INTRODUCTION
LOCATION AND PLANTING
WATERING
CARE AND FROST PROTECTION
FERTILIZING
SOIL
WINDS
SUN AND HEAT
IMPATIENT GARDNER
AWARENESS
LEARN
INTRODUCTION
Mangos, Bananas, Avocados, in the Arizona
desert? Can it be done? Sure it can and is being done all over town.
With a little planning and consideration to sun, wind, cold and
watering you can grow numerous types of tropical and sub-tropical fruit
plants and trees. Arizona's great year round climate lends itself to a
wonderful array of possibilities, and in no time at all you too can be
growing and eating home grown Mangos and Bananas from your own back
yard.
Many think that the summer heat is the main
killer and reason you can't grow many tropical plants in the Arizona
desert. Well, have you ever been to India, Thailand or even Florida, it
is brutally hot in the summer, factor in the humidity and well you
know. Closer to home did you know that there are over 30,000 Keitt
mango trees growing in the hot desert area of the Coachella
Valley of California, (Salton Sea), where the daily summer highs
rarely dip below 105f, and a normal summer day averages 114f. Some of
the ripened fruit is distributed through local Costo stores nation wide and the
remaining is shipped to Asian markets over seas. Sure the Arizona
(Phoenix) summer is hot and uncomfortable for us, but this is not
completely so for tropical plants. Though summer sun and heat is a
factor, the main killer is wind and cold, second biggest killer is
under watering newly planted trees. The presumption when someone says
California climate is to think of the pleasant southern costal area and
beaches and how easy plants grow there. Apart from the coastal area,
the truth is that California has a diverse climate just like Arizona,
from searing deserts to snowy mountains and all the challenges that
come with growing sub-tropical plants.
Then why don't more people plant tropical
fruit trees you ask? Well actually a lot do, but in a city nearing 4
million people the percentage in relation to the number of homes is
small, and the amount of nurseries in the valley offering these plants
and the expertise to succesfully grow them is nearly non
existence. Another factor is unfamiliarity with the plants and
fruits themselves. One might think that everyone in California has a
jaboticaba, lychee or pitahaya growing in their backyard and that these
plants are sold at every corner nursery, but the fact is they don't and
they aren't. It also takes a trained eye to spot a mature avocado tree
or mango tree if you have never seen one before, so it is quite
possible that you might have seen many plants you didn't know could
grow here and didn't even know it. Still another factor is that people
are on the go, the average time people keep a house is around 7 years
in the valley. Tropical trees take time to mature and take on going
care. With owners changing hands so frequently, chances are the new
residents will not have the same landscape desires as the previous ones
and the plant is removed or dies from lack of care, this is less
evident in the older sections of town with mature landscapes. Also with
the growing popularity of HOA's and their strick landscape
restrictions, many tropical and subtropical trees if they are allowed
at all are probably trucked away behind the house and block fences,
unable to be seen from the street. One last misconception is that
tropical trees need absurd amounts of water, and though yes they need
more frequent water than desert adapted plants or that nature provides,
they will require far less water than a pool or grass lawn would
consume.
The following is a general tropical planting
guide. The advise is derived from years of trial and error, reading of
numerous books, web sites and the advise and guidance of many friends
who share the passion and desire to grow these plants in the arid
desert. I've listed some of the main sources at the end of this
article, one in particular is the "Arizona
Rare Fruit Growers" who meet every second Thursday at 730pm in the
Maricopa County Extension building at the corner of 43rd Place &
Southern Ave. in Phoenix. If you really like gardening and growing
exotic and not so exotic fruit trees and plants then I highly recommend
considering a membership. The fee is minimal and the rewards are great.
At very least, a visit to their demonstration garden at the same
address is a must. There you will see mature fruiting trees, all of
which are planted and cared for by the members who are everyday
backyard gardeners like you.
Well if you are ready, lets get started,
however before we do let me make this statement. Gardeners have been
growing and killing plants for as long as anyone knows, yes desert
plants too. No one is exempt from this fact and try as you might it
cannot be avoided. We as gardeners can control only a small fraction of
what a plant requires to survive. Soil condition, drainage, humidity,
heat, cold, diseases, pests, winds, pollination are only a few of of
the many obstacles that stand in our way and many well beyond our
control. I will also say that every gardener, novice or experienced has
an opinion, and what works in one persons garden does not necessarily
work for another. With that in mind I encourage you to follow the links
on our website, buy or borrow the various books listed and conduct
research of your own using the search engine of your choice, then
modify the information as necessary to fit your individual planting
situation.
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LOCATION AND PLANTING
For most plants, pick a southern location near your house and preferably
under a roof overhang. The idea here is that your home will help
provide heat during the winter and the overhang may prevent cold from
settling on your plants during the night. Planting under the canopy of
another larger tree can also provide the same benefit in some cases.
Best, but not the only time to plant is March - October, (yes that
means you can plant in the middle of July, just wear a hat, put on
sunscreen and drink plenty of water). Lossen the soil several
feet (3'-4') in diameter from where you are going to plant. Dig a hole
only as deep as the root ball, no lower, and about twice as wide. Fill
the hole about half full with water and let drain. This is a good test
for drainage but will also provide the plant with a water storage it
can use later. Next cut away the bottom of the nursery container and
place the plant
in the hole, carefully cut up along the side of the pot and remove it.
Mix the removed soil at a rate of 50/50 with compost and backfill the
hole. Now water well. With the remaining soil build a berm
around the plant at least 4" high and fill with water. Once that has
drained apply a layer of compost of again at least 4" deep around the
plant but about a foot away from the trunk of the tree.
