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General watering tips

Growing your own vegetables is a great way to "eat local." Although vegetable gardens will need more maintenance and additional watering than the other gardens mentioned in this guide, there are still several ways you can make your vegetable garden water-efficient — and healthier too!

• Group the vegetables and herbs according to their moisture needs: perennial vegetables such as asparagus and rhubarb don't need frequent watering. Herbs like rosemary, sage, oregano, winter savory and thyme improve in flavour if grown in hot, dry conditions — no extra water needed.
• Preparing your garden on a flat soil surface is good for your plants and wastes less water. Raised areas such as hills dry out quickly and water runs away from the root zone.
• Planting your vegetables in a container will use more water than planting them in the ground, as containers dry much faster than garden beds and rows.

• Don't worry if your plants look wilted on a hot summer afternoon, this is normal. They will usually perk up overnight. If your plants look wilted in the morning, then they likely need more water.

• Over-watering is not only wasteful, but it also prevents roots from getting enough air and nutrients.
• Water deeply but less frequently — adding 2.5 cm (1 inch) of water one or two days per week encourages deeper, more vigorous root growth.
• Use a rain gauge to keep track of how much rain has fallen during the week and only add water if necessary.

• Mulch keeps moisture in the soil, controls weeds, evens out soil temperature and insulates roots to protect them from heat stress.
• For plants such as tomatoes, peppers and squashes, mulch acts as a barrier between the soil and fruit, keeping it dry and preventing spoilage.
• Mulch provides more consistent moisture and can prevent problems such as blossom-end rot in tomatoes.

• Water close to the root of the plant. Hand watering, soaker hoses and drip irrigation are the best ways to water your vegetables, since the water gets closest to the root of the plant and less water runs off and is lost to evaporation.

Avoid using sprinklers to water your vegetables. Sprinklers tend to wet leaves, which makes disease more likely to spread through your garden. Plants such as tomatoes, melons, squash, zucchini and cucumbers especially do not like wet leaves.

Ways to water your vegetable garden

Try to avoid watering your vegetable garden with an overhead sprinkler — a soaker hose or drip irrigation works much better since water can be directed right to the root system at a slow enough pace for the soil to absorb it all.

• Vegetables prefer rainwater! Rainwater does not contain chlorine or fluoride and is slightly warmer than the water coming out of the tap.
• Putting a rain barrel under a downspout will capture and store the rain flowing from your roof and can be used for future watering needs.
• Raise your barrel higher than your garden so you can attach a soaker hose (see next page) and use it to directly water your vegetables.
• Rain barrels can be purchased at most hardware stores, or at a subsidized cost from the City of Toronto on Community Environment Days.

Soaker hose

Drip irrigation

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