Can't say for sure as I don't live in AZ but i think most successful growers there plant at very different times than you are. Very early spring and then again in late fall in to early winter. Now isn't the time. ;)

Your air temps this time of year won't allow for much fruit as "blossom drop" (see the FAQ) would be severe for you I'd think. Plus you mention "huge" plants which often means way too much nitrogen fertilizer which also prevents fruit set.

Size of the fruit will depend on the variety. Squirrels and birds are a problem for many of us which is why we pick the fruit as soon as it begins to ripen, to show color, and let it finish inside on the kitchen counter. You don't have to leave it on the vine for it to ripen.

There are some heat tolerant varieties that may work better for you if planted at the proper time, using shade cloth will also help a little. Your local county extension office can give you info on the best planting times for your area and which varieties work best. You might also want to read the article linked below and talk with some of the gardeners that post over on the Arizona Gardening forum here.

What varieties do you plant and are they in-ground or in containers?

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Tomatoes in Arizona

Dave gave you some very good advice. My experience here in a semi arid area is that if it is real hot and dry with hot winds the average fruit will be a little smaller. Last year was a prime example. I had a few exceptions but most varieties ran 2-5 oz.s smaller than normal. We are is a severe drought and too early to tell this year. I have put up shade cloth as a windbreak this year and mulching even heavies all things that help. And like Dave said it seems you maybe planting a late and also may need to change varieties. Best of luck. JD

Hi Ungardener!

This is my second year gardening in AZ (near Casa Grande)...very different from my native climate in Seattle, so as you can imagine I have done quite a bit of research to create a successful garden. I've found Google to be a gardeners best friend!
While I still have a lot to learn about gardening in this climate I have seen an amazing improvement between last year and this year.
Here are a couple of tidbits of information you may find useful.

First -- as we are now in July and it is well over 90 degrees, I'm afraid you should not expect to see fruit production from your $200 tomatoes right now, and here's why...at 90 degrees the pollen becomes sterile, shooting blanks if you will:)
But don't let your husband head of to the attorney just yet, all is not lost!
Here's the good news; as we have 2 growing seasons for tomatoes, you can pinch back those pricey plants by about 1/3 and watch them begin to set fruit as the weather starts to cool a bit!
(Fall however is a trickier growing season as the cooler temps bring more insects. So don't become discouraged, we all have to deal with this one. I keep a spray bottle of water mixed with a couple teaspoons of dish soap in the garden and spray these pests whenever I see them.)

Second -- you are dead on track with providing shade as you absolutely should not expect a crop without protection from the AZ sun. I use triangular shade sails over my garden area, they are sturdy, work well and can look pretty cool too! I also attach misters to the sails to cool the garden when it's especially hot.

Next -- your HUGE plants may not be a function of too much nitrogen (though a soil test kit wouldnt hurt). The heat these guys get here SHOULD produce huge tomato plants. I don't prune mine at all (just let them grow as they will and provide support) and if I unraveled the vines on my cherry's, they would likely stretch out to over 15 feet! They have produced very well until the last couple of weeks which is to be expected with several days of 100+ temps.

Finally -- the advice you received about pinching off leaves is accurate in some instances but not here! It is CRITICAL that you NOT remove leaves as gardeners may do in other parts of the country. In our climate we need as many leaves on the plant as possible to create shade. You can however remove those at the very base to keep them out of the soil.

Another tip for next year (yes, there will be a next year!) is to select tomatoes that produce in 68 days or less...again, a function of our intense heat. You don't want those babys to be unable to produce because of temps just when they want to!

So tell your hubby to view this year as an investment in your gardening future and in the most delicious tomatoes he's ever eaten, and that next year you will know more and grow more!!!

I hope this helps, don't give up!!!

Here are a couple of excellent articles:
http://www.oracletown.com/garden/tips_tomato.html
http://www.les.biffle.org/tomatoes.html

I am not in arizona but I suspect there are many other veggies that will grow very well over the winter. So use the garden for other veggies also. You want things that will not winter kill at the coldest times and will grow well on warm days. Arizona is a favorite place for professional commercial growers to grow tomatoes all winter in greenhouses to avoid those killing cold nights.

