Fields can be flood-irrigated during fallow periods to carry salts away from the root zone. Salt in the irrigation water can cause problems as the season progresses. Seeds or transplants sensitive to salt injury can be planted off-center on a peaked bed to avoid salt damage. Furrow irrigation carries salt away from the root zone to the center of the bed with the wetting front. Under sprinkler irrigation, soluble salts are carried downward, away from the root zone.
Wind is a serious problem for chile in New Mexico.
Young seedlings can dry out in wind before the root system is large enough to compensate for increased water loss due to increased transpiration. Plants that are constantly exposed to wind develop callus at the soil-plant interface and can snap off at ground level at the end of the season when the crop is heavy. Windbreaks may be necessary to establish a good stand throughout the growing season. Atlantic coastal panic grass and alkali sacaton are two low-maintenance perennial grasses easily established as windbreaks when planted in strips throughout the field. Sterile male sorghum can be planted and used as a green windbreak the first year and a dry windbreak the second year.