Watering during a drought

As many of you already know, we, here in California, have been experiencing a serious drought for a few years now. Because of this, we've been asked to limit our water usage. To that end, I would like to reprogram my irrigation system but I need to know the following:

1. How much and how often should roses, apples (on an espalier), and meyer lemons be watered?
2. How much and how often should strawberries be watered?
3. How much and how often should hot peppers (jalapeños, habaneros) be watered?

If #1 seems odd to you that I should lump them all in the same category, that's because they're on the same irrigation line and there is no way to separate them, so, when reprogramming it, they will all get the same amount of water.

Thank you.

(My first post!!)

 

Hi Macandal,

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

I'm sorry that I can't help you personally but this is a fantastic forum full of many people with expertise in different areas so I'm sure it won't be long before someone can help you

Good Luck and I hope your situation soon gets better.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Macandal.

In drought conditions a lot depends on temperature and how much sun the plants are getting. The roses, apples and lemons will have deeper roots so the need for watering can be less. Strawberries and peppers being small plants will have roots close to the soil surface, these will dry out very quickly.

Can you give us an idea of average temperature and sunlight hours please?

 

On a typical year, San Francisco's summer days tend to be around 60F/16C, evenings are closer to 50F/10C and it won't get dark until around 8 pm. But this has been an unusual year where we've had MANY really hot days (and evenings) and the fog--a San Francisco staple--has been practically nonexistent. Now we're moving into fall, where, on a typical year, it is dark by 6-7 pm and much colder, day and night. I'd say the temperature is between 50F/10C-40F/4C, also, by November, it starts raining and that lasts until January-February. But, as I've been saying, this has not been a typical year and I don't know how much the temperature will drop or whether or not it will rain. Sorry, but this is the best assessment of our current state I can give you. I hope this is enough to give me some parameters.

(My "gardening zone" is 10b.)

Thank you.

 

What about stopping water from evaporating when you water, that way more water for the plants and less going up in the air.

There must be effective ways to stop evaporation, stones is one but what's the best.

 

Thanks for the information macandal. Surprisingly your typical summer temperatures are at least 10 degrees lower than I would have thought in your area, but we learn something new every day.

I would say you can get away without watering the roses, apples and lemons for two to three weeks or may be longer, but give them a good soaking when they are watered, also remember to spray the leaves at the same time as they will take in moisture for the plants too. I think it's a case of trial and error, try them for two weeks and if the leaves still look healthy push it to a further week but don't forget to feed them as normal.

For the smaller plants I would suggest they need watering at least once a week especially if they are in pots. Check to see how dry the soil gets further down, they can often look dry on the surface but be damp further down or vice versa. If in pots the weight will let you know too.

At the moment you are asked to restrict your water usage, where ever possible you could water plants with bath or washing up water etc. I've been through drought, yes, even here in Britain we have water issues and we were limited to drinking, washing and laundry, everything else was banned. I still conserve water now, it's become habit.