Fw: [Arid_gardener] Tomatoes in Tucson

[Leo A. Martin]

Hello Rich,

Save yourself endless heartaches. Run, don't walk, to a book shop and get
yourself a copy of

Desert Gardening:
Fruits and Vegetables
by
George Brookbank
University of Arizona Press

He was an agriculture professor at the U of A, which as far as I know is
still in Tucson, where you live (and I went to school lo these many years
ago.) There is an extensive discussion of tomato culture in the book. It
is quite possible to bring in an enormous crop of tomatoes in Tucson, but
it must be done before the weather gets hot.

You have absolutely no chance of growing tomatoes (other than cherry
tomatoes) in a Tucson summer unless it is an unseasonably cool summer,
like we haven't had in the last 6,000 years or so, or you have a
refrigerated greenhouse. It would cost you a lot less money - and you'd
have more tomatoes - if you rent a house in California and grow them
there.

Leo Martin
Phoenix Arizona USA



> Bcc: Azcrfg, azcrfg-comp, Arid-Gardener, vosg
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dick Gross
> To: rm.short at att.net
> Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 7:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page
>
>
> My experience has been that one may still get a few fruit to set and
> mature at 100 plus Fahrenheit but the pollen is believed to be dead at
> about that temperature. It doesn't have to experience direct sun; that
> temp in the shade may kill the pollen as readily but shade may keep the
> temperature below the fatal point. That statistic may not be absolute. The
> plant itself will grow vegetatively and bloom like crazy but dead polen
> isn't capable of fertilization. Fruit already set will usually develop
> normally regardless of how hot it gets but fast growth from ambient
> temperature, excess fertilizing and irrigation may exceed the skin's
> ability to expand as fast as the growth rate and splitting may result.
>
> Any fruit set before those critical factors are reached will usually
> mature normally even if some splitting has occurred. The trick is, I
> believe, to get the tomato vine vigorously growing and blooming as soon
> after the last frost as possible to get most of the pollination
> accomplished before ambient reaches 100F at which time shade may keep some
> pollen alive for a few more days. This may just be my imagination, but it
> seems to me that cherry tomatoes do better in heat. I don't believe there
> are any significant variables between varieties' abilities to set in the
> heat
>
> But, if pollination is stopped dead the minute it reaches 100F, there will
> be a few tiny fruit and some nearly mature, or almost so, on the vine.
> These may develop normally and you may not notice a dramatic drop in
> production if new blossoms are pollenated after the temp drops again.
>
> Keep in mind that tomatoes, as with any fruit, require full sun to produce
> fully and any unecessary shade will will exact a price except that a
> modest reduction in sun may be too subtle to notice.
>
> Dick Gross, Master Gardener Vlounteer
> University of Arizona Maricopa County Cooperative Extension
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <rm.short at att.net>
> To: <arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>
> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 8:00 PM
> Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page
>
>
>> Rich Short
>> 85749
>> rm.short at att.net
>>
>> I am planning another year of trying to grow tomatoes here in Tucson
>> during the summer. I know about tomato polen burning at around 95
>> degrees-F. I'm looking for special varieties that don't have this
>> problem. I've got some varities from the University of Florida that are
>> heat tolerant, but probably not to the extent that they could tolerate
>> the 105-110 degrees-F that we see here. Have there been any new
>> varieties developed recently? Genetic engineering is okay with me as
>> long as the tomato tastes good. I've been trying to find a source of
>> tomato seed from the the native societies of North, Central, and South
>> America, but haven't had much luck beyond Native Seed Search. Can you
>> reccomend any sites?
>>
>>
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