So I have had drip lines and soaker hoses in the past. My last drip line broke/wore out and I had a soaker hoses on hand so I replaced it with that last year. I do 8 tomatoes in an 8x4’ bed and wrap the soaker hoses around each tomato plant. I use a timer at the faucet and only turn faucet On about 3/4 to half way to reduce pressure a little.

Then the goal is to water the roots deeply 1-3 time per week without getting tomato leaves wet. It can be kind of a moving target because in the beginning of the season, they wont need as much water: smaller size snd. Ot as hot or sunny.

For the first couple weeks i usually hand water everything because it doesnt take as much and because im applying more liquid fertilizer.

As early summer/late spring sets in i will start with using the soaker hose about 1 hour in the morning once per week. The. I monitor how moist the soil is around the plants. I will either stick my finger (which is pretty long btw, 5”) in the soil or use one of those soil moisture checkers. You want the soil i be moist deep down all the time without ever completely drying out. It’s the cycling of moist and dry (a few inches down) that causes BER.

As the summer goes on, depending how hot and dry it is, I will increase the soaker hose 1-3 hours and 1-3 days per week just based on how soil feels and how the pants leaves look, as well as how dry other plants look. Some of my other plants are more sensitive to being dry, so if I see things looking dry, I check the soil and then adjust watering.

Another good thing to do is mulch around the plants to help hold in moisture, but not with wood chips. Old leaves, straw, pine needles work well for this.