Pepper Varieties That Ripen in a New Mexico Season
New Mexico’s short-season growing window rewards pepper varieties that set fruit fast and ripen before heat stress or fall frost cuts the season short.
Gardening in New Mexico
Everything we have worked out for New Mexico: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Albuquerque, the last spring freeze runs March 31 to April 12 and the first fall freeze runs October 29 to November 9, USDA zones 4b-9a, 4,341 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 21.8 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in New Mexico: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
Watering Through a Dry Spell in New Mexico
In New Mexico, an inch of rain a week is close to a myth for most of the growing season.
Watering Pots and Containers in New Mexico
New Mexico’s summer rain totals about 3.5 inches across June, July and August, with June the driest month at just 0.57 inches, while the state averages 42.
Forcing Spring Bulbs Indoors in New Mexico
Forcing spring bulbs indoors works the same way in New Mexico as anywhere else: pot the bulb, give it weeks of cold below 45°F, then bring it into warmth…
Growing Spring Bulbs in Containers in New Mexico
Spring bulbs grow well in New Mexico containers, but the state hands gardeners two separate problems disguised as one question.
The Best Apple Varieties for New Mexico
NOAA’s Albuquerque climate normals and frost windows show which apple traits survive New Mexico’s winters and which bloom times dodge its frosts.
Canning at Altitude in New Mexico: What Your Elevation Changes
Albuquerque sits at 4,957 feet, and water there boils somewhere between 201°F and 204°F, not the 212°F most recipes assume.
When to Plant Onions in New Mexico
Onions in New Mexico are governed by day length more than by calendar dates, and the numbers tell the story fast.
The Best Onion Varieties for New Mexico
New Mexico sits at 35.04 degrees north latitude (measured at Albuquerque, the reference point for these figures), where the longest day of the year…
New Mexico Planting Calendar: When to Sow and Plant, Frost Dates Included
See Albuquerque’s NOAA frost date ranges for New Mexico, how to calculate your planting windows, and which tomato varieties fit the state’s growing season.