How often should I water my garden here in Casa Grande, Arizona? I planted sweet corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers, and squash. I want to plant onions, radishes, lettuce, and carrots.
I definitely suggest that you mulch the heck out of the garden! If you lay down a layer of newspapers, about 3 pages thick, and then cover with bark, if it's available in your area, it will really cut down on the amount you need to water. Watering early in the morning or at dusk permits enough of the water to penetrate the paper and get into the soil when the sun won't evaporate it. If you can't, or don't want to, use bark, perhaps some very gravelly sand (mostly gravel, just a little sand) would do the trick, It will be in keeping with your area's garden look. Good luck in your efforts. Here in Michigan, we can't even consider starting a garden yet, but I'm looking forward to mid-April when I can get started indoors.
Hola! I used to live in Chandler and am now back home in Ohio. I miss the heat! I would water it every day either before the sun comes up or just after sunset to prevent the sun from burning the leaves. If anything starts turning yellow, you're watering too much. Good luck!
If you can stick your finger in the dirt (yeah - I know, caliche) and the top inch is dry, you waited too long. Possibly this is going to be an every 2 days schedule in the summer. You might also have some thirsty plants next to some that don't require that much water.
If you are growing veggies, you probably ought to be watering most days. Squash, melons and corn are all VERY thirsty plants, so those should be done everyday.
I water my garden every week, give it 1 inch of water. I have a raised garden in AL. You need to call your ag coop extension office; ask them to send you info on gardening. You may also locate info online, to measure the water put a can under the sprinkler. When it has 1 inch on water in it. You know it's had an inch on the garden, takes about an hour here. I set my kitchen timer to remind me to stop the water, good luck.
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