1. Q. When should I water my plants during this extremely hot weather? I have heard that watering at certain times of the day can scald plants.

A. As far as plant scalding when watering during the afternoon is concerned, I have only one comment--phooey! The idea of water droplets forming prisms which collect and concentrate sunlight and consequently "burn" plant tissue is absurd and unsubstantiated. Plants can be damaged by a surge of hot water from a hose which has been left in the sun and not recently used. Also, certain plants with tender foliage such as begonias can be damaged by cool water when applied in a drought condition. However, the greater percentage of plants even when in a young, succulent condition are not affected by afternoon watering. In fact, one of South Texas leading commercial transplant producers prefers to sprinkle irrigate tender plants at 2:00 P.M. By watering then, foliage dries before night, yet plants have sufficient moisture during the night. My advise is water when you can, water thoroughly BUT DO WATER--you won't have the opportunity to worry about foliage scald if your plants die from lack of sufficient water!