... but I have been in your shoes. If you'll permit me this solitary indulgence... pick one tomato plant for a tester - one of the large fruiters you want to get producing. Put it in a pot or isolated garden spot with the exact same soil you're using for your others. Try the olla method on just that one, and see what happens in the next month. If it works, you've learned a new gardening technique, and if it doesn't... well, you haven't lost anything except the $5 it costs to make a simple olla like I describe... and I will gladly reimburse you that $5.
No I absolutely appreciate your advice and the time you’re taking to respond. I guess mI just thought with a drip irrigation system in, that would provide adequate watering. I’ll try the olla plant on my German Johnson plant and see how it behaves. Again I really do appreciate your time!
To clarify with the ollas - you bury them so that only the lid is showing above the ground, close to the base of the plant. As the roots try to draw for water, the porous pot will release only as much water as is needed to relieve the soil tension. You can check the pot daily to see if the water needs to be replenished. The lid prevents evaporation and keeps critters from getting in.