Wondering what are the best low water vegetables to grow? Here are a few of our suggestions along with tips for conserving water in your garden.
#1 Favorite Low Water Vegetables: Peppers
Peppers need less water than many other vegetables. As tropical plants, they thrive in warm, well-draining soil and don't mind it drying out slightly between watering.
The famous New Mexico Chiles are grown annually in the dry regions of Hatch Valley and Chimayó regions of New Mexico, and the Pueblo Chiles are grown in dry Southern Colorado. Because these chiles are grown in the hot, arid climates, the conditions provide the chiles with great flavor that is unique to their growing regions. These places have hot summers, short/cold winters, and dry conditions year-round. So if they have historically grown a ton of these chile varieties in these regions, you know that peppers can be grown in hot, dry climates.
Do peppers need a lot of water?
If you are in a hot, dry climate, peppers may be one of the best vegetables you can grow. Although pepper plants thrive with consistent, moderate watering – they do not like heavy or frequent drenching, and need less water than most other vegetables. Using less water and making sure the soil dries out slightly between watering helps prevent root rot, yellowing leaves, and reduced yields. Overwatering peppers, especially in heavy or poorly drained soil, causes Phytophthora root rot, which kills plants.
The research from New Mexico State University (NMSU) suggests that excessive moisture or improper watering can lead to flower drop, disease, and lower pepper quality, favoring moderate, consistent moisture rather than waterlogged soil. For the best results, only use well-drained soil for your pepper plants, and allow the top layer of soil to dry before watering, especially in late summer and early fall to ensure good growth and avoid disease.
Use drip irrigation to keep soil moist rather than flooding them if you can. Over-watering can lead to nutrient leaching & loss, and prevents proper growth of peppers.
If you like your peppers hot:
Allowing the soil to dry out slightly between waterings can also stimulate higher capsaicin levels, resulting in hotter peppers.
How often do you water pepper plants:
How often you water your pepper plants depends on your weather conditions and the time of year. In the heat of summer peppers will require more frequent watering if the soil is drying out quickly.
Watering peppers varies based on maturity:
Water pepper seedlings immediately after transplanting, but as the plant matures and sets fruit, consistent, moderate watering is much better than excessive irrigation.
Cover your soil:
Mulching your pepper plants with organic mulch like grass clippings or leaf mulch can help conserve moisture in dry or drought-prone growing regions. Make sure grass clippings and leaves are not treated with any herbicides or pesticides. Combining drip irrigation with organic mulch helps with water conservation while providing sufficient consistent moisture so you get more peppers. Covering your soil in general is very good for your overall soil health, it protects the soil life from UV rays, conserves moisture, and feeds the soil. It's also very beneficial to cover soil over the winter months.
How often to water pepper plants?
Peppers enjoy about 1-2 inches of water per week, and they prefer soil to dry slightly between watering. So check the soil first, as constantly soggy soil will quickly result in a sickly, droopy pepper plant, the leaves often turn yellow and it stops growing. 
Additional Note on Wilting Peppers:
Wilting pepper plants is normal during the peak of hot, sunny days:
Pepper plants may wilt during a hot sunny day, so check the soil first, if it's moist (but not soggy) underneath, the wilt could simply be the plant's natural reaction to a hot, dry sunny day, and it will perk up once the sun is less intense. This is how they conserve water and bear temperatures over 90˚F. The cucumbers below show a more extreme example of this drooping from the hot sun in the middle of the day, see the plant around noon, and the same plant in the evening, with no water in between. 
Read more about wilting vegetables in our related post:
Is it normal for vegetable plants to wilt in the sun?
#2 Favorite Low Water Vegetables: Herbs
Mediterranean herbs are great for low water gardening. Many perennial herbs don’t require a lot (if any) supplemental watering to do well. Here in the West, our parsley, chives, sage, oregano, thyme, lavender are the first things to show up every year our garden without any extra water to help them grow. Established Mediterranean herbs like Greek oregano and sage are especially tolerant of dry conditions as that is what they are used to where they are from! Because they are perennial, they also develop deeper, robust root systems that allow for them to efficiently absorb more moisture from deep within the soil.
