Calling Tucson/Southern Arizona Gardeners - Page 5

flyingbrass · July 1, 2011

I don't know when the best time is to start seeds for a fall season here. I'm guessing about now. Today I started a bunch of Sophie's Choice from seeds I saved, and a few Cherokee Purples. CP is mostly just to see if my saved seeds are good.

Any advice how to raise and harden plants this time of year? Is it best to get them exposed to some heat ASAP, or keep them inside as long as possible?

Sophie is pretty early. If they follow the same course as this spring, if I plant mid August I should start harvesting after the middle of October.

flyingbrass · July 1, 2011

Yeah, those orange ones are KBX. They are tasty as long as you let them ripen enough. I have a hard time telling when they are ready.

All the varieties I tried this year have done at least ok. None were flops. I grew Cherokee Purple, Sophie's Choice, Eckert Polish, Ernesto, Amish Paste and KBX. I'd like to try some others next year. Might replace CP with Indian Stripe. Sophie is a keeper. I like Eckert Polish. I need to find a pastier paste tomato than Amish Paste.

Re: alfalfa, I've considered trying it for a cover crop. I'm a little worried it might not be willing leave when asked. I'll probably use some legumes. And, I probably should buy some inoculant. I pulled up an aged green bean plant and found only a few small nodules on the roots.

I thought my plants may have early blight. I read a lot about it. All the pictures I've seen don't quite match. None of the leaves have spots with a bullseye pattern. However, textbook pictures may not be all that useful. So many problems look so similar to me...

Do you use daconil? I'm considering trying it.

>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.

A friend here new to gardening is in a similar position. At first, all the nasties showed up. Aphids, grasshoppers, mealy bugs, ants (that actually ate some plants), etc. If he can refrain from blasting everything with Seven or such, eventually some predators should move in and balance things out.

tuk50 · July 1, 2011

I started my seedlings around the middle of June, but your season will be a bit longer than out here. I usually get a killing frost around the end of November and if lucky the first week in December. When I lived in town it would be around Christmas and later some years. I sprout the seeds in the house this time of year and repot them when first true leaves show and set them on the front porch for a couple of weeks and they get morning sun till about 1000am and if all is going well I put them on a shelf in the garden that has a bit of shade till ready to plant.
Yeah, I am concerned about alfalfa too, but I am going to try it and hope I don't regret the decision..

The fungicide I use is sold at Home ★★★★★ and, I think it is called Garden Green, but I'm not sure of the name.. it is supposed to be ok and environmentally friendly. A guy here on the forum uses a weak solution of clorox and I use his formula on a plant before I pull it and then again on the ground where the diseased plant was. My son uses the Home ★★★★★ stuff on his lawn where fungus spots show up and it stops it by the next day and starts growing again within a few days.
I've never grown Amish Paste, but Rutgers has done extremely well for me when we plan on canning a lot. It is a determinate and will not survive the heat, but produces a lot in one harvest.

jhoganaz · July 2, 2011

flyingbrass - In Scottsdale I have 40% shade cloth over most of my garden and am watering twice a day for 10 minutes, at 8:00am and 2:00pm and my garden is barely surviving. I am still getting some tomatoes, but everything is suffering. My goal is to keep the tomatoes alive until it cools off and they start to produce again.
For part of the garden I am pulling up tomatoes that are not producing and will replace them on about Oct. 15th with new plants started indoors. This will be my test as to which is the most productive.

flyingbrass · July 2, 2011

I'll probably get rid of all my existing tomatoes in a month or so. If they didn't have this funk going on, I'd try to pull a few through the summer to see how they fare. Please let us know how your existing plants do compared with the new plantings.

I plan to keep my peppers. A few years ago I had a couple jalapeno plants that didn't do much through the summer grow huge by December. Far more peppers than I knew what to do with.

tuk50 · July 2, 2011

jhoganaz, you may have tried it already, but another trick is to prune about a third of the old plant out when it starts to grow again after the intense heat has started backing off to 100 degrees or less. If a plant makes it through the heat alive and then gets pruned it seems to help the new fruit set speed up a bit. Some of the varieties that have very short days to maturity seem to do better for a late crop than the varieties that have an 80 to 90 days to maturity. I'm just guessing, but some of the varieties developed in the northern areas seem to be able to handle the shorter daylight times better than the varieties that do well during spring and summer here in the South. Some of my favorites like Green Zebra will put on a ton in the fall, but really slows down when days get shorter in the fall and doesn't have time to ripen here in Tucson. Your late frost date may give some of them time. This year I'm trying something that I've not done before. I'm planting a couple of tomatoes each week to help me determine the best time of the summer to start my fall crop.

jhoganaz · July 3, 2011

Much to my surprise I found 2# of cherries in 115 degree heat and they all tasted great; black, red pear, yellow pear, Snow White Cherry (least so) + one medium Paul Robeson and made a nice shrimp/tomato summer dinner. I can't believe that the plants are still producing, must be the 40% shade cloth and twice a day watering.

tuk50 · July 5, 2011

Great job, jhoganaz! Who seys we can't grow maters in 100plus degree weather?

