Desert Fall Planting Advice

MarianneW · May 19, 2016

I know I'm not the only desert/subtropical gardener here. I consider my garden more subtropical, in that I grow limes without ever having to cover them and there's flocks of parrots flying around.

Anyway, the last few fall seasons have been a total bust for tomatoes. It seems like it went from 105f to 40f in two weeks last fall. I got zero ripe tomatoes. The fall before that wasn't much better, I don't think I got much either. But, this year we're supposed to have normal to La Niña fall & winter. Should I give fall tomatoes another go this year? Decent chance of getting something to ripen?

The only reason for not doing it is I can grow greens in the tomato spots for the fall. Sure, the tomatoes survive the winter & do great in the spring, but so do the seedlings I plant out in the spring. Anyway. Thoughts?

May 19, 2016	#1
MarianneW Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Arizona Posts: 153	Desert Fall Planting Advice I know I'm not the only desert/subtropical gardener here. I consider my garden more subtropical, in that I grow limes without ever having to cover them and there's flocks of parrots flying around. Anyway, the last few fall seasons have been a total bust for tomatoes. It seems like it went from 105f to 40f in two weeks last fall. I got zero ripe tomatoes. The fall before that wasn't much better, I don't think I got much either. But, this year we're supposed to have normal to La Niña fall & winter. Should I give fall tomatoes another go this year? Decent chance of getting something to ripen? The only reason for not doing it is I can grow greens in the tomato spots for the fall. Sure, the tomatoes survive the winter & do great in the spring, but so do the seedlings I plant out in the spring. Anyway. Thoughts?