Hi, Lily, nice to hear from you.

My area is not as dry as yours usually, but last spring and summer were exceptionally hot and dry here. Are you using large containers, like gallon jugs? Also, a fine mist sprinkler on a timer might help. I did that last year, and also stick to gallon jugs as much as possible. Also, have you tried using potting mix with moisture polymer?

Karen

Hi, welcome to wintersowing! It is pretty dry here in NV which is why last year only the large gallon jugs worked for me. I used 2L for annuals that would not be in the containers very long. That helps tremendously. Also keeping the containers in shade part of the day as well. I think during our really warm months, I only had to water them every few days. Good luck!

HELLO! First off, I have no idea what the answer is to your question, but I know there is another ALBQ gardener here who will likely show up with some wisdom.

That being said, I lived in Alberquerque about 18 years ago and LOVED IT! It's my number one on my vacation wish list and if I weren't here, I would be living there. We were at Tramway and Montgomery in the foothills. We still have Bueno green chiles shipped here to Ohio and I make a smokin green chile stew.

When I lived there, I grew catci and succulents. When we moved to Oklahoma (ex is still there) I lost about 25% of my collection due to the milder conditions. When the kids and I moved back to Ohio I lost nearly all of my cacti, but I still have a monster jade plant from OKC. It's just too cool and wet here.

Remember the police officer who killed all those people during robberies? Can't recall his name, but he lived with his parents right behind me. EEK. They arrested him on the day I gave birth to my middle son who is now a freshman at Ohio State. I saw it on TV while recovering at BCMC. I saw the FBI and a SWAT team hovering over MY backyard looking for the cash he stashed from a bank robbery. There goes the neighborhood.

Hi neighbor, I am in Colorado and yes its very dry. Containers do dry out quickly, so you have to monitor them and water when dry. I keep mine in partial shade as to avoid this dilema. You might want to try forum Rocky Mtn Gardening as well.

Thank you for the replies everyone. You are all correct about the containers, that seems to be critical. So many of the earlier containers I set out last year were too shallow. Many of those failed to have germination or the poor little seedlings didnÂt make it for long.

Once I started using larger containers I had much better success. But once I took the tops off, I really had to keep on top of the watering. Perhaps I should keep them in the shade more. I was concerned about the seedlings getting adequate sunlight, so I tried to give them a good dose of morning sun. A mister on a timer sounds like a good idea for those times I canÂt get out there as often as I would like.

Wow, bakemom, that must have been really freaky having somebody like that living next door.. I know quite a few people that have moved away and have chile shipped out to them. I don't think I could do without it for very long!

I live in Bosque Farms, south of Albuquerque and this is the third year that I have wintersown. I have learned the small containers are too hard to keep moist and last year I used the large styrofoam cups in clear plastic packers. I kept mine under a tree. Since there were no leaves on the tree they got filtered sunlight and did not get fried but also did not get leggy from lack of light. Once it got really warm I had to water every other day. I waited too long to get everything planted out so I still had stuff left through the hottest part of the summer that I planted out once it started cooling down a bit in late August. I really like winter sowing, especially when I look at the price of perennials at the store.