That tomato shrimp salad looks mouth watering....

acorn · July 5, 2011

My home garden is taking a beating right now with the heat, but still have managed to get a pretty good harvest so far. Here are a couple of pics. The stuff I have at the community garden plot is fairing worse from the heat as well but the soil there in my plot still needs a lot of work to bring it up to snuff. The large Pink tomatoes in the pics are German Johnson. Biggest one so far has been 28oz with most being over 1lb. We picked 2 buckets full of yellow pears yesterday and invited a few different neighbors over to pick as well before they go bad.

flyingbrass · July 6, 2011

Those German Johnsons are impressive. Do they taste as good as they look?

I harvested about 8 lbs. of tomatoes yesterday. They don't look pretty. Lots of cracking. I'll change my watering approach next season. My plants are going downhill rapidly between this fungal(?) thing and the heat. Too bad really because there are still quite a few baby tomatoes growing. I'm surprised how late in the season they have continued to set.

acorn · July 7, 2011

Yep, very tasty. At this point I'm trying to figure out what to plant out next season. Thinking Yellow Pear, German Johnson, Stupice, Cherokee Purple, San Marzano, and Costoluto Genovese. Possibly Brandywine Sudduth too. Still looking for a nice medium size Red tomato and possibly another Paste tomato that can tolerate the desert heat well with good flavor.

- Aaron

desertlzbn · July 7, 2011

I just bought some ace 55 seeds if you want a few to try. I am in Tucson of you want I can give you some.

Mike Maurer · July 14, 2011

I'm not from southern Arizona, but not too far away, I live in Rio rancho, N.M. I really admire your pictures. I haven't learned how to attach pictures yet, I'm new and not very computer literate. I have about 30 tomato plants, peppers, mostly chilli, onions squash and green beans. I try to get early tomatoes, but we have cool nights into June and so far I have gotten a few cherry tomatoes and a few Matina's. I envy you your beautiful garden. Do you have heat issues with your tomatoes, if so how do you handle it ? My problem is that I have cool issues then heat issues.
Mike

acorn · July 14, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertlzbn

I just bought some ace 55 seeds if you want a few to try. I am in Tucson of you want I can give you some.

I'm not familiar with with Ace 55 variety. I'll have to look it up, but thanks for the offer.

Tracydr · July 15, 2011

Flying brass, I also have noticed almost no nodules on my beans. I'm going to try innoculant on my peas, favas and green beans this fall.
I'm going to try some clover and annual rye on my pathways this fall, so that my chickens have some grazing. They are currently in Bermuda. Don't know what kind of clover to use, any thoughts on which type would be best?
I had a few squash bugs early on, one adult and a few juveniles. Dusted with diamectacous earth and haven't seen any since.
The aphids are really, really bad on my long beans and lemon cucumber right now and I'm not sure what to do. I've been spraying the long beans off once or twice a day but the cucumbers can't handle the force of the spray.
I'm about to yank the cucumber and replant. Thinking about chancing spraying the long beans with castille peppermint soap tonight despite the chance of burning, maybe misting the planting with water in the morning to simulate fake "dew".
I've had all sorts of hover fly larva, lace wings, lace wing larva and even praying mantids on the long beans but they just can't keep up. Do you thinks spraying with soap will be bad for them?

July 1, 2011	#63
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	I started my seedlings around the middle of June, but your season will be a bit longer than out here. I usually get a killing frost around the end of November and if lucky the first week in December. When I lived in town it would be around Christmas and later some years. I sprout the seeds in the house this time of year and repot them when first true leaves show and set them on the front porch for a couple of weeks and they get morning sun till about 1000am and if all is going well I put them on a shelf in the garden that has a bit of shade till ready to plant. Yeah, I am concerned about alfalfa too, but I am going to try it and hope I don't regret the decision.. The fungicide I use is sold at Home ★★★★★ and, I think it is called Garden Green, but I'm not sure of the name.. it is supposed to be ok and environmentally friendly. A guy here on the forum uses a weak solution of clorox and I use his formula on a plant before I pull it and then again on the ground where the diseased plant was. My son uses the Home ★★★★★ stuff on his lawn where fungus spots show up and it stops it by the next day and starts growing again within a few days. I've never grown Amish Paste, but Rutgers has done extremely well for me when we plan on canning a lot. It is a determinate and will not survive the heat, but produces a lot in one harvest. __________________ Hangin on for dear life!

