Switched from daily watering to a strict 'wait for wilt' rule on my balcony tomatoes

For the first month, I watered my potted San Marzanos every single morning. They looked okay but grew super slow. Then I read a study from the University of Florida that said tomatoes need dry spells to push roots deep. I stopped watering for a full week until the leaves looked a little sad. In just the next two weeks, the plants doubled in size and flowered like crazy. Anyone else get better results by basically ignoring the watering can?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee.lucas1mo agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, hold on a second. That Florida study is for big field tomatoes, not potted plants on a balcony. Pots dry out way faster and get way hotter. Letting them wilt is a huge stress that can cause blossom end rot or make the flowers drop before you even get fruit. I killed a whole patio crop doing exactly that. Slow growth at first is normal, they were probably just building roots. You might have just gotten lucky with the weather.

tyler6141mo ago

Wait, you killed a whole crop doing that? That's brutal. I've seen a few leaves droop on a hot day, but letting them fully wilt in a pot sounds like a death sentence. The roots must cook. Makes total sense that a field study wouldn't apply to a balcony setup at all.