0.7 Inch of Rainfall is NOTHING in the Desert

Most rain is not very effective in the desert unless it comes down slowly and for a long time. Flash floods are terrible and just run off the soil surface. Normally I disregard rainfall in the desert and pretend nothing happened...unless it was slow and long.

Q. The temperatures have been going up and down in the valley, so I have not started watering. This past weekend I had .07" of rainfall. Most of my vegetation are desert plants. Should I wait until the plant start to bud out or freezing temperatures are no more?

A. Starting the first week of February I will water fruit trees once a week even though they don’t need it yet. This is to push new growth and prepare them for fruit production. It’s very important in fruit trees that they never experience a lack of water while producing fruit. This can affect fruit size and development.

            Water landscape plants once a week as soon as temperatures begin to warm in February. Make sure you respect their rooting depth; small plants are irrigated to no more than 12 inches deep, medium-size trees and shrubs to 18 to 24 inches and large trees above 40 feet to 36 inches deep.

            Cacti and succulents are a little different because they can experience more droughty conditions than fruit trees and woody landscape plants. Give them an irrigation in early February if they haven’t been watered much during the winter.