July 2, 2011	#66
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	jhoganaz, you may have tried it already, but another trick is to prune about a third of the old plant out when it starts to grow again after the intense heat has started backing off to 100 degrees or less. If a plant makes it through the heat alive and then gets pruned it seems to help the new fruit set speed up a bit. Some of the varieties that have very short days to maturity seem to do better for a late crop than the varieties that have an 80 to 90 days to maturity. I'm just guessing, but some of the varieties developed in the northern areas seem to be able to handle the shorter daylight times better than the varieties that do well during spring and summer here in the South. Some of my favorites like Green Zebra will put on a ton in the fall, but really slows down when days get shorter in the fall and doesn't have time to ripen here in Tucson. Your late frost date may give some of them time. This year I'm trying something that I've not done before. I'm planting a couple of tomatoes each week to help me determine the best time of the summer to start my fall crop. __________________ Hangin on for dear life!

July 5, 2011	#68
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	Great job, jhoganaz! Who seys we can't grow maters in 100plus degree weather? That tomato shrimp salad looks mouth watering.... __________________ Hangin on for dear life!

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July 1, 2011	#61
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	I don't know when the best time is to start seeds for a fall season here. I'm guessing about now. Today I started a bunch of Sophie's Choice from seeds I saved, and a few Cherokee Purples. CP is mostly just to see if my saved seeds are good. Any advice how to raise and harden plants this time of year? Is it best to get them exposed to some heat ASAP, or keep them inside as long as possible? Sophie is pretty early. If they follow the same course as this spring, if I plant mid August I should start harvesting after the middle of October.

July 2, 2011	#64
jhoganaz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Scottsdale, AZ - Zone 8b Posts: 22	flyingbrass - In Scottsdale I have 40% shade cloth over most of my garden and am watering twice a day for 10 minutes, at 8:00am and 2:00pm and my garden is barely surviving. I am still getting some tomatoes, but everything is suffering. My goal is to keep the tomatoes alive until it cools off and they start to produce again. For part of the garden I am pulling up tomatoes that are not producing and will replace them on about Oct. 15th with new plants started indoors. This will be my test as to which is the most productive.

July 5, 2011	#69
acorn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 25	My home garden is taking a beating right now with the heat, but still have managed to get a pretty good harvest so far. Here are a couple of pics. The stuff I have at the community garden plot is fairing worse from the heat as well but the soil there in my plot still needs a lot of work to bring it up to snuff. The large Pink tomatoes in the pics are German Johnson. Biggest one so far has been 28oz with most being over 1lb. We picked 2 buckets full of yellow pears yesterday and invited a few different neighbors over to pick as well before they go bad.

July 6, 2011	#70
flyingbrass Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Glendale, AZ 9b Posts: 90	Those German Johnsons are impressive. Do they taste as good as they look? I harvested about 8 lbs. of tomatoes yesterday. They don't look pretty. Lots of cracking. I'll change my watering approach next season. My plants are going downhill rapidly between this fungal(?) thing and the heat. Too bad really because there are still quite a few baby tomatoes growing. I'm surprised how late in the season they have continued to set.

July 7, 2011	#71
acorn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 25	Yep, very tasty. At this point I'm trying to figure out what to plant out next season. Thinking Yellow Pear, German Johnson, Stupice, Cherokee Purple, San Marzano, and Costoluto Genovese. Possibly Brandywine Sudduth too. Still looking for a nice medium size Red tomato and possibly another Paste tomato that can tolerate the desert heat well with good flavor. - Aaron

July 7, 2011	#72
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	I just bought some ace 55 seeds if you want a few to try. I am in Tucson of you want I can give you some.

July 14, 2011	#73
Mike Maurer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico Posts: 105	I'm not from southern Arizona, but not too far away, I live in Rio rancho, N.M. I really admire your pictures. I haven't learned how to attach pictures yet, I'm new and not very computer literate. I have about 30 tomato plants, peppers, mostly chilli, onions squash and green beans. I try to get early tomatoes, but we have cool nights into June and so far I have gotten a few cherry tomatoes and a few Matina's. I envy you your beautiful garden. Do you have heat issues with your tomatoes, if so how do you handle it ? My problem is that I have cool issues then heat issues. Mike

July 15, 2011	#75
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Flying brass, I also have noticed almost no nodules on my beans. I'm going to try innoculant on my peas, favas and green beans this fall. I'm going to try some clover and annual rye on my pathways this fall, so that my chickens have some grazing. They are currently in Bermuda. Don't know what kind of clover to use, any thoughts on which type would be best? I had a few squash bugs early on, one adult and a few juveniles. Dusted with diamectacous earth and haven't seen any since. The aphids are really, really bad on my long beans and lemon cucumber right now and I'm not sure what to do. I've been spraying the long beans off once or twice a day but the cucumbers can't handle the force of the spray. I'm about to yank the cucumber and replant. Thinking about chancing spraying the long beans with castille peppermint soap tonight despite the chance of burning, maybe misting the planting with water in the morning to simulate fake "dew". I've had all sorts of hover fly larva, lace wings, lace wing larva and even praying mantids on the long beans but they just can't keep up. Do you thinks spraying with soap will be bad for them?