Your local town might have a garden club where you can get all kinds of info on what works easy and is difficult. I suggest you talk to local people and those at garden centers to get some ideas. farmers are a wealth of knowledge on what works best.

haha, sorry I'm no help, but I've had $200 tomatoes too : ) I chuckled when I read that.

Hello ungardener,

Try heat tolerant varieties if you want to grow what is essentially not in season for your area. You may not be able to grow them in July but Heatwave II Tomato for example claims 100 degree fruit set and is certainly worth a shot a little before or after.
I would say before considering any other aspect of gardening is to choose the variety especially when you are in a marginal zone for what you are trying to do and expect this to be an art. Otherwise wait for the right season. You ironically have more in common with growers to the north with short growing seasons only you have two instead of one each year.

Hello solanaceae,

Thanks for the recommendation on Heatwave II, I'll give this one a try next year...and you're right, we do have a lot in common in terms of the length of our growing seasons!

I'm glad it's not just me! I've been trying to keep track, and I think this year my tomatoes have cost me over $1500! My husband says that the difference between eccentric and crazy is money =)

This is my second year in Tucson, AZ trying tomatoes. Last year I was not nearly as attentive, would be too lazy to water them some nights and didn't get much off them. This year I overplanted seedlings, thinking I would kill most like I did last year. I started too late, seeds on Feb. 29, so I haven't been getting a ton of tomatoes, but I am getting some, especially off my Juliets and red cherries. My early girls are coming in pretty nicely as well, I've eaten a couple of red fruits this year.

This year I did a little better, got them on the drip system so I would not have to water daily. I've also constructed some shade structures and moved some under the patio to try to shade them from the sun. I think the cooler weather lately from the monsoons has helped, as I am getting new fruitset again.

I found a good book called "Desert Gardening" by Brookbank. A lot of the info is repetative, but I've found it helpful. I realized that we really have 4 short seasons here rather than 1 long season like you would think by living through our summers. During the hot time of year, the goal is keeping the plants alive so that you can get a fall harvest.

Good luck!

Copied this from another thread in this forum.

i read a paper from unlv reno that said here in our desert area it helps tomatoes to set fruit if you spray them down with cool water twice a day, during the heat of the day. i know that isnt practical for everybody, but it has helped me tremendously! i hadnt had a single fruit set in over a month and now every single plant beside my brandywines (that will never happen) has set at least 5 more and one tomato i have counted over 30 set since i started doing this, and the weather has only been hotter. so try it, maybe it will help you!

One other possible type to try is ironically a cool season developed tomato that is called Oregon Spring. Its parthenocarpic which is a fancy way of saying it sets fruit without pollen. I just remembered reading about this. It will be seedless as well I think. It like an unfertilized chicken egg in that there is fruit but no actual fertility. So look into Oregon Spring as well.

When animals eat on tomatoes they are doing it to get water.

Greetings ungardner and denimac... I live in Marana and this was my first season trying to grow tomatoes in AZ. It was near bust, so I started studying climate and tomato agriculture. This is what I've learned so far.

Forget Brandywines--we're never going to get a growing season long enough for them. We need to start very early--I'm starting mine from seed next month--November! (I've been experimenting and have learned to do this easily and well with artificial light.) I'll transplant to medium pots outside in mid to late January '09 and I'll just bring them in at night or use Wall O Waters to protect them from frost. Last year I ordered plants that were grown in CA and I won't do that again. It's hard enough for a human from SoCal to adjust to AZ heat--I don't think a tomato plant can do it. Find plants that have been grown and/or hardened off here.

Second, we have to select early season or earlier mid season varieties (rated 75 days or fewer) that are more heat tolerant. Some varieties I'm trying are Eva Purple Ball, Fireworks, Sunmaster Hybrid, Super Sioux and Taos. I'm also going to try some super early varieties (52 -60 days), such as Stupice, Sun Gold Hybrid and Azoychka 60.

After mid-June in Southern AZ, temps are 100+ every day and 75+ at night. I don't know of any tomato plant that will produce under those conditions, so I'm planning for my tomato "season" to be over by the first day of summer. This will help avoid the disappointment I suffered last summer. Hopefully in late summer '09 Safeway will once again offer organic heirlooms at a somewhat reasonable price to get me through September!

