Watering Plants — It’s Trickier Than You Might Think

Learn to Read Your Plants and Keep Them Healthy

🌿 Garden Talk| by Guy Saldiveri | April 3, 2026

Ever get in the middle of a gardening group and ask about watering? Be prepared for fifty different answers.

What seems like an easy question brings up a barrage of conflicting answers. Water only in the morning, never let the leaves get wet, only water from the bottom, let the soil dry out, NEVER let the soil dry out…

This seems like it should be one of the simplest things we do in the garden. Even for me, the problem comes in when we overreact to something nature usually takes care of just fine. 

You go out and notice your tomato plant is wilting or turning yellow. You have it fertilized, well-watered, well-tended, but it's still struggling. Then you look at the volunteer that's coming up in the crack in the driveway. It's never been touched, you never even knew it was there — and it's doing great! 

You stand there scratching your head, wondering what the difference is. Unless that volunteer in the driveway had divine intervention, something is definitely up here. The only thing you can come up with is you — and to be honest, that’s usually the right answer.

Turns out plants are much more resilient and hardy than we give them credit for. I — like most gardeners — have killed more plants from over-care than under care.

That volunteer in the driveway doesn't need its leaves held 24/7. It needs to be left alone to do what it evolved to do—grow and bear fruit. If my tomato plants could, they would pull out their roots and run across the yard half the time they see me coming.

So, what's the solution? Here's the not-so-cut-and-dry answer — it depends… I know, just what you expected to hear, right? In my defense, it really is a bit variable. 

It depends on:

• Growing media

• In ground or container gardening

• Overall quantity (and intensity) of direct sun

• Time of year

• Type of plant

That volunteer you have in the driveway isn't there by accident, it landed in the best spot imaginable. It found one of the few locations that just happened to have just the right amount of everything. The Goldilocks spot. Unfortunately, the rest of the garden has a mishmash of ingredients that need some attention to detail.

There really is no one set of rules to cover it all, but I'll give you my solution — one that works for the most part and gets me through the season with high yields.

• Find a cheap moisture meter, and check your plants at least every two days

• Get yourself a small but accurate rain gauge and keep track

• Water deeply, and if you can, water again 30 minutes later

• Keep in mind most plants only need about 2 to 3 inches of water per week in order to survive

Something to think about here — 2–3 inches of rain is a lot of water, but it’s a depth measurement, not a bucket measurement. Rain spreads that depth over a huge area and takes its time delivering it. When you water with a hose or a can, you’re putting that same amount straight into a small space. In a container, it’s even more concentrated — a single 1–2 gallon watering in a 10‑gallon pot can easily equal several inches of rainfall.

You can water in the early morning or later in the evening without fear of getting leaves wet. Most of the time, these periods are cooler and there is already dew formed on the leaves. Adding a little more water won’t hurt a thing. In fact, I like to water during this time to help wash off the dust and bugs. The plants always seem to glow afterwards — although that could be me, the sun angle, or the 2 beers I usually consume whilst I water… 

There’s an old belief that water droplets act like magnifying glasses and burn leaves in the sun. In reality, that almost never happens. What does happen is that plants already stressed by heat can scorch simply because they’re overwhelmed — not because of droplets.

Another thing to consider — watering during the heat of the day, while sometimes necessary, will use more water because evaporation is so fast. In that situation though, I’d rather spend a little extra water than lose the plant.

Bottom line, don't overthink it and don't overreact. Use the tools you have. That cheap meter and rain gauge are actually very useful when used correctly. Knowing your plants will help quite a bit as well. They will definitely tell you when they are stressed, and some, like squash—divas that they are—will go from happy to wilting as quickly as a cloud moving across the face of the sun.

Gardening is a fun and very rewarding hobby. I wish someone had told me up front just how challenging it can be as well. Hang in there though — you're not alone. 

This is definitely one hobby that gets much easier as time goes on.

Happy Gardening 🌱