Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Jul 22, 2008, at 9:22 AM, bob ford wrote:

> Are you planning to have eternal tomato plants?

I have no need of eternal tomatoes now that I am here in the Ozarks.  
As always and everywhere, I experiment with my Phoenix gardens to see  
what can be accomplished and enjoyed. I have an indelible memory of a  
photo of a tomato tree in Florida. The owner had built a scaffold  
around it. It was many years old and about twelve feet tall.

>  That would truly be an indeterminate. <insert smiley face>.  You  
> have to eventually let the plants die and everyone I know lets most  
> of them die off in the heat of the summer (whether they like it or  
> not).  Your plan is good except you will use a lot more water than  
> you think to help a few survive the summer heat.

As long as golf courses exist in profusion I have no qualms about  
using water. If I were going to live permanently in Phoenix I would  
design a graywater system, legal or not, that used washing machine and  
kitchen sink water for the gardens. Also shower water if plumbing were  
possible.
>   I don't buy any plants from Home Depot ( personal choice, only).

That's fine as long as you recognize and accept the consequences of  
your choices. HD often has the earliest plants and their buying power  
brings them in early and cheap and the varietes are suited for the  
climate.

>  If you want plants to survive summer, you would not have them  
> growing in front of the west facing wall.  The western sun is the  
> killer out here.

No s--t. I have lived through those summers. Two or three is  
sufficient for education. I of course meant one should plant on the  
east side of a wall that faces west. That provides solid shade from  
the burning afternoon sun.
> I have had my best years concentrating on just a few highly  
> productive plants.  The problem is that you don't know which plants  
> will survive long enough to be the productive ones.  Many people  
> only plant in the spring.  The spring is great.  For some reason,  
> the whiteflies are not much of a problem like they are in the fall.
>
> Anyway, you will probably do better than me with your garden.  But I  
> can guarantee you one thing--You will not successfully grow azaleas  
> out here.  Not unless they have come up with some genetically  
> altered monster.

There are gardeners in the Phoenix area growing things you would not  
believe, including azaleas. I saw a garden just west of the Biltmore,  
between 24th Street and 20th Street, that had fruits and vegetables to  
die for. Their secret is mature trees overhead, then smaller trees  
below. The multi-story design provides adequate light but protection  
from the sun. The soil there is good. There are also horses there. It  
is between Camelback and Missouri.

One suggestion I forgot to include--most people know it--is to plant  
tomatoes deeper than they were as you got them. If you plant them  
deeper and in a hole, then as they grow you can fill in the hole with  
a mulch/soil mix. The deeper the roots the greater the survival rate  
in a hot, dry climate.