10 Drought Tolerant Vegetables for Your Garden

There’s nothing more rewarding than cultivating a yard full of fresh and healthy vegetables. The best part of growing veggies in your garden is that you don’t need to think about the caring methods immensely.

The utmost typical vegetables don’t have special climate requirements to grow. Only a bright atmosphere with a consistent water supply and a layer of fertilizer is enough to get a handful of harvests from your plant.

The growing sessions become more effortless when you choose a drought-tolerant plant to cultivate. They thrive even more stirringly with the least care.

Conditions Apply for Growing These Veggies: Drought tolerant doesn’t mean we can set it and forget it (beginners). In the early stages though drought tolerant they are still babies and do need attention.

Stick to a proper watering schedule as per plant (until mature enough). It needs rich soil with organic matter, and do cover it with mulch to protect against moisture. For a few plants, it’s better to protect them with shade from harsh sunlight. 

Once they are up, you can call them drought-tolerant (Requiring less water). And yes, after this they require less maintenance and water than their fruiting counterparts.

Here are the best cultivatable vegetable options we refer to in this regard. Sow any of them and let your yard be adorned with salacious vegetables eternally-

Best Drought-Tolerant Plants for Your Garden

These Garden Vegetables Require Less Water and Drought Tolerant

  1. Bell Paper:

Description:

Bell papers are a great choice to cultivate in your garden to keep your cuisine filled with varieties. This drought-tolerant plant belongs to the Grossum group of species and grows with various bright tints including red, yellow, white, and green.

Related: peppers in drought

Sun: Full sun

Soil: Loamy, well-drained soil with neutral to slightly acidic pH level

Water: Keep your plant evenly moist by watering it once a week with ½-1 inch deep watering

Fertilizer:

Make the soil rich with compost moss during the plantation. Then, you should feed your plant with a well-balanced fertilizer once a year, during summer times

Hardiness Zone: 6 to 11

Cropping Time: All year long

Related: Best Drought Tolerant Plants for Your Garden

  1. Tomatoes:

Description:

Tomatoes are darlings, isn’t it? No matter whether you are a non-vegetarian or vegetarian or vegan, tomatoes can enhance your taste buds brilliantly in each section. This adaptable veggie is very easy to cultivate with the least growing essentials.

Drought Tolerant Tomato Varieties: Earlygirl, Arkansas Traveler Tomato, Cherry Sweet 100, Earlypak, and Sunripe.

Sun: Full sun

Soil: Plant your tomatoes in well-balanced soil amended with peat moss, leaf mold, and rotted manure. Keep the pH balanced between 6.5 to 7.0

Water: You need to water your plant heavily around 1-2 inches deep per week throughout the entire growing session

Fertilizer: Make the soil fertile enough during the plantation and fertilize the roots of your plant with low-nitrogen fertilizer once a year with a 6-24-24 NPK ratio

Hardiness Zone: 5 to 8

Cropping Time: Autumn and Spring

 Drought-tolerant vegetables  for southern California – Amaranth, African basil, cowpea, beans, cucumbers, root vegetables like carrots, and beets are good to resist dry weather

Related: Preparing a drought-resistant garden.

  1. Okra:

Description:

Okra is an annual cropping plant that can thrive in the toughest climate with minimal care. Its attractive flowers are one more reason for its immense popularity among the utmost gardeners. This trailing plant can grow up to 8 ft. tall while cultivating outdoor garden areas.

Sun: Full sun

Soil: It prefers fully fertile, moist, and well-drained soil with a bit acidic pH level

Water: Water your plant well per week and make sure the soil stays evenly moist all the time but never turns soggy ever with overwatering

Fertilizer: Sow your okra plant in organically rich soil and amend it with compost and manure. Then, fertilize it with organic plant foods like seaweed fish emulsion once a year

USDA Hardiness Zone: 2 to 11

Cropping Time: Rainy season and mid-spring

Related: Native to California Drought Tolerant Plants

  1. Sweet Potato:

Description:

Sweet potatoes are a slow-growing cropping plant that produces crops with high nutritional values. This herbaceous perennial plant can act like an annual plant sometimes and grow up to 20 ft. long in vining form.

