Calling Tucson/Southern Arizona Gardeners

[tuk50]

I'm really glad you got it back on the right track.. If it is growing now then your doing great.. caution about more fertilizer in this heat.. go sloooow!
Along with manure next year I've had good luck with cottonseed meal and/or soybean meal to put in the rows when planting next spring.. it is a very good slow release nitrogen source along with other nutrients and when sprayed with fish and molasses at planting time, makes a great microbe base.
I know a lot of folks don't use bonemeal, but I really believe this also used with the composted manures at spring preparation time helps slow down the BER. Before going organic I had a terrible problem with BER, but so far the last few years absolutely not one tomato with BER. I don't know what else to attribute it to except the above and just the last two years I've started using a product called cactus juice with calcium as a half strength foliage spray along with kelp also at half strength, used as a boost during stress times for my maters.
Hey, great vehicle .. good choice, it should perform well for you. May I ask your wife to talk to mine.... LOL!

[tuk50]

Found this article about BER..
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/xd...m-end-rot.html
It also mentions high rates of Nitrogen also causes BER by binding up the calcium in the soil.. I think, I unknowingly had this going on a few years ago, but since I don't use chemical Nitrogen any longer and only use manures and meals now, that automatically reduced the Nitrogen by quit a bit without any reduction in growth rates or size issues.

[jhoganaz]

The composted manure is a great idea. My soil was depleted and I found a local dairy that sold me a pickup load of 1 year composted manure for $25. It made a great improvement in the green growth and my production of tomatoes has tripled. You might check around Tucson, I am sure there are dairies that sell it for a small amount.

[desertlzbn]

I could ask her but, I don't think it would do any good!

[tuk50]

Yeah, your probably right~!

[flyingbrass]

How are everyone's plants holding up? The weather has been hot lately. Forecast is 117 in Phoenix this Saturday.

I've been watering every other day since about the middle of June, though I'm thinking I'll go to daily or 36 hours at most with 115+ highs. How often have you been watering in this heat?

My plants have had some kind of issue for at least a month. I don't have enough experience to know what it is. A friend with similar issues was told powdery mildew by a local nursery, but I've had that on other plants in the past, and this doesn't match. Leaves pretty much dry out to a papery consistency. It's on the oldest growth. I've trimmed off the bottom 2' or so of foliage, but it is creeping upward.

A couple weeks ago I found a young hornworm on one plant. Later that day I saw another. I sprayed with BT. Two days later, when harvesting, some gunk dribbled on my arm. It was a rotting, dead hornworm clinging to a leaf. Found another in the same condition. I haven't had any catepillar issues since. BT is wonderful stuff.

I've been tracking my harvest by plant, weighing everything and keeping track using a spreadsheet. So far, 15 large variety plants and a couple potted Sophie's Choice plants have produced 138.75 pounds. More tomatoes are growing. I don't know if they will turn into good tasting maters this late in the season. Time will tell.

My biggest tomato so far is a KBX at 18.84 ounces. A few Ernestos and Cherokee Purples have been about a pound. So, large-fruited varieties can certainly work in these conditions. And taste good too.

[flyingbrass]

Originally Posted by tuk50

I know a lot of folks don't use bonemeal, but I really believe this also used with the composted manures at spring preparation time helps slow down the BER. Before going organic I had a terrible problem with BER, but so far the last few years absolutely not one tomato with BER. I don't know what else to attribute it to except the above and just the last two years I've started using a product called cactus juice with calcium as a half strength foliage spray along with kelp also at half strength, used as a boost during stress times for my maters.

I'm not sure where I saw this -- I think in a slide presentation I found online used by a master garderner, but the recommendation for central and southern Arizona soils was to add manure and bonemeal each season. I think the bone meal was intended to add extra phosphorus, but if it does something good for calcium, so much the better.

I'll be adding bonemeal next season.

[desertlzbn]

Originally Posted by flyingbrass

How are everyone's plants holding up? The weather has been hot lately. Forecast is 117 in Phoenix this Saturday.

I've been watering every other day since about the middle of June, though I'm thinking I'll go to daily or 36 hours at most with 115+ highs. How often have you been watering in this heat?

My plants have had some kind of issue for at least a month. I don't have enough experience to know what it is. A friend with similar issues was told powdery mildew by a local nursery, but I've had that on other plants in the past, and this doesn't match. Leaves pretty much dry out to a papery consistency. It's on the oldest growth. I've trimmed off the bottom 2' or so of foliage, but it is creeping upward.

