Abstract: In this paper, the effect of soil water potential on the growth, water consumption characteristics, dry matter accumulation and distribution, water use efficiency (WUE) of flue-cured tobacco was studied.With 3 levels of soil water potential maintained by using a negative pressure irrigation device, pot experiments in situ field were carried out.The results showed that, the botanic traits of tobacco was well when soil water potential was in the range of -20~-10 kPa; Water consumption, water consumption intensity, total dry matter accumulation (DMA) and the ratio of leaf dry weight decreased when soil water potential increased, while water consumption modulus of different growth periods changed little with changed soil water potential; WUE increased when soil water potential decreased, and increased as the periods of flue-cured tobacco growing in the same soil water potential.For efficient utilization of irrigation water, different soil water potential should be maintained in the different growth periods, the suitable soil water potential for flue-cured tobacco at various growth stages as follows: the range of -30~-20 kPa at root stretch stage, about -10 kPa at fast growing stage, and about -20 kPa at mature stage.