[Arid_gardener] tomatoes and peppers

[olin miller]

Peppers are pretty easy to grow, relatively free of diseases and not much
bothered by pests.  My favorite sweet pepper is Gypsy but the California
Bell Peppers also do fairly well but tend to grow at the tops of the plant
and are susceptible to sunscald if not shaded.  Big Bertha also does okay
but will not get as large as those grown in temperate climates.  Hot peppers
thrive in our warm weather and will out-perform the sweets.  The mild NuMex
peppers like Anaheim and Big Jim are good choices as well as the hotter ones
like Cayenne and Habanero.  Most hot peppers hang downward, are shaded by
the foliage and are not so susceptible to sunscald.  Some exceptions are
"Facing Heaven" and some of the ornamentals.  Peppers like warm soil and
won't grow much if set out before March but, if started from seed, should be
started the same time as tomatoes.

Tomatoes are a bit more difficult.  You might find the  following article
helpful.  It also appears at
http://home.att.net/~millero/TomatoesSevenSteps.htm



  SEVEN STEPS FOR GROWING TOMATOES IN THE LOW DESERT

  1.  Select the right varieties - Tomatoes are classified as determinate
and indeterminate.  Flower buds on determinate types develop at the growing
tip of the branches.  When this happens, vegetative growth stops at the
branch tip where the fruit develops, the plants tend to become bushy, and
all of the fruit ripens at nearly the same time.  Determinates are usually
short season varieties with thick skins.  Although they are not as juicy or
as flavorful as indeterminate types, they are better suited to our climate
and growing conditions.  Select short season varieties that ripen within 70
days after transplanting.

              Flower buds on indeterminate types grow along the side of the
stem or vine.  The growing tips are not affected by blossoming or by fruit
development and the branch continues to grow throughout the growing season.
In our climate, the early summer heat limits the yield.  Fruit size is also
much smaller than advertised because the high temperatures cause the fruit
to ripen at a smaller size.  But there are exceptions.  Early Girl, Champion
and Dona are two examples of indeterminate types that are fairly reliable.
Likewise, many cherry types are good producers.  Sweet 100 and Sun Gold are
among the favored cherry types.  Pearson is often hyped as the best variety
but seeds are usually not available and transplants are hard to find.  Baker
Nursery sometimes has Pearson in one gallon size.

   2.  Start early - The spring tomato crop can be planted into the garden
from mid February through mid March.   Early planting improves chances of
getting an acceptable yield.  Planting earlier is possible with frost
protection but growth is slow because of the cool soil.  Planting later
results in a lower yield because the blossoms come later when the weather is
too warm for good pollination.   Transplants from four-inch pots are usually
the best and will catch up with one gallon transplants.  But late plantings
should be from one gallon size.  Seeds should be started six to eight weeks
before transplanting.  Mine are usually started between Christmas and New
Year's Day.  Start the seeds in a flat with a one inch space between the
seeds.  Then plant up to four-inch pots when the leaves touch each other.
Plant into the garden or up to one gallon containers when the leaves of the
four-inch plants overlap by about 50 percent..

  There are several good reasons to start from seeds.  One is to get the
tomato varieties you want at the time you need them.  Another is that
nursery plants often harbor unwanted weed seeds, fungi, diseases, insects,
snails, and other creepy-crawlies that can infest your garden.

   3.  Plant correctly - Tomatoes need some added nutrients but it isn't
necessary to fertilize the entire tomato patch.  About four inches of
finished organic compost should be tilled in or spaded in through the entire
tomato patch.  Then dig a hole for each plant to about the depth of the
plant and 18 inches wide.

  Use a balanced phosphorus fertilizer like ammonium phosphate 16-20-0 or a
complete vegetable fertilizer.  Too much nitrogen will encourage lots of
lush green growth at the expense of fruit development.  Phosphorus
encourages root, blossom and fruit development.  Mix a handful of gypsum and
about 1 tsbp of triple phosphate (0-45-0) into the bottom of the hole.  Then
mix gypsum and ammonium phosphate with the soil that was removed to form the
hole and use it for backfill.  There are equivalent organic fertilizers as
well as ocean products that could be used.  Wet the planting area to
water-pack the soil and eliminate air pockets around the root ball.