A couple weeks ago I found a young hornworm on one plant. Later that day I saw another. I sprayed with BT. Two days later, when harvesting, some gunk dribbled on my arm. It was a rotting, dead hornworm clinging to a leaf. Found another in the same condition. I haven't had any catepillar issues since. BT is wonderful stuff.

I've been tracking my harvest by plant, weighing everything and keeping track using a spreadsheet. So far, 15 large variety plants and a couple potted Sophie's Choice plants have produced 138.75 pounds. More tomatoes are growing. I don't know if they will turn into good tasting maters this late in the season. Time will tell.

My biggest tomato so far is a KBX at 18.84 ounces. A few Ernestos and Cherokee Purples have been about a pound. So, large-fruited varieties can certainly work in these conditions. And taste good too.

First let me congratulate you on your success of being able to have plants produce fruit.
My plants are not doing well at all.
I have the same problem you are having but it is killing all of my plants.
I made earthtainers this year in hopes that I could get tomatoes from them, but whatever this is that is killing everything has just taken over.
I think I may take the fall season off from tomatoes. I am really discouraged. I have done all kinds of "stuff" to be able to grow tomatoes and just can't get them to grow. the first two years were great. The last two years have been horrible.
I just feel like giving up.
Almost all of my plants have just dried up to a crisp, I am watering two times a day and they are just all shriveled up and dry some green leaves and some brown.
Whatever it is it is spreading to everything else too.
My roses have it too.
I am going to pull almost everything this weekend.
I don't think I am going to plant anything but some cherries just one or two plants for the fall, just to have cherries for the salads.
I sold over 1000 plants this year, the people who bought plants are not having the same problems that I am having.
It is just so hard not knowing what is the problem.

I guess I just have to keep planting different stuff to see what works.
The really sad part is that I just spent 34 dollars on more seeds (not all tomatoes though, some melons, and squash).

I always have hope I will be able to grow something I guess.

[tuk50]

flyingbrass, I've seen some of the same articles that say the biggest problem in the arid soils of Az are low in phosphorus and they are alkaline... so last year is the first time using the spot that my garden is located in and I started with about 30lbs of soft rock phosphate for about a 2000sq ft area and about 5lbs of sulfur.... since then I've used a lot of horse manure, straw and Christmas tree mulch to help loosen it up ... and for fertilizer I use cottonseed meal, alfala pellets, bone meal and blood meal.. so far I've been very pleased with the (new for me) organic gardening...
I lost six tomato plants this year to some sort of wilt out of 32 plants that I started with... this is more than I've ever lost before, but right now everything seems stable and I've actually got some fruit setting on about half of the plants .. the temps here are above 105 every day, but the monsoons are coming within a couple of days , I hope! As for watering, I water for 30minutes at 6am and again at 1pm each day with an hour or two once each week.
desertlzbn, I'm really sorry to hear about all the tomato problems ... really hope you get some this fall. It seems that when it rains it pours .. to quote an old saying.

[flyingbrass]

There is this, though it's not the issue I'm having: http://extension.arizona.edu/content...-investigation

desertlzbn, that sucks. Being a relative newbie to this stuff I don't have any advice to offer.

tuk50, 4 of my plants are growing in soil I double dug a couple years ago. The rest, and most productive, are growing in unworked soil. I know you aren't supposed to just dig out a little spot and amend it, then plant, but that's what I did. One shovel of compost mixed in at each plant, plus a good amount of EB Stone organic plant food. That, and some semi-regular sprayings with seaweed are all my plants have had.

I am composting my lawn clippings, and I have at least a cubic yard of steer manure here that I add in small amounts during composting. Being wary of aminopyralid and similar herbicide issues, I tested the manure before using it. I e-mailed U of A asking if any issues with herbicides in manure are known here in AZ, but they didn't get back to me. I'm still curious about that. A cheap source of aged horse manure is closeby. It is likely preferable to steer manure.

I added several inches of my compost to my pepper plant beds several weeks ago, mostly just to serve as mulch. They went from slightly pale to very dark green. I plan to keep the peppers going through the fall season.

I'm not an organic freak, but I lean heavily toward organic methods. Build the soil. I don't know enough yet to most effectively accomplish that.

Re: watering, I'm surprised you're watering twice a day. But, soil and sun exposure surely plays a role. Most of my tomato plants are right against the east side of a block fence, so they get afternoon shade.

