How to Water Vegetables in a Dry & Hot Environment

Print 🖨

I have learned so much about desert gardening just over the past year. I’m in the high desert so while I have to deal with the regular dry and (fairly) hot desert weather, I also have to deal with tons of wind. It is windy here just about everyday and in the spring, it’s 3X as windy.

While we might get a normal wind of 10-20MPH on a regular basis, during the spring, we can get up to 60MPH wind gusts and sustained winds of 40MPH.

Luckily, those heavy spring winds only last a few months. There are certainly days where there’s little to no wind and we desperately want that wind to relieve us from the heat!

Anyway, while the high desert is dealing with excess wind, the low desert deals with excess heat.

In the high desert, we can get up to 100 degrees, but it would only last for a week or two, maybe. And 100 degrees for the high desert is still pretty hot.

The low desert can expect temperatures well over 100 degrees everyday during the summer months.

In saying all of this, we have to adjust our mindset when it comes to growing plants.

Is there such a thing as too much water?

You can certainly overwater your plants, no matter where you live, but I think there are some ways we can avoid this.

There are three things we can do when it comes to watering:

Retain the water by covering the soil with a deep cover of straw or mulch, or both. This includes beds and containers.
Water deeply at least every other day in the morning.
Use watering sticks or an olla to keep the soil moist even when you’re not watering. It’ll automatically release water into the soil slowly and steadily to keep it moist.

The truth is, you can grow absolutely anything in the desert; just as long as they have the right amount of water.

We can’t keep water from our plants. They won’t grow properly or won’t grow at all. They need sufficient amount of water, and in the desert, that could actually mean a little bit extra water just to keep that soil moist. But actually, I haven’t really noticed that I’m watering more because I make sure to retain the water that I’m putting in. It’s just very important that the soil remain moist.

A consistent moist soil will not only help with plant growth, but it will help keep them cool and happy in the extreme heat.

Shade cloth can certainly be helpful, but in my experience, simply keeping the soil moist has a huge positive affect on the plants.

Don’t drown them, just make sure the soil remains moist and vegetables don’t dry out.

I have a no till garden and I love it because I know I’ve watered enough when I see the water draining out the bottom/sides of the soil. I have all of my mounds covered in straw so it’s helpful when I can see the water draining out just a little bit, then I stop watering.

Even, consistent watering is what will work best. I give all of my plants the same amount of water, even corn, which is a heavy drinker. It thrives, though, because I make sure the soil stays moist and I’m retaining the moisture that I’m putting in.

How often to water

I read a desert gardening book that told me that when I direct sow seeds that I may have to water twice a day until they sprout.

However, I realized that I was actually over watering them. Seeds need to remain moist, but they don’t do well in drowned soil. Nothing was sprouting when I watered twice a day. So I stopped watering twice a day and instead watered thoroughly once a day in the morning and suddenly, everything started sprouting.

Once my plants became established, I watered every other day, even in extreme 90+ degree heat.

Plants need water to thrive, and unfortunately, rain isn’t as abundance in the desert as other places so we need to water them.

If you want to conserve water:

Have a smaller garden so you’re watering less plants.
Consider growing in containers. Growing vegetables in containers with straw/mulch on top of the soil can help to retain moisture even more. I grow fruit trees in containers and I swear I water them less than my vegetables.
Think about growing indoors in a controlled environment. Growing indoors and growing in a greenhouse are different. A greenhouse can still get quite hot and the plants will still require plenty of water and/or humidity.
Look into drought and heat tolerant varieties. Though those varieties are drought and heat tolerant, they will still thrive best with plenty of water.
Buy seeds from local sources. When you purchase plants and seeds from local sources, they’ve most likely been there at least a few seasons, which means they’ve adapted better to your area and have better chances of thriving in the hot and dry desert.
Retain. Retain. Retain. Retain that moisture!

Luckily when monsoon rolls around, you won’t have to water your plants at all. During monsoon, simply make sure you’re keeping up on pest control. The only time you’d water your plants during monsoon would be if there has been a few days without any rain, but even then, be cautious, as monsoon rains can roll around at any moment.

Check the soil regularly and do what you feel is best.

Print 🖨