When we water the tomato plants does it matter if we water the leaves?
Do the tomato plants "feel" the water when it's "on" the leaf?
Can they absorb the water from the leaf?
Or only from the ground (roots)?

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bill wrote:

When we water the tomato plants does it matter if we water the leaves?

yes.

Do the tomato plants "feel" the water when it's "on" the leaf?

i don't think plants have a nervous system, but they do communicate
via chemical signals in various ways. do they "feel"? i do not know.

Can they absorb the water from the leaf?

yes, a small amount, depends upon plant type/species.

Or only from the ground (roots)?

mostly from the ground.

consider this, some plants are indeed water plants and grow
while being entirely submerged. also there are the arid dessert
plants which have a very thick and waxy coating so that they
don't lose much water from the leaf surfaces.

as to the question should you water the leaves that also has a
lot of possible answers. in some cases watering the plant will
rinse off dust and other debris, it may also cool the plant down
which during really hot weather can be a help for pollinating.
i do this with the tomatoes during hot weather and get a crop
when many others don't and a part of that is due to me being
willing to get the plants wet. the downside is that it can also
encourage disease problems. this season being a pretty bad one
so i'm seeing disease pressure that is worse than normal.

such is life...


songbird

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On 8/13/21 10:22 AM, bill wrote:

When we water the tomato plants does it matter if we water the leaves?
Do the tomato plants "feel" the water when it's "on" the leaf?
Can they absorb the water from the leaf?
Or only from the ground (roots)?

Hi Bill,

I have seen organic farmers drench away, but
they were in fancy temperature and light
controlled greenhouses.

Tomatoes originally came from the Amazon (then
cultivated all over the Andies), so they are
use to getting drenched by rainfall on a daily
basis, but the Amazon has great drainage so they
did not stay wet for long periods.

A farmer told me to think of plants as straws. They
suck water up from the soil and expel it OUT the
bottom of their leaves (they have little vent holes),
so no they do not absorb water into their leaves.
It is the other way around.

Me personally, I would not drench the plant. I
spray at their dirt. I do not want then poached
(steamed to death) in the sunlight or molding in
the dark.

I have a rule of thumb, if the leaves seem a bit
wilted during the late afternoon, they get more
water next time. Wilting is the plant's way of
protecting itself when it gets dehydrated.

And it is the plants way of communicating with you:
"Slave! Slave! More Water! He keep this up
and we are all moving to Songbird's garden. He
has worms! Slave! Slave!"

Disclaimer. I have a "black thumb". Anything I say
is instantly trumped by the experts on this group,
especially Songbird.

HTH,
-T

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On Fri, 13 Aug 2021 14:37:25 -0400, songbird <songbird@anthive.com>
wrote:

bill wrote:

When we water the tomato plants does it matter if we water the leaves?

yes.

Do the tomato plants "feel" the water when it's "on" the leaf?

i don't think plants have a nervous system, but they do communicate
via chemical signals in various ways. do they "feel"? i do not know.

Can they absorb the water from the leaf?

yes, a small amount, depends upon plant type/species.

Or only from the ground (roots)?

mostly from the ground.

consider this, some plants are indeed water plants and grow
while being entirely submerged. also there are the arid dessert
plants which have a very thick and waxy coating so that they
don't lose much water from the leaf surfaces.

as to the question should you water the leaves that also has a
lot of possible answers. in some cases watering the plant will
rinse off dust and other debris, it may also cool the plant down
which during really hot weather can be a help for pollinating.
i do this with the tomatoes during hot weather and get a crop
when many others don't and a part of that is due to me being
willing to get the plants wet. the downside is that it can also
encourage disease problems. this season being a pretty bad one
so i'm seeing disease pressure that is worse than normal.

such is life...

songbird

The wilt is so bad this year that I have promised myself to plant only resistant tomatoes next year. I am getting tired of losing the plants
so early.

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On 8/13/21 12:29 PM, Boron Elgar wrote:

On Fri, 13 Aug 2021 14:37:25 -0400, songbird <songbird@anthive.com>
wrote:

bill wrote:

When we water the tomato plants does it matter if we water the leaves?

yes.

Do the tomato plants "feel" the water when it's "on" the leaf?

i don't think plants have a nervous system, but they do communicate
via chemical signals in various ways. do they "feel"? i do not know.

Can they absorb the water from the leaf?

yes, a small amount, depends upon plant type/species.