Overly frequent and shallow watering can be a problem, particularly when the plants are young. With all plants, I try to water deeply and infrequently to encourage deep root growth. When freshly planted, I let the plants wilt slightly before soaking very deeply.

With a good, deep root system, they have enough infrastructure to pull in enough water during hot weather or other drought-like conditions.

Common wisdom is that slightly underwatered tomatoes have better flavor. The issue in the desert is slightly underwatered and injured from too little water is a very fine line. If fruits are growing, a splurge of water is likely to split them. Wildly fluctuating moisture also causes BER.

So, how much to water and when is a quandary.

[tuk50]

Quandary is the correct word! I have two holes about two feet deep in my garden that I check all the time to keep tabs on the water level.. it seems when I water too much I can see the water in the bottom of the holes ... I've experimented over the years and right now, while going against conventional wisdom, I prefer light even waterings with once a week soaking... this is only done when the temps are above 102 and above and drop off dramatically when down to 98 or so... also when the monsoons start I can keep check with the two holes to regulate the water. I find much less cracking this way and your right about flavor... this is the trickiest part and it changes from year to year. I also believe the evaporation helps keep the garden cooler and this is why I still have tomatoes setting fruit in 100 plus temps. My beans, squash and eggplants are also still producing and I believe it is due to the evaporation effect... even though the amount is greatly reduced during this time of the year... My okra is just now starting to bloom and produce daily and I am going to plant my cowpeas this week along with the monsoons.. they seem to love this and do better in the second half of the summer..
Thanks for the article .. keep it posted if you find any follow up on it. So far I've been fairly disease free except for the occasional wilt and this can be controlled with variety selection in my garden... I also practice a 3 year rotation for my garden along with destroying all diseased plants...
Another important part is with the onset of of heavy watering I also start using foliar sprays .. two mainly. The first is epsom salts in distilled water and the second is a very weak solution of liquid kelp and cactus juice in distilled water. My nitrogen is mainly from manures, cottonseed meal and alfalfa pellets, so it is constantly supplied and doesn't get washed out as fast.

[tuk50]

Here are a few pics I took this morning...
the first is a pic of a few varieties picked the last couple of days
the second is a pic of Susy f3 plants that have done extremely well this year and will be worked on for size.. they are the 4 in the middle
the third is a pic of our manure factories
I have had a terrible problem with birds eating my tomatoes as you can see on the middle tomato of the three large Ashleigh's ... they start hitting me when it gets so hot this time of year (temps running 106 to 108 here this week)

[flyingbrass]

Your plants look great. Your watering strategy makes sense. I'll give it a try. Are your holes like post holes? Approximately how much water are you applying daily?

I've had some intermittent issues with BER, though not consistently enough to determine whether it is from too much water or drying out too much.

Here are some pics of what is going on with my plants. Zucchini had the same or similar, so it's not tomato-specific. Squash bugs moved in as usual, so I removed the zucchini. Two plants produced almost 35 pounds. I'll plant some more soon.

[kevinrs]

Originally Posted by flyingbrass

There is this, though it's not the issue I'm having: http://extension.arizona.edu/content...-investigation

that looks familiar, I haven't seen that kind of spots on any pictures of diseases so far, but I've been seeing it on some of my plants.

[tuk50]

Good looking harvest... are the orange tomatoes KBX? I grew them for the first time this year and haven't picked one yet, but a couple are turning today and I'm looking forward to tasting them. The holes are dug with a regular shovel about the size of a 5gal bucket... my garden was an old driveway and it is still very compacted about a foot down and won't drain properly, so I'm going to start planting alfalfa and buckwheat on 25% of the space each year till I can get it to loosen up.
I think the leaves look like early blight http://msucares.com/newsletters/pest...s/19980504.htm ..I get some, but I spray fungicide and I think it really helps.. also crop rotation and disposing all diseased plants seems to help enough to keep it from being a total disaster.
I looked for the angular spots in the article and I think I found one leaf that might be it... I'll take a picture of it and post later .. I hope it doesn't kill the plant.. I'll also use a bit of fungicide on it to see if I can stop it. I'm glad you posted the article or I would have blamed it on the blight.
I haven't had squash bugs here at the new house yet, but it used to be a real problem when I lived at Orange Grove and I-10.. I gardened there in the back yard for about 25years and I think I had every plague a vegetable plant could suffer...
There was no one that had a garden on our road till this year and now two of my neighbors have started gardening, so I presume the gardens will attract more bugs and disease.