Just realized I was watering my vegetable garden all wrong

A neighbor who's been gardening for 30 years told me I was watering every day instead of deeply twice a week. After I switched to soaking the beds for 30 minutes each time, my tomato plants stopped wilting and started producing way more fruit. Has anyone else found that changing how you water made a huge difference in your garden's climate footprint?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oscar1d ago

Hang on, just a quick gentle correction. Deep watering twice a week is a solid starting point, but your mileage may vary a ton depending on where you live and your soil type. I'm in heavy clay soil, and if I went 30 minutes twice a week everything would be waterlogged and rotting in a week.

angelar571d ago

Fair enough, but @the_oscar you're missing a big piece here. Deep watering depends on more than just soil type. What if you've got plants with deep roots like trees or shrubs versus shallow stuff like lettuce? That changes the whole game. Clay soil can handle deep watering if you space it out enough and don't hit the same spot every time. Also, the time of year matters. In peak summer heat, twice a week isn't enough for sandy soil even if it sounds good on paper. You gotta look at your plants for signs, not just stick to a schedule.