              Early in the season when the soil is still cool, plant at the
same depth as in the pot.  If the plant is root-bound like many nursery
grown plants, separate the roots before planting.  If planting late when the
soil is warmer, the plant may be set much deeper with only the growing tip
and a few branches showing.  Additional new roots will develop along the
stem and help to strengthen the plant.  If the transplants are tall and
spindly as with some indeterminate types, the root ball may be placed on its
side and the stem (or vine) laid along a four-inch deep trench and covered
with soil with only the growing tip and a few branches showing.  This helps
develop more roots along the stem.  It may be necessary to place a weight on
the covered stem to keep it in place and also to prop up the growing tip
until the plant develops new growth.  With thick-stemmed determinate
varieties, it is best to keep the plant erect because attempts to bend the
stem will often break it instead

  4.  Protect the plants - It will be necessary to protect the plants from
an occasional freeze through February.  Covering the plants with a frost
blanket, available at many garden centers, works best but old bed sheets
will also make a good cover.  Floating row covers (ReMay is one brand) only
afford 4° of protection, but are useful for warming the soil in the daytime
and holding the heat in the night.  By the end of April it is advisable to
provide 50% shade to extend the pollination period.

   5.  Grow Rapidly - Proper irrigation and keeping the plants and the soil
warm are the most important elements of initial rapid growth.  Mulch applied
before March will prevent the sun from warming the soil and keep the soil
too cool for good growth,  but mulch will help keep the soil from becoming
too warm thereafter.  Early in the season, the plants should be covered from
sundown until about 9:00 am, not only for frost protection but also to
retain heat.  There are many elaborate contrivances for keeping the plants
and the soil warm - from Wall O' Water to water-filled plastic milk jugs to
clear plastic.  But through February, it's simpler to just keep the plants
covered with a floating row cover and to use a frost blanket at night.  With
this year's unusually warm January days, it has not been necessary to use a
floating row cover.

   6.  Encourage pollination - The conventional wisdom is that fruit set
only occurs when nighttime temperatures exceed 55° F and daytime
temperatures are below 90° F.  This is a generalization that applies in many
instances, but some of the cherry types will, if shaded, continue to set
fruit in July when the daytime highs exceed 100° F.  (Sun Gold and Juliet
are examples).

  Most tomatoes are self-pollinating with the flowers having retracted
styles that are not accessible to insects.  There are exceptions such as
some heirloom beefsteak types with exerted stigmas that can benefit from
insect pollination.  A spray product called "Blossom Set" helps with
pollination at low temperatures.  In warmer weather, shaking the plant
lightly in the morning while the pollen is still fresh also helps.

   7.  Irrigate - Over-watering contributes to low fruit production.  Wilted
leaves in the morning indicate the plants should have been watered
yesterday.  But if the leaves appear fresh in the morning and wilted only in
the afternoon, the plants are responding to heat stress by reducing
transpiration and don't necessarily need more water.  There are too many
variables to recommend a specific irrigation schedule.  Factors such as the
size of the plants, local evapotranspiration rate, thickness and type of
mulch, and the percentage of supplemental shade affect the frequency and
amount of irrigation needed.  The only ways to determine if irrigation is
needed is to inspect the foliage or test the soil.  It should be kept moist
but not soggy.  Irrigation using drip tapes, drip emitters or flooding is
recommended.  Overhead watering can spread plant diseases.

  Copyright © 2001 By Olin D. Miller

  Updated: 02/04/2007
=============================================


----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Branan" <tbranan at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2007 10:19 PM
> I've been looking for infomation on the best varities to do well here, I
> moved here from southern oregon last november and someone left a flyer at
> work with this email address on it so I figured you guys ought to know.
> I'm guessing from the heat that you need early maturing varities. when is
> the best time to start germinating seeds? I know I should probably start
> peppers soon.
> does shade cloth help at all for protecting plants? I assume it will help
> from sunscald but wont' do anything for pollination.