Usually I dig down a few inches (with my finger) and check for dryness on my in the ground plants, if I feel any dampness at all I don't water. My potted plants that I keep in the sun; well, it's fairly easy to tell if they need watering just by the weight of the pot. I think I may tend to over fertilize, I have a "more is better" mentality and give in to it way too often. Quite a few of my neighbors have one or two D.R. in the ground and simply ignore them and they seem to do better then mine
