IT’S TIME! Take your row covers off of your tomatoes! Monsoon season has arrived! I’ve been gone on a flyfishing trip but kept up with the weather news. Just got back last night. So today I will be taking off all the row covers off the tomatoes. Then I can see the plants again-yay!
Here is a link to a time lapse video I did taking off the covers several years ago-Enioy!
giantveggiegardener 
Oh my; so much work for tomatoes! It is interesting, but I am glad that we do not need to do that. Does Albuquerque have a similar climate? You know, the only part of New Mexico that I have ever seen was from Highway 40. It seemed to be as arid as the Antelope Valley of Southern California.
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Yes it is a lot of work. If I didn’t like tomatoes so much, I’d pass on them. But what’s a garden without tomatoes?! Albuquerque and further south in NM all get to deal with that bug. Up here in SF we use to not have it but the first year I had them, I had a 50% loss of tomatoes. One of my Santa Fe Farmers Market friend, had a 100% loss. S0 if you want to keep the bug (beet leafhopper) away, you need a physical barrier. I read parts of CA (more dry areas) are now dealing with it too. Hope it doesn’t come your way!
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Gads! I do not know what I would do if I could not grow tomatoes! I suppose that I would just grow less, and not can so many.
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Yes I agree. Whats a summer veggie garden without tomatoes!
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How much and how often do you water tomatoes? I have been doing 1/2 gallon every other day in hot weather. Plants seem fine. Would you decrease, increase for the rest of the summer assuming no huge hear wave?
Thank you,
Ellen Marder
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People ask me that all the time but the answer depends on how much your water pressure is. If you live in town, you have really high pressure from 70-90 psi. But out here on my property, I have around 25 psi so I have to water longer and more often. Having said that, I water every other day for 45 minutes and when it is really hot, (like right now) I water every day to help keep them from stressing out. When it rains a decent amount (.5 inch or more) I turn it off for a few days depending how hot it is (air temp). A good rule is put your finger in the soil up to your 2 digit. If it feels moist, that’s good. If your finger comes out dry, water more. Keep a record for a few weeks and you will get the feel of how much you need to water and how long.
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