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incitatus_gw

Moved to Tucson - question about state of my plants + trees

incitatus
12 years ago

Hi, I moved just outside of Tucson and planted some things this winter and I'm not really sure how they're doing or how well they they can thrive here.

I planted a row of bamboo (buddah, heavenly, golden goddess). I watered them every day for two weeks and then cut back to twice a week. They seem very dry and, well, dead. Is this normal for bamboo in the winter? I'm really worried about them.

I also planted two myrtle crepe trees. They're both still very green, but have a consistent duller sheen that could also be due to the winter. Is this okay? I also watered them every day for two weeks and now twice a week.

All these plants have been in the ground a month now. I specifically picked the crepe because of how drought tolerant it is. How well though does it have to be established to cut back on the watering?

Does anyone have any more recommendations for fast growing trees and plants that are also drought tolerance? I'm planting a long a fence for privacy with these. Thank you.

Comments (2)

  • naycat
    12 years ago

    Hi Incitatus
    First off I need to know if you are in Vail, Corona De Tucson, Basicly where. Because if you are in Tucson the temps are warmer than in Vail... So I need to know how much freeze they have gone threw.

    Just to let you know I have been growing plants in the high desert all my life, As child at Edwards AFB. My Mother gave me a little corner in the backyard which I grew a vegtable garden, in Casa Grand AZ. while in jr. high, and High School I also grew a vegtable garden. While in apartments in Tucson going to U of A I grew my veggies in pots. I work in a nursery in Tucson.

    To Start I would never water any plant everyday even in summer. Unless they were bedding plants, or in pots.

    Watering in the desert needs to be done deeply, it forces roots to grow deeply, and the plants don't get overwatered.

    The first sign of plants being overwatered is, the plants look fine except that they are not growing, not producing flowers.

    The second sign, is the leaves starting at the lower leaves turn compleately yellow, and will drop off.

    Bamboo I don't believe will have an over watering problem as long as they as the soil is a good draining soil. I believe watering everyday for 2 weeks is not long enough to do damage. The duller sheen could be due to the fact that the myrtles are going dormant. In some areas they can go compleatly dormant. In other areas they can go semi-dormant. Depends if you are near a wash, a large park or golf course, or near the mountains or in Tucson. It also depends on your yard and where thing are placed in the yard. This is known as micro climates.

    when I water to establish; I water once every 3rd day, in summer. Shrubs to depth of 18" trees to 18 - 22". I keep doing this untill I see leaves turning yellow, and droping. Then I will water every 5th day and deeper, till I see the signs again, then every 7th. till I get the watering down to once every 2 weeks.

    In winter I would water once every 4th or 6th day to start.

    Again I need to know your area to advise you on what plants to get for privacy. I don't want to tell you something to get if your area wont's support the temps for the plant.

    If you noticed my zone is 13. That is because I don't follow the USDA's idea of zone temps. That is because they do not take into concideration the extream heat we have to deal with. Any thing that is writen by Sunset deals with the western states, and have zone ranges that deal with all the climets of the west, and takes into concideration the extream heat we have to deal with.

    I tell you this because If you read something writen by someone who is in the east, and their information tells you, you need to add lime into the soil to bring the ph up to nutural,,, well that would be very bad for us because are soil is a high ph. We have to add acid to our soil to bring our ph down to a nutural level.

    I hope this isn't too much information to start.

    Naycat

  • incitatus
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you so much for all the information. To answer your question I live in Sahuarita near the mine. I just moved here a few months ago so I'm unsure about the temps. I just know it was very hot at the end of the summer and it's cool here now. I may have to take a pic of my bamboo, I really hope it's doing well. I bought many plants and they weren't cheap.

    I look forward to any suggestions you might have.

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