For those of you in very hot climates...

[bstandlee]

Do you water your veggie garden every day? I keep reading that tomatoes should be watered once a week really deeply to encourage deep roots (along with fruit trees, roses, etc.). But we have summers that are 100+ degrees for several months. I don't think my plants could take not being watered for more than a day, but maybe I'm not watering deeply enough?

How often/much do you water in really hot climates? I've also thought of adding some shade cloth, although it seems silly that my garden is getting too much sun

[catballou24]

i water every other day once it really heats up, but this year we are doing shade cloth. i got 30% but think it's not enough so am going to get 60% to put on top of what we already have. last year my plants got totally burnt up by the sun and i was watering adequately, but they didn't produce anything in the heat. so shade cloth is for us this year!

[LindaCl]

We have a lot of days which get that hot in the summer, but I don't water every day. I let the tomatoes stay bushy to the ground, shading the root zone so it doesn't bake as badly and slows the evo-transpiration. A good mulch would be another way to hold the moisture longer. The tomato plants will wilt during the hottest part of the day, but this is okay apparently. It's only if they stay wilted when it cools in the evening that is a sign it doesn't have enough water.

[SAHMinHawaii]

My kind of "heat" in arizona is probably ALOT closer to the heat you experience in your part of Cali. It is very dry, no humidity at all. Somedays I have to water every day. I have never had a problem with sun burning my veggies, they just need a lot of water.

[bstandlee]

Originally Posted by LindaCl

The tomato plants will wilt during the hottest part of the day, but this is okay apparently. It's only if they stay wilted when it cools in the evening that is a sign it doesn't have enough water.

Hmmm, that's good to know. I think if I see them wilted I rush out to water them. I have smaller plants among the tomatoes this year which I'm hoping will be a living mulch to help shade the soil and keep the roots from drying out.

Originally Posted by SAHMinHawaii

My kind of "heat" in arizona is probably ALOT closer to the heat you experience in your part of Cali. It is very dry, no humidity at all. Somedays I have to water every day. I have never had a problem with sun burning my veggies, they just need a lot of water.

Do you use a watering/drip system or do you hand water with a hose? I currently am using a drip system with various sprayers/drippers but am finding it hard to really gauge how much water everything is getting.

[SAHMinHawaii]

I hand water. My neighbors have a drip system for the garden and they are still having to water every other day. Last year they didn't have it and they had to water daily.