Under watering is the BIGGEST problem. Our SW sun is HOTTER than the northern sun. All plants is our environment will show sign of stress in the afternoon. Water so the soil is moist to about 8 inches when it is needed. If your soil is typical of most of NM, if drains very well so you may have to water every 2-3 days.

I am in the E. Mtns area and am growing my veggies in containers and they need water at least once, but usually twice per day. The wind and sun just suck the moisture away.

For next year, when preparing your bed, nurseries and garden supply stores sell a polymer type product that holds and releases water into the soil. I think High Country Gardens sells a "natural" version of this. I plan on making my own potting mix next growing season and am going to buy some to put in my mix.

". . . a polymer type product that holds and releases water into the soil"

I'm not sure about the "natural" polymer that High Country is selling, but beware; read the following:

Hydrophillic gels . . .

Super-absorbent water crystals  are they really so "super?"

Cheers!

I live in central NM. I water my produce garden nearly every day. I try to give it a deep watering in the early morning, or late in the evening. My soil has been amended but it is still not good soil. The better your soil, the less often you need to water. Mulch cuts down on moisture loss.

Wind really robs plants of their moisture. It has been horribly windy this year. A few of my trees are showing ill effects, even though I've given them extra water. Apparently I have not given them enough extra water to make up for the detrimental affect of so much harsh wind.

Lorna

Lorna, I feel your pain..... June has been so hot ---- and at times windy ---- even my natives and desert adapted plants have suffered. I didn't even do a veggie garden this year. Bring on the 'monsoons'!!!!

There has been a long thread going on in the Compost and Mulch Forum about what time of day to water. Somebody started the thread with the old wives tale that it is bad to water plants in the heat of the day. Several scientific types provided evidence that this is not true. One guy, who seems to be in the know, said it is important for some less sturdy plants, or young plants, to receive water mid-day when temps are really hot. The thread is entitled something like "Things My Mither Told Me".

They all discussed overhead versus ground watering. I've long been a believer in ground watering. The reasons given for not using sprinklers, or watering from above, don't have anything to do with leaf burn.

I have to water mid-day twice a week because of my schedule. I have seen no ill affects.

By the way, desrtlvr, the Conchas are growing. There has been some leaf yellowing. I didn't know if that was a result of too little, or too much water. I opted for believing the plants needed more water. Seems to have been the right choice.

Lorna

It's been more than a month since the last messsage above, so how have you ended up watering your veggies? I'm 20 miles south of Albuquerque, and we've been pretty dry this summer with above normal temps, so almost every day has been water, water, water. As for any help from the "monsoons," they're changing, too, and not nearly as dependable as they were up to 5 or 6 years ago. A dicey situation, especially when I see what my water bill has become.

We water our veggies at least a couple of times a week, more if the garden starts to "sag" a bit. I like to water at sunset so the plants have a chance to soak up the water and benefit from it before ol' Mr. Sun returns the next day.

Well, I ended up picking up some shade cloth and started draping it over the tomato cages once it got hot in the day and that solved the drooping issue, so now I can wait until they look droopy in the morning to water them.

Now, I need to see if there's an easy way to build a shade shelter for my squash...