Sun: Full sun to sun with partial shade

Soil: Try to plant your sweet potatoes in mediumly rich well-drained soil with a fully acidic pH level

Water: Keep the soil of your plant evenly moist by watering it lightly with a steady schedule. 1-inch water per week will be the best routine here

Fertilizer: Feed your growing plant with a balanced plant food like organic fertilizer in liquid form once a year

Hardiness Zone: 8 to 11

Cropping Time: Generally, from April to July; exactly 3-4 months later your sowing process

  1. Peas:

Description:

Peas are annual vegetable plant that grows in pods. The bushy vining plant can grow up to 18 inches tall with proper trailing support. This is a fast-growing vegetable plant with drought-tolerant quality. Try to plant peas 2-4 inches apart to give them proper thriving space, while sowing in a row.

Sun: Full sun to sun with partial shade

Soil: Choose loamy soil that must be rich with organic matter and can drain very well. Keep the pH level slightly acidic

Water: Keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy. You can try 1-inch deep watering per week for the best result

Fertilizer: Make the soil perfectly rich with compost during the plantation and feed your plant an organic liquid fertilizer once a year

USDA Hardiness Zone: 2 to 11

Cropping Time: Winter and autumn

Related: How to water your plants while you are away

  1. Spinach:

Description:

This annual vegetable belongs to the leafy green category. Spinach is a plant that thrives best in a cool climate but it can grow uninterruptedly with drought stress if you can fulfill its other basic needs. This annual plant can grow up to 12 inches tall with an equal amount of spread.

Sun:

Full sun to sun with partial shade

Soil:

Sow your plant in loamy, rich well-drained soil with any type of pH balance

Water:

Due to being a leafy green, spinach needs more watering than normal vegetable plants. Try to water your plant 1½-2 inches deep watering per week, especially during the first few months

Fertilizer:

Spinach is a heavy feeder. So, feed your plant two to three times a year with an organic fertilizer like fish emulsion, soy meal, rotted compost, etc.

Hardiness Zone:

2 to 11

Cropping Time:

Winter and spring

  1. Cabbage:

Description:

This is one more leafy vegetable, which is densely overflowed with high nutritional facts. Cabbage is an annual plant from the Brassicaceae family that can grow up to 2 ft. tall with a similar type of spread.

Sun:

Full sun

Soil:

It prefers loamy, rich, well-drained soil with a neutral to the slightly acidic pH level

Water:

Keep the soil consistently moist to maintain the taste of your crop perfectly. Water your growing plant 1-inch deep watering per week except during the rainy season

Fertilizer:

Make the planting soil compost rich and feed your plant once a year with any balanced fertilizer in a 10-10-10 NPK ratio

Hardiness Zone:

2 to 11

Cropping Time:

July to November and sometimes, April to August in mountain areas

  1. Broccoli:

Description:

Broccoli is a biennial vegetable that can thrive wonderfully in a warm dry climate. This green vegetable is the powerhouse of plenty of good nutrients and belongs to the same cabbage family. It can grow up to 30 inches tall with 20 inches spread during its peak season.

Sun:

Full sun

Soil:

This plant prefers loamy, well-drained soil that can stay evenly moist and has a slightly acidic pH level

Water:

Water your plant 1 inch per week, especially during the dry season, to keep it moist consistently

Fertilizer:

Make the soil organically rich during the plantation and feed your plant once every other month with any balanced commercial fertilizer

Hardiness Zone:

3 to 10

Cropping Time:

From September to November

  1. Squash:

Description:

Squash is a warm-season vegetable that can grow fast with an unmanageable bushy form. This annual vegetable can grow up to 2 feet tall and can thrive unaffectedly during the scorching summer season due to its drought-tolerant skill.

Sun:

Full un

Soil:

Use organically rich loamy soil, with well-drained quality and a pH level between 5.8 to 6.8

Water:

Water your plant from the bottom and avoid drenching foliage with water ever. Try to keep the watering level 1 inch per week to keep the moist consistency accurate

Fertilizer:

Make the soil compost rich during the plantation and apply any balanced fertilizer once a year in a 10-10-10 NPK ratio

Hardiness Zone:

3 to 10

Cropping Time:

Summer and winter

  1. Carrot:

Description:

Carrots are the juiciest biennial vegetable one can cultivate in their garden. It is highly adaptable and can reach the harvesting form only 60-75 days after the plantation. This is a root vegetable and grows under the soil surface with top-grow foliage.

Sun:

Full sun to sun with partial shade

Soil:

It needs loose, fertile, well-drained soil with a slightly acidic pH balance

Water:

Apply 1-inch water per week and use a layer of mulch around the base of the foliage to keep the moisture intact with the roots

Fertilizer: 

Make soil highly rich with organic matter during the plantation and feed your plant with a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorus fertilizer twice a year

Hardiness Zone:

3 to 10

Cropping Time:

Winter and Spring

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