How do weeds grow without water in the desert??????

Question

I live in the desert and it's 105 degrees and hasn't rained in months.... yet these weeds keep growing almost to tree like height within a week! and they are bright green and healthy.

But all my fruit trees and plants would die if I don't water them twice a day.

So how do these weeds grow so green and big without water??????? There's no underground water either.

Answer 1

The plants you call weeds are native plants.  They are acclimated to the dry, hot conditions that are fatal to non-native plants.  Some of them actually live off the little bit of dew that collects on them at night.  These plants have amazing survival skills.

Answer 2

Plant6s that have lived in a arid environment  have made a lot of changes in their structure to live with little water.  First they store water after the rare shower.  second, few have large leave...A plant loses a great deal of water through their leaves. the most successful plants are the cactus...their leaves have changed from leaves to thorns.   they have huge root systems to suck up what moisture there is.   But the biggest reason they survive in the deserts is their ability to make seeds that can lie dormant until it rains...then growing very rapidly so they can produce a seed crop before the moisture is gone.  

Fruits and vegetables are never going to adapt to the heat and lack of moisture  in the desert.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

They are adapted to lose very little moisture to the air and to suck up the small amount of groundwater you have.  I live in Southern cal and it sounds like we are talking about the same plants- If you pull one up they have 1 main root that is about as long as the plant is tall.  

Our fruit trees arent adapted to that environment- they lose a ton of water to the air and pull water up fairly poorly.

I guess the real answer is to find some kind of weed, orange/ apple hybrid  :-)  but thats probably not gonna happen.

Answer 4

It's simple, they are desert plants & drought tolerant.

Answer 5

Not all plants have the same water needs.  Fruit trees need LOTS of water.

Plus - the native plants, and weeds, tend to have remarkable DEEP roots - going down ten feet or more, even for relatively low-growing plants.  And adapted to a desert environment, they don't expirate as much water, and therefore, need to "drink" much less often.  Sort of like how snakes don't need to eat for months sometimes because of slow metabolisms.