Q.How Much to Water Tomatoes — In Gallons Per Hour
I’m doing drip irrigation. what size, space, and flow rate should be used for Tomatoes?
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
I would also add that you should check the manufacturer's website. They may have a drip irrigation calculator for their specific product that will help you figure out (without having to do the calculations) what setting are best for your system.
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
There is no set answer for this as drip systems vary and there are many factors that can go into this.
But, I can tell you tomatoes need about 2-4" per week of water, including rain water and that it is better to water 1-2 times a week rather than every day and a slower flow is better than a faster flow.
To figure out what is best for your system, place one of the drips into a container and let it run until the container is two inches full. If the container is 10 inches square and it takes 10 minutes to fill to 2 inches, you know that you need 1 minute per square inch watered for 2 inches. For each tomato plant, you want to allow for about 144 square inches of space to water, so in this scenario you would need to water for a total of 144 minutes per week.