#3 Favorite Low Water Vegetables:
Three Sisters Garden
A Three Sisters Garden (corn or sunflowers, beans, squash) uses less water primarily because the large leaves of the squash plants act as a living mulch, shading the soil to reduce evaporation and suppress weeds. The symbiotic system of a three sisters garden creates a high-yield, moisture-retentive micro-ecosystem.
Direct planting of the seeds will also result in stronger root systems that are more adequately able to take up water and nutrients, resulting in more vigorous and healthy plants. Corn is planted first so that it can grow a few inches tall, which is when you plant the beans. Lastly, you can plant the squash seeds 1 week after the beans have emerged. This prevents the large squash leaves to shade the corn and bean seedlings before they have had time to establish.
General tips for reducing water needs in your vegetable garden:
Improve soil with organic matter, plant in dense blocks, cover your soil!
Mulching:
Mulching conserves moisture. The top layer should always be protected at all times through mulch or intensive plantings. Healthy soil life is the best fertilizer: Most beneficial soil bacteria and micro-organisms that help feed plants are found in the top 4 inches of soil, and covering it to protect from the sun's rays is an easy way to protect the soil life. Building healthy soil by mulching and continually adding organic matter will result in less water being needed. Watering can be cut by up to 80% as rich, healthy soil holds the water better.
Drip Irrigation:
Use Drip Irrigation/Soaker Hoses – these systems deliver water directly to the soil, reducing water usage by up to 50% compared to overhead sprinklers.
Water Early in the Morning:
The best time to water is early morning, which reduces evaporation and allows plants to hydrate before the day's heat.
Plant in Blocks & Use Companions!
Plant in blocks rather than single rows to shade the soil and create a moist microenvironment, and cuts down on evaporation. We find companion planting with other vegetables is a great way to conserve moisture as the soil is shaded by the plants. Bush beans, for example, make great companions for peppers and tomatoes, they fix nitrogen in the soil, and you can enjoy green beans, too!
Make Compost & Add Organic Matter:
Mixing in or topping with homemade compost in your garden will improve the soil's ability to hold water. Homemade compost is even better than what you can get in the store as it's full of life.
Grow Edible Native Plants:
Connect with the native plant society in your region, or a Wild Ones group and learn more about native plants that provide food! Think: Serviceberries, Raspberries, Bee Balm, Sunflowers, Echinacea, etc. Native plants for your growing region use less water than annual vegetables, and are great for dryer growing regions for reducing water use. Native plants also attract lots of beneficial insects to help you with pest control and pollination. Native plants can provide berries, seeds, and shelter to attract birds to your landscape which can also be very helpful as birds feed their babies LOTS of caterpillars like cabbage loopers, plus they will feed them grubs, ants, aphids, grasshoppers, snails, slugs, moths and more.
Use Windbreaks like Hedges:
Hedges can protect plants from wind, which can significantly increase water loss from soil and plants. Plant edible and flowering native plants in your hedges to bring in pollinators and beneficial insects to help with your garden.
Use Ollas:
Bury ceramic ollas or pierced plastic bottles or pots next to thirsty plants to act as a slow-release reservoir.
Harvest Rainwater & Household Water:
Install rain barrels on your home to collect water for irrigation. Use water from cleaning vegetables or cooking (un-salted) for your plants. For example, the water you soak beans in overnight is full of nutrients and makes a great drink for your outdoor garden plants - it's free liquid fertilizer! You can also use the water from soaking/rinsing lettuce before storing as water for your vegetable garden.
Grow more year-round!
Take advantage of the fringe growing seasons. Growing cool-season vegetables in the early spring or fall is a great way to use less water as the cooler weather and shorter days of spring and fall allows for much less water use. Efficient cool-season vegetables include root vegetables like carrots, beets, radishes or leafy greens such as cabbage, lettuce, spinach, which often have better flavor and fewer pests than summer crops. The lower air temperatures and decreased sun intensity of spring and autumn results in less water being lost to evaporation from the soil surface and plant transpiration. Use season extenders like small garden bed hoop houses, frost cloth, or cold frames (shown above) to keep your harvests growing for a much longer season.
Perennial herbs are also great for year-round growing, often producing herbs much earlier than all other veggies with little to no added water needed over the cooler months.
Happy growing!
