No, you should not water squash every day in most gardens. Watering squash plants the right way means a deep soak once or twice a week, not a daily splash. Daily light watering does more harm than good, and you will see your plants do better the moment you switch to deep soaking.
My Black Beauty zucchini in the back-corner bed drooped by noon and stayed small and pale for weeks. I gave it a quick sprinkle every single morning, and the leaves never perked back up. So I switched it to two deep soaks a week instead. Within ten days the plant stood tall, the leaves turned dark green, and the first real fruit set. I had not changed the soil or the spot. I only watered deep instead of shallow, and that one change brought the plant back.
The reason comes down to where your roots grow. A deep soak pulls water far below the surface, so the roots chase it down and build a strong base. When you sprinkle a little each day, you only wet the top inch, so the roots stay shallow and weak. Those surface roots dry out fast and leave your plant stressed in any heat. A good squash watering schedule trains roots to go deep, and deep roots are what give your squash real drought tolerance through a long summer.
Shallow roots are the hidden cause behind most wilting squash. When the top layer bakes in the sun, a shallow-rooted plant has nothing left to drink and flops over by afternoon. A deep-rooted plant reaches moisture that sits well below the dry crust, so it shrugs off the same hot day. That is the whole difference between a vine that quits in July and one that keeps setting fruit. You build that strength with how you water, not with how often.
Push a finger or screwdriver 2 inches (5 centimeters) down before you water again. If it comes out damp, wait a day. A dry crust on top often hides moist soil below, and that is where your roots are drinking.
Aim for 1 to 1.5 inches (2.5 to 4 centimeters) of water per week for most squash. Push toward the high end during hot, dry spells and while your plant is setting fruit, since that is when squash drink the most. Always water at the base of the plant and keep the leaves dry. Wet leaves invite powdery mildew, which spreads fast across squash and rots the vines before you get a real harvest.
The best tool for watering squash plants is a drip line or soaker hose, because it keeps every drop right at the roots where you need it. Run it long and slow so the water sinks in instead of running off the surface. Water in the morning so the soil drinks deep before the heat climbs, and any stray splash on the leaves dries off by midday. Skip evening watering, which leaves your bed damp overnight and feeds disease in the cool dark hours.
Containers change the math, so you need to know how much water squash need in a pot. A potted squash dries out far faster than one in the ground, and in peak summer it may need water once a day. The deep-soak rule still holds, though. Soak the pot until water runs from the bottom, then check the soil 2 inches down before the next round. Whether you grow in a raised bed or a barrel, deep and steady beats shallow and frequent every time.
Watch your plant and let it guide you more than the calendar does. A little midday droop in hard sun is normal, and the leaves should bounce back by evening on their own. If they stay limp into the cool night, your soil has gone too dry and needs a deep soak. Add a few inches of mulch around the base, and you will hold moisture in the ground and cut how often you reach for the hose.
Read the full article: Squash Plants: Complete Growing Guide
