Hello all! I just recently moved into a house that has a 60 sqft.
garden. I'm not sure what types of plants I currently have, but I
have some space for additional plants. I went out this past weekend
and bought some early girls, big beef, big boy, and sweet tomatoes(?).
I live in Arizona, so this might not be the best time to transfer the
plants into the garden. In az it hits 90 somewhere in April/May.
I've read on this message board that tomatoes won't grow in weather
above 90. Any suggestions? Oh, and I'm planning on buying Gardening
for Dummies!

Hi Christine,

I live in AZ as well, Phoenix area. I spent most of my life near Chicago so
it's definitely a learning experience here. I would think that tomatoes
would do fine during the summer here as long as you give them a lot of
water. Also, I've definitely learned one thing, when a plant's instructions
note that it needs full sun, that doesn't mean you really need it in
Phoenix. LOL A lot of full sun plants will require some shade or almost
full shade in order to tolerate the weather on those hot days.

I tried some tomatoes over our winter and they got hit by some frost, not
major, but enough to take out the tomatoes. I just started some from seed
recently and planted one tomato plant to see how it does and I'll be getting
more soon.

--
Lisa

"Christine Lipfert" wrote in message
om...
Hello all! I just recently moved into a house that has a 60 sqft.
garden. I'm not sure what types of plants I currently have, but I
have some space for additional plants. I went out this past weekend
and bought some early girls, big beef, big boy, and sweet tomatoes(?).
I live in Arizona, so this might not be the best time to transfer the
plants into the garden. In az it hits 90 somewhere in April/May.
I've read on this message board that tomatoes won't grow in weather
above 90. Any suggestions? Oh, and I'm planning on buying Gardening
for Dummies!

Has anyone here every planted tomatoes in Arizona or any other arid
climate? When did you plant Feb., March, is April too late? Would
growing indoors be a better solution? If so, my house faces East/West?
Any advice would be helpful!

Has anyone here every planted tomatoes in Arizona or any other arid
climate? When did you plant Feb., March, is April too late? Would
growing indoors be a better solution? If so, my house faces East/West?
Any advice would be helpful!


I put in some tomato starters about two weeks ago (I'm in Tucson), so you could
probably go to your local nursery and pick out some well developed plants.
Make sure you water evenly, and get some shade cloth for the hotter months--you
can lose fruit to sunburn out here. Of course, my garden is in full sun on the
south end of the lot, so shade cloth is a must for me during summer. I've had
good luck with both early girl and celebrity varieties.


--
Bugger off, Chirac.

Christine Lipfert wrote:

Has anyone here every planted tomatoes in Arizona or any other arid
climate? When did you plant Feb., March, is April too late? Would
growing indoors be a better solution? If so, my house faces East/West?
Any advice would be helpful!

I'm in Albuquerque & just put in 4 plants last weekend. It got real cold
the other night and 2 of them I think are kaput, even though I surrounded
them with some plastic for protection. The other 2 seem to have fared
quite well. Its probably a bit early for them yet w/o some manner of
better protection than I used. Home-made wrap stapled together from a
swimming pool solar cover.

--
John S. DeBoo

Thanks for all of the advice. I planted the 3 tomato plants in the
garden yesterday. They were starting to look a little flimsy so I
figured it was time to move them from the plastic pots to the garden.

What is a shade cloth? I assume I can pick one up at the nursery.
Does it let partial light through?

Has anyone had any success with Green Peppers in AZ?

Thanks
Christine


"John S. DeBoo" wrote in message ...
Christine Lipfert wrote:

Has anyone here every planted tomatoes in Arizona or any other arid
climate? When did you plant Feb., March, is April too late? Would
growing indoors be a better solution? If so, my house faces East/West?
Any advice would be helpful!

I'm in Albuquerque & just put in 4 plants last weekend. It got real cold
the other night and 2 of them I think are kaput, even though I surrounded
them with some plastic for protection. The other 2 seem to have fared
quite well. Its probably a bit early for them yet w/o some manner of
better protection than I used. Home-made wrap stapled together from a
swimming pool solar cover.

In article ,
(Christine Lipfert) writes:

Thanks for all of the advice. I planted the 3 tomato plants in the
garden yesterday. They were starting to look a little flimsy so I
figured it was time to move them from the plastic pots to the garden.

What is a shade cloth? I assume I can pick one up at the nursery.
Does it let partial light through?

Has anyone had any success with Green Peppers in AZ?

Thanks

Shade cloth should be available at any nursury; (it lets through enough sun for
the plant to grow, but cuts enough to prevent sun damage. By green peppers I
assume you mean like bell peppers? I've never had great luck (they tend to be
small), but I have gotten some tasty green peppers off plants of the yolo
wonder variety. They can also get sunburned in the summer. One thing that
grows very well here is artichokes--just give 'em full sun and plenty of water.
It is a little late to plant one though, but it might be an idea for next
season. Good luck.

--
Bugger off, Chirac.

I put my tomatoes in in February. Sometimes have to watch out for cold
weather but I'm ensured a harvest before it gets blistering hot here.

-Jason

"Christine Lipfert" wrote in message
om...
Has anyone here every planted tomatoes in Arizona or any other arid
climate? When did you plant Feb., March, is April too late? Would
growing indoors be a better solution? If so, my house faces East/West?
Any advice would be helpful!