new to container gardening, in southern baja

[Gerardo]

That guy will clean house, no worries on insects.

Great spot. Those 2 plants are playing well together. I grew some right by the water a couple of years ago too. I'm convinced they pull something out of the sea air and it tastes good.

[bajaOne]

Well we had recent rains from un unprecedented late season hurricane threat that just missed us. That rain really helped. Our winds for windsurfing and kiting are definitely sucking the water down and the plants are finally stabilizing from the winds. Other than the remnants of hurricane associated winds that did do a little damage too. It is amazing the difference in water consumption wind vs no wind days. about 2 to one. And we have wind here this season 6 out of 7 days in the 15-25mph range.

My lime finally made it down yesterday. I have been invaded by white flies and I am told red flies. Have been using malathion, tobacco, soap, and a insecticide at home depot. Nothing has stopped the infestation. Also the neem oil made it down at the same time. I tried the neem oil the other day and we will see how it does.

I figure these flies are so aggressive because there is nothing else in a desert that they can attack.

[Imthechuck]

I would look into SWC's where only a one time fert application is required and then additional if you would like:

1. Earthbox.com
2. EarthTainer (DIY)
3. Global Buckets (DIY)
4. Rain Gutter Grow Systems (DIY)

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by bajaOne

My lime finally made it down yesterday. I have been invaded by white flies and I am told red flies. Have been using malathion, tobacco, soap, and a insecticide at home depot. Nothing has stopped the infestation. Also the neem oil made it down at the same time. I tried the neem oil the other day and we will see how it does.

I figure these flies are so aggressive because there is nothing else in a desert that they can attack.

Those same whiteflies are hitting me hard too. Oils (canola, sesame, neem), soaps (dishwashing soap, citranox), reflective mulching (DIY w silver paint), and yellow goo traps are my countermeasures. Insecticides, as you've seen, are a temporary fix, plus you end up 86'ing their enemies so they return in droves.

They're pretty good at building up resistance to most synthetic insecticides, so if you are gonna use them rotate the mechanism of action, say Malathion, Diazinone or Chlorpyrifos one day, and then on another day pyrethroids, and if you can score some pyrethrins even better. These are last resort measures, when zombies have broken the barrier kind of thing.

PS Seeing your pics makes me want to hop in the car and get myself a dose of Valle de los Cirios and Mulegé, especially Playa El Requesón.

[bajaOne]

I think the lime made a huge difference already noticing new healthy growth. Things were looking ragged with the white flies, red flies and wind beatings, and lack of lime.

As I mentioned I think the neem oil is helping and a friend gave me some detergent/soap that the locals say is effective. Sprayed that and could see the white flies dead on the plants in an hour. Thinking the neem oil made the soap more effective.

Sorry for the blurry picture, was super humid today so had the ac on and when I took the camera outside the lens fogged up. As I am writing this have the ac on again tonight because it is unusually humid in the desert again.. I have some of the plant growth heading behind the bamboo (not real bamboo a family member) wall heading up to the roof now. I am thinking I might be able to remove the shade cloth now that it is not as hot in absolute temperature.

Have eaten a few of the cherry tomatoes in this section, the older cherry tomato plants that were my test plants are really ripening. The larger types of tomatoes varieties are the ones suffering most from lack of lime and the bugs from what I can tell. All of them seem to be responding with new healthy growth due to the lime. Have some fruits at 1.5 inches in diameter at this point.

[BajaMitch]

I have a home in La Paz that I go to 6 times a year for about 2 weeks at a time. I am always watching the weather there. It seems like right now is the optimum time to grow tomatoes as the overnight lows are around 60 F and the daily highs are mid to low 80s. Perfect temps for tomatoes. Where I am, the wind is not that bad, usually 8 to 13 mph.

It seems like SWCs might be the optimum way to go as they use only 25% of the water that ground growing plants use. Also, you will not lose nutrient due to drainage, therefore less money on nutrients. If I were to grow tomatoes, I would use a mortar and pestle to grind 17-17-17 up, dissolve in water as best I could and periodically feed the plants together with composts and a light touch of manures.

You and I have opposite problems; I don't go to Baja often enough to grow tomatoes, but I can bring back a lot of products from USA regularly (which I have done for my non-tomato plants), but you are there all the time but have difficulty getting necessary stuff from USA.

[BajaMitch]

Don't know if anyone mentioned it, but you can get 1 Kg bags of Amonium Sulfate at Home Depot in La Paz for very cheap.

[Deborah]

I'm scared of lizards big time, but what a beautiful view-I can't decide between the sea and the diet Coke bottles ! (I'm a complete and utter diet Coke-a-holic...) A perfect garden !

[bajaOne]

well these really tiny white flys destroyed everything two months ago. I only got about 20lbs of tomatoes. I tried tobacco, and neme oil, soap everyone claimed would work, even the commercial ones at home depot. I heard from a commercial grower that sells at the farmers market his hydroponics were wiped out too. He finally just pulled all the tomatoes.

[Mirandacg]

Very nice!