I attempted a fall season this year, but so far it has been dismal. I'll analyze my mistakes and research this out more for next year.

Can I post an email address in the forum? Arizonans can reach me at russ.gladden@msn.com. We should start a support group!! Happy Growing--I'm sure we can do it! --Russ

Hey there azruss...I'm in Continental Ranch. I'm so pleased to come across another tomato crazed Tucson/Marana resident! I've only been going at it a few years now too and it can definintely be hit or miss with this climate.

I start my seeds indoors in December or January then transplant between Feb and early March. This is the tricky part because that really varies here, too early and you need to watch the frost which can come as late as mid-March...I've ended up stunting plants by not covering them or bringing them indoors.

On the other hand, my experience has been that most plants transplanted mid-March will have really limited production by the time June rolls around - or possibly none! I try to watch the mesquite leaf out in the spring and just cover anything if the news says we're going to be anywhere near freezing temps, and beware the microclimates of your yard!

Last summer was AWESOME! Even on some of bigger varieties that I expected nothing from I actually got half a dozen 6 - 7" beauties per plant, those were Sunsets Red Horizon and Northern Lights.

I agree, try to stay under 70 days in your selection. This year I threw in some determinates too, they took up so little space and produced quite a bit. I seeded on 1/20, transplanted 3/2. By the time the inferno came I had many 8 - 10 foot plants, and enough shade, that I was still getting limited fruit through July.

I made circular cages out of concrete reinforcing wire and in some of the more sunny spots I grew rampicante trombocino up them to help shade. This is a vining squash that when eaten young is like zucchini.

Unfortunately, I didn't do the 2nd fall crop this year. Kicking myself now with how warm it still is! In the past during August I've pruned down then had some success with fall tomatoes. I think in '09 I'm going to start seeds in June and try to transplant in August.

My spring/summer '08 maters:
Ildi
Northern Lights
Salslaw Cafe
Lime Green Salad
Zarnitza
Red Grape
Sweet Pea Currant
Black Cherry
Taxi
Orange Roma
Jaune Flamme
Beams Yellow Pear
Sunsets Red Horizon
Opalka
Carmello
Green Zebra
Super Snow White

Oh, and from Home Depot I picked up a Sun Gold and Black Prince (smoky, complex, had a lot of tomatoes from it - FABULOUS! I transplanted them 3/15.

I got my seeds from tomatofest and the most successful were the smaller varieties, and the determinate taxi did really well. Picking bowls full of colorful multi-shaped tomatoes daily - I was almost in Michigan again!

We should definitely get a group going, meet at Safeway's Starbucks, share garden pictures and what's worked...arm wrestle for the dwindling heirloom tomatoes in the organic section!

I'm currently thinking about next spring too, heard great things about Stupice and was wondering about that Eva Purple Ball.

crazy-j

Crazy J... I wish I had your email address! You're just too close-by not to share tips, plants etc. (I'm in Dove mountain.)

I've already got my first round of seeds germinating, because I am determined to try an Aunt Ruby's German Green (80 days). I went ahead and added a couple of Pruden's Purple and Costoluto Genovese to this batch. It might kill 'em, I know, but they're going out somewhere around January 18 with Wall O Waters season extenders.

I'm sowing Stupice and Eva Purple Ball next week along with several other varieties. Narrowing the list is going to be horrible, but I have room for only so many.

If you see this, shoot me an email. You can find my email address on "My Page."

Russ

See my method at the end of organic tomato magic.Also blossom spray from burpees helps alot also.

I see you have had losts of good advice as how to grow those tomatoes for the squirrels Squirrels just love small tomatoes. They just love tomatoes that are no bigger than a quarter. You don't stand a chance

People that raise squirrels feed them tomatoes for the nutritution the squirrels need. Not the water.

This year the squirrels didn't bother my tomatoes. There was a big pecan crop this year, and they love pecans more than tomatoes.

The only way to stop squirrels from eating your tomatoes is to cover them with chicken wire. That works.