In article ,
"Ray Drouillard" wrote:

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"RJ" wrote:

As a northern veggie gardener,
it was always dissapointing when an early frost
would kill off the tomato plants.....
( full of tomatoes, of course )

I had dreamed that in places like Calif,
with no killer frost, tomatoes would be perennials.

We've recently moved to Southern Arizona.
In theory, this is tomato weather.
Sunny days, cool nights.

We have a cherry-tomato plant in back,
it's making tomatoes..... but slowly,
and the leaves are turning yellow.......
The plant is looking sickly....

I'm going to need some help here;

1. When planting tomatoes here,
will I need to make any special preparations ?

2. Can I reasonably expect to see tomatoes 8 or 9 months a year ?

3. Any special variety to better deal with the Arizona climate ?


rj

I am in Texas, and even with very late freezes and beautiful weather,
I've been unable in "invent" a perrenial tomato.

Your best bet is cyclical planting to extend your growing season.
Start
new ones every couple of months.

I may be wrong, just my 2 cents. ;-)

I understand that tomatoes are perennials. On the other hand, modern
varieties have been bred for optimal production in a temperate climate.
I would not be surprised if some or all cultivated varieties have lost
their ability to be a perennial. Perhaps you can find a heritage
variety from a tropical area.

Most of the tomatoes around here have bit the dust. I have had some
plastic over ours for a while, though. Most of them are full of healthy
green tomatoes and a few ripe ones. Maybe we'll get a decent amount
this year. I really need to build a greenhouse, though.


Ray




I pulled all my dead and dying plants, but found a lovely little "sweet
100's" at the nursery in Austin. :-) Seems that greenhousing then might
be the key?

I just planted it in the large raised bed along with winter greens,
kale, red mustard, swiss chard, lettuce and brocolli. I'm planning on
purchasing a cold frame to cover them with for the winter.

I still have 2 more of these greenhouses to erect. Easier and FAR
cheaper than building one from scratch, and they go up in about 30
minutes. They are far sturdier than they look. The two I put up this
spring have weathered some nasty, windy thunderstorms just fine.

Check he

http://www.propools.com/cgi-bin/Soft.../greenhouses/d
reamhouse.htm?E+scstore

The cold frame I'm going to order is:

http://www.propools.com/cgi-bin/Soft.../greenhouses/s
tarterhouse.htm?L+scstore+bhlc2228+1096876733

Quit putting off your greenhouse and just pick up one of these. ;-)
You won't regret it! I have not.

I bought some heavy plastic snap together shelves from Lowe's with
strong meshed shelving sections as my pot benches. Total investment with
the benches was only about $400.00 per greenhouse for 8' x 8'. I don't
know if you have tried pricing greenhouse kits, but that is really,
really reasonable.

K.
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