Watering tips for the heat

Following are a few tips from Deb Brown's StarTribune article "A guide to watering in extreme heat".

Maturing cucumber

1. Water early in the day when it is less likely to be windy and quite as hot. The heat and wind dramatically increases evaporation, thus not getting the water to the plant's roots.
2. Avoid watering directly onto the plants later in the day, as this can cause fungal and bacterial diseases if they're wet all night.
3. Water more thoroughly about once a week to maintain and develop a strong root system. Infrequent sprinkling develops shallow roots which are then not able to withstand heat and drought.

Another means of conserving water is to utilize a drip irrigation system. This system feeds water directly to the roots through pipes.