The Worst Time to Water Your Vegetable Garden—and When to Do It Instead

Watering your vegetable garden properly is essential for a successful harvest. However, it’s not just about how much water you provide—knowing the best and worst times is just as important. Watering at the wrong moment will create an environment where plant disease can thrive, endangering your harvests.

Here, we spoke to experts about how to avoid the worst times of day for watering—and take advantage of the best. Follow their tips and tricks for healthy, hydrated vegetables.

Worst: In the Evening

Avoid putting your daily watering at the end of your to-do list. Watering after sunset means plants are often wet all night, creating ideal conditions for diseases.

“The worst time of day to water your vegetables is in the evening, especially after the sun goes down,” says Adrienne Roethling, a private estate head gardener. “Vegetables with thick, hairy leaves and stems hate being wet."

Using a hose—or any other method that involves watering from above—is especially risky. “This can create conditions that favor disease development and pathogen pressures, since the water is not readily evaporating off the leaves," says Damon Abdi, assistant professor of landscape horticulture at Louisiana State University AgCenter.

Worst: In the Afternoon

While watering during your midday lunch break might seem like a natural approach, this time of day also has its drawbacks.

“Afternoon watering likely occurs as an afterthought—whether people rush off to work and don’t think about it until they return, or it's just not a priority task in the morning,” says Abdi.

However, you should resist the impulse to make the afternoon your first watering session. “Applied irrigation can evaporate off in the afternoon sun before it has the chance to soak into the soil,” says Abdi. “Afternoon winds can also exacerbate evaporation.”

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Best: In the Morning

The best time to water your vegetable garden is in the morning.

“Like all athletes, plants that bloom and produce fruit need to hydrate and pull in the nutrients needed to grow in the early morning,” says Ginny Rosenkranz, master gardener with the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “That way, the plants can move the nutrients to the areas that need it before they shut down when temperatures get above 85 degrees."

Watering in the morning also helps prevent leaf damage, as the gentler morning sunshine evaporates overspray without drying out the soil.

“The rising sun and temperatures will dry the leaves, and the soil will be moist throughout the day,” says Roethling. “This will help reduce the likelihood of foliar problems and keep plants hydrated.”

Watering Tips and Tricks

The most effective watering techniques are gentle and reliable, keeping your vegetables hydrated, but not waterlogged.

• Install drip irrigation tubing: The tiny holes in drip tubing allow steady, focused watering, keeping plants moist without dampening their foliage.
• Put your system on a timer: Pair a drip tubing irrigation system with a hose timer so you don’t have to keep track of when (or how long) you’ve watered.
• Watch the weather: If your local weather service calls for heavy rain or a week of steady showers, turn off your irrigation system.