Learning to collect water isn’t as easy as I had thought, but we’re getting there. My veggie plants and seedlings love it! Lightning infuses the rain with nitrogen. A real plus for our plants.
My issue with the rain collection is mosquitoes. I get some water from the downspout, and then when I come to clean and transfer it, it's already full of mosquitoes and larvae! Gotta change things up! I do really appreciate how much easier it is to keep plants alive during the monsoon
Wow, that was all spot-on. It’s hard to understand low desert gardening if you are thinking midwest gardening. It is so much fun to garden year round in the low desert using these specific concepts. One idea on capturing water is to put a watering can under the home AC condensation drain pipe. During humid days we can get 6-8 gallons of what seems to be very pure water.
I could be way off here, but as someone with intense chronic illness, I feel I can often tell when others are struggling with health issues. Call it Sicky's Intuition, I don't know. ;'D But it seems to me you might be having a hard time with health stuff or energy and are pushing through trying to still get us these videos. If that's the case, I just want to say thank you, and I'm rooting for you! You are awesome. And thank you for all your help in my garden.
Thankyou!!! In mesa, and your channel is like a gift from God. Now I can grow things, instead of killing things trying to follow advice for AL. Thankyou so much!!!
I live and garden here in Mesa AZ also. I refer back to your video content and website over and over again for reference. Our climate is quite unique and challenging! Thank you for sharing your expertise. You are a wonderful teacher...inspiring and informative!
Your videos are awesome! Thank you for doing these videos. I always tell people that if it doesn’t yell feed me I will usually kill it, but I really would like to start gardening. We are in Marana AZ and these have been beyond helpful.
We had rain gutters installed on the side of our house and attached two80 gallon rain barrels. I am amazed at how quickly they fill. I then use the water to flood irrigate our citrus trees once a week in the summer months. Free water!!
Awesome video. My husband and I live in Tucson Az. So we know bout the Monsoon. 1st time garden of Corn, Tomato, Cucumber,Yellow Squash. Tried potatoes from red potato cuttings. No such luck. We live in an RV PARK, so space is limited. Suggestions of grow bags 10 Gallon. ❤️⚘️🥔🍅🥦🌽🥒
Wow, Angela! So much detailed and helpful information. This is just great! Eventhough we don't have monsoon where I live 🙂, I really enjoyed watching this video. Thank you for sharing such a lot of helpful and practical information with whoever is interested.
Thanks so much for this! My shade wasn't adequate for most plants I planted this spring, so I was just thinking about trying a monsoon planting! (Also, I was sad to lose those garden plants, but they've been composting in place with some extra tree leaves that have come down in the heat, so the upside is that the soil is better now!)
I look forward to your videos. Im getting ready to plant a few more things in my garden. My tomatoes struggled this summer but I think they’ve held on long enough that I might get another crop out of them.
I just am starting to understand after several years gardening the impact of salts in our soil. It has been huge this year and my plants are really making a comeback. Wish I knew earlier but you live and you learn ❤️thanks for more details on monsoon plantings
These are great tips! I just cut back all my tomatoes. I actually saved some suckers and put them in a cup in the house so that they could take root But I’m finding I don’t really need them because the old plants have a lot of new growth and I already established. I didn’t know that you could do that. We have had a lot of rain this year where we live in Arizona I haven’t really had to water much which is nice. This is the first year I will be removing some of my plants and trying to plant other things for the fall I am very excited thank you for all of the tips and information!
ground cloves seem to work really well for deterring squash bugs. Just don't get it on the actual plant, apply on the soil at the base and anywhere that's shaded by the leaves.
My neighbors put up a cloth and affixed two-by-fours to the block wall. Ha! We lost two blocks off the top of the wall, and they had to take it down during the last storm.
I germinated bell pepper seeds in the house. They were about 2 inches tall, transplanted them outside in the ground. All were above ground . The last big storm came and now it looks like i have lost most of them. 4 out of 25 plants still showing. I hope the other will come back out. 🙏🏻 I am down below Tucson. What is the best way to get rid of catapillars.
Hi Angela, in India we have two main growing seasons. Monsoon and Fall, our summers are too hot with water shortages. But nowadays farmers are able to extend the growing seasons with green shadecloth tunnels if they have enough water. Our major monsoonal pests include slugs and snails besides beetles. I find it difficult to use beer traps because of the rainwater and picking them off is not always possible. Have you had any experience with these kinds? Lajo
What type of “board traps” are you referring to especially with Squash Bug control? Spider Mites are you referring to a water hose mist-type spray? I live in Texas Panhandle where it has been a brutally hot summer unlike any I have gardened in before… I never have had these pests until now. Unfortunately I didn’t think the sunflowers would grow as well and quickly as they did so I could not erect my shade cloths… Hard lesson learned… but the sunflowers have been gorgeous..🤷🏼♀️
Put a piece of wood between your plant's leaves and the soil - the squash bugs prefer the wood for nesting, etc. / For spider mites, any type of spray works; the goal is to remove the dust from the plants. So sorry about your hot summer, but glad to hear your sunflowers are growing well. Best of luck to you.
My kumquat tree won't produce eatable fruit. It grows tons of flowers and some fruit. The tree is in a pot the few I get grow small and then either hard or look like an old lady.
This post shares when to start seeds indoors for different crops: growinginthegarden.com/when-to-start-seeds-indoors-a-seed-starting-guide-for-low-desert-vegetables/
I mean until the problem is under control. They can also trap beneficial insects, pollinators, and lizards so it's best to only use them when there is an infestation.
i started 2 raised beds before mosoon season.. what if i think my beds got to much water. and only some things have sprouted some didnt and should have by now.
That's frustrating - overwatering definitely can stall plants. We are coming into an excellent time to plant so many things. Hopefully this season will bring more success. Best of luck to you.
Yes! I do continue to plant sweet potato slips and they are able to grow decent sized potatoes. I even grew some last year in part shade (in August/September)?and they still produce small sized potatoes.
Oh how I understand!!! Don't give up. If you grow in the hot desert summer you MUST prepare for it with shade cloths! I usually don't plant in the summer. Fall and spring are the easiest time to get great crops. I let a number of potted plants expire because it was just too jot to be outside. Some I never grew before and won't grow those again.