Or only from the ground (roots)?

mostly from the ground.

consider this, some plants are indeed water plants and grow
while being entirely submerged. also there are the arid dessert
plants which have a very thick and waxy coating so that they
don't lose much water from the leaf surfaces.

as to the question should you water the leaves that also has a
lot of possible answers. in some cases watering the plant will
rinse off dust and other debris, it may also cool the plant down
which during really hot weather can be a help for pollinating.
i do this with the tomatoes during hot weather and get a crop
when many others don't and a part of that is due to me being
willing to get the plants wet. the downside is that it can also
encourage disease problems. this season being a pretty bad one
so i'm seeing disease pressure that is worse than normal.

such is life...


songbird

The wilt is so bad this year that I have promised myself to plant only resistant tomatoes next year. I am getting tired of losing the plants
so early.

The ONLY tomato I can grow are Sweet 100's. Every
other attempt winds up in disaster. Blossom rot,
miniature tomatoes, yada, yada, yada. But the 100's
I get a jungle and tons of fruit. Other cherries:
disaster.

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Boron Elgar wrote:
...

The wilt is so bad this year that I have promised myself to plant only resistant tomatoes next year. I am getting tired of losing the plants
so early.

even resistant plants may not keep it away entirely. it
just helps. here it is so endemic that i have no hope of
ever keeping a tomato plant green much past mid-August.

i've eaten parts of three ripe tomatoes (they all had BER)
and one entire green tomato that somehow got knocked off a
plant and it was too nice to throw it away. a little butter
and garlic salt and microwaved for 3 minutes and that was
some good eats. :)


songbird

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T wrote:
...

The ONLY tomato I can grow are Sweet 100's. Every
other attempt winds up in disaster. Blossom rot,
miniature tomatoes, yada, yada, yada. But the 100's
I get a jungle and tons of fruit. Other cherries:
disaster.

i forgot to mention that sometimes people can do ok
with some of the other smaller tomatoes (often called
patio tomatoes) that are a step up from cherry
tomatoes. so if you look into the various varieties
of those and see if some are suitable for your climate
they might be worth a dry. just for a change of pace. :)


songbird

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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T wrote:
...

The ONLY tomato I can grow are Sweet 100's. Every
other attempt winds up in disaster. Blossom rot,
miniature tomatoes, yada, yada, yada. But the 100's
I get a jungle and tons of fruit. Other cherries:
disaster.

for difficult areas cherry tomatoes and kin are the
ones most likely to get something. smaller sometimes
does mean better. :)

the unfortunate thing about Sweet 100s is that they
aren't all that great for making tomato juice, but if
you add some to a batch of other tomatoes you are
using to make juice they can sweeten it up.


songbird

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T wrote:
...

Disclaimer. I have a "black thumb". Anything I say
is instantly trumped by the experts on this group,
especially Songbird.

i'm not actually that well educated about plants
compared to many here, but i do admit that i've had
some experience reading about them and growing them
in my life.

here where i am i think has some of the toughest
conditions aside from those who are out west and
trying to grow things in an arid climate. arid is
much easier if you have a reliable and non-salty
source of water. around here we have humidity and
water at times when you really don't need or want
it - like when your dry bean crop is drying down...

our little plot of land here is in a low spot,
the fogs and dews and cold air settles in here so
that it is rare that any plant is dry for long.

at least today has moderated in temperature and
humidity and it is near perfect out there. this
is the first day in a long time that i've sat in
a chair outside for longer than a moment's time
and not felt like i'd rather be hiding inside from
the heat and humidity.


songbird

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On 8/13/21 4:07 PM, songbird wrote:

T wrote:
...

The ONLY tomato I can grow are Sweet 100's. Every
other attempt winds up in disaster. Blossom rot,
miniature tomatoes, yada, yada, yada. But the 100's
I get a jungle and tons of fruit. Other cherries:
disaster.

for difficult areas cherry tomatoes and kin are the
ones most likely to get something. smaller sometimes
does mean better. :)

the unfortunate thing about Sweet 100s is that they
aren't all that great for making tomato juice, but if
you add some to a batch of other tomatoes you are
using to make juice they can sweeten it up.

songbird

We eat them like candy!

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On 8/13/21 4:10 PM, songbird wrote:

T wrote:
...

The ONLY tomato I can grow are Sweet 100's. Every
other attempt winds up in disaster. Blossom rot,
miniature tomatoes, yada, yada, yada. But the 100's
I get a jungle and tons of fruit. Other cherries:
disaster.

i forgot to mention that sometimes people can do ok
with some of the other smaller tomatoes (often called
patio tomatoes) that are a step up from cherry
tomatoes. so if you look into the various varieties
of those and see if some are suitable for your climate
they might be worth a dry. just for a change of pace. :)

songbird

I tried some of those this year. Bought three off
them. All died. Mumble, Mumble.

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