Did she leave any instructions :-) The plants look good from what I can see. I wouldn't water anymore unless the ground is dry.

Edweather: Sadly, she had to leave on very short notice and didn't have time to leave any instructions besides "water at least every other day". I was just concerned because they didn't look like that when she left. That leaf wasn't all wilted until late yesterday or early this morning and of course there are a bunch more like it.

The ground looks and feels as if it has moisture in it but it's not overly moist or damp -- so I suppose it's adequately watered for now.

This post was edited by actomatoes on Thu, Aug 15, 13 at 9:01

Just so you know, underwatering a little won't hurt them. You'll see the whole plant drooping a little, and as soon as you water them they'll perk up in 10 min.

the soil seemed dry but I made the judgment that the plant's stems were firm and not mushy and from what I am reading that means they were probably under watered. I poured about a gallon for every patch of dry soil across that 2 by 5 foot patch totaling about four gallons of water. when I was done the soil had puddles of water and I checked the soil just a few minutes ago and it was still nice and wet. its been five hours since I watered it and it doesn't look super perky, but it also hasn't wilted any more and in fact seems to have perked up just a tiny bit.

here's to hoping I did it right!

First off, Those plants look about normal.

Best judge to water or not to water is your index finger. Go about an inch or two down. If feels almost dry, then water.

AND you did the right thing. One gallon per plant will be enough. One time slightly over or under watering is not going to hurt anything.