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WATERING
When you first
plant your tree keep the root ball consistently moist. This may mean
having to water two or three times a day during the hotter months.
Under watering is one of the top reasons young tropical trees die. Did
you ever have a gold fish when you were a kid? If you did, the sales
clerk probably told you to be careful and not to over feed the fish.
Well I bet nothing was said about under feeding and so is the
case about tropical fruit trees. A lot of advise around the valley from
various sources warns gardners not to over water but nothing said about
the dangers of under watering, more correctly the advise should be to
water properly. Many gardners never adjust their drip systems after
their landscapes are planted and continue to be watering mature
landscapes everyday for several minutes just like the landscaper set it
originally. Care should be given to water correctly for the size, type
of tree and the season. Once established, (usually a year or
after the first summer) water deeply to 3' and infrequently. Deep
infrequent watering is very important to tropical and subtropical fruit
trees as most are very suseptable to the salts in the water and deep
watering pushes the salts down away from the roots. Water established
trees twice a week during the summer and once or twice a month during
the winter. Also placement of the drip emitter or hose is important.
Feeder roots are usually 18" deep and extend to the dripline, (the
otter most area of the canopy). If you are still watering an
established tree at the truck you are wasting water since the plant
cannot use it. Water and fertilize at the drip line only once
established. Also some varieties should not be watered at all during
the winter, see specific planting guides for those trees.
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CARE AND FROST PROTECTION
As
mentioned before, cold is the leading killer of tropical type plants as
is the case with many plants. Have you ever wondered why a plants hardiness
is calculated by the minimum temperature a healthy mature tree can
withstand and not the heat. Because simply, cold kills more plants than
heat. Here in the valley our hardiness
zone is Zone 9A-9B, you can look up your zone by zip code on our
web site. Fortunately temperatures near or below freezing are in the
wee hours of the morning, usually the few hours just before sunrise.
You can protect your trees on cold nights when the temperature is
expected to be in the mid 30's or lower by using any number of items
found around the house. You can cover your trees with cardboard,
blankets, frost fabric or burlap, just remember to remove these in the
morning when it warms up as it can have an opposite effect. Plastic is
not a good insulator and can cause more harm than good. Lights also are
a great heat source and keeps the air moving and preventing it from
settling. Speaking of lights, the start of the coldest nights typically
coincide with the holidays, so if you are hanging Christmas lights
anyway, remember to decorate your tropical trees too. To provide
adequate heat you will need to use the old fashioned lights with the
regular bulbs, the cute tiny twinkling lights won't do. Remember when
you look up a plants hardiness it is referring to a mature healthy
tree, young trees and plants will need protection at higher cold
temperatures. The time to plan is before a frost, once a plant as been
exposed, the damage is usually done and it is too late. Also there are
many micro climates through out the valley and even in your own yard.
Try to know the perticulars of your garden as the frost warnings on the
news are usually for the airport or other reporting station and your
yard may very well be several degrees higher or lower than what is
predicted. Backyards with low spots or enclosed by block fences may
very well trap cold air. Know your yard and act accordingly.
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FERTILIZING
Don't ever use
chemical fertilizers on tropical and subtropical fruit trees the first
year, safer is to wait two years. I only use compost and can't say
enough good things about it. Compost is organic and as it breaks down
it provides a slow steady stream of nutrients. Compost also enriches
the soil, helps break down caliche, encourages benefical microbes,
maintains soil and is cheap and easy to use. Just pour a layer of 4
inches or more around the tree being careful to keep it about a foot
from the trunk. What can be easier, plus it is natural. Some additional
feeding is necessary for proper fruit production in some plants such a
bananas. Just remember if you use a chemical fertilizer less is more. I
suggest that you apply at a rate diluted to 50% what is called for on
the packaging. Or better yet get a copy of "Extreme
Gardeing", by The Garden Guy, Dave Owens or look up look up organic
recipes on the internet. Some plants attempt to feed themselves such as
avocados. The plant is evergreen but regularly drops leaves, instead of
raking up the fallen leaves bunch them up under the tree but not
against the trunk. This is what they do in the large avocado orchards
in Florida and California. If one was to walk amongst the trees you
would be ankle high in leaf litter. What ever you decide, remember to
fertilize at the drip line, there are no feeder roots at the trunk and
less is more with any commercial chemical fertilizer.
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SOIL
Our
desert soil is
actually fairly high in many nutrients and minerals. This is evident by
the water deposits found around your faucets and spigots. What our soil
is deficient in is organic matter and nitrogen, as well frequent
watering depletes and washes away many of these minerals over time.
Amend the soil with compost, it is cheap and goes along way in the
garden. There are also many organic solutions to these deficiencies,
and
a search on the internet will reveal many options, however if you want
to use store bought chemical fertilizers do so sparingly and not for at
least the first year.
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WINDS
High winds
whether
during the winter or monsoon are equally damaging, up rooting trees and destroying leaves. Wonder where the
name tropical storms come from, well from the tropics. Unlike our climate where cold is the main killer, in the tropics it is wind. Tropical storms
cause millions of dollars of damage to plantation crops as well as the native plants each year and
it can't be avoided. Have you ever seen pictures of tropical islands?
Well in nature tropical plants grow in dense proximity to each other.
The outer plants provide a wind barrier to the interior plants, yet
there can always be damage, it is less severe by this form of grouping.
Do what you can to protect your plants by either planting near your
home or fences. Plant near other mature trees or stake them during
stormy seasons, even plant wind breaks such as bamboo. You can't eliminate
the treat but it can be minimized. As your tress and plants mature they
will provide some protection for each other.
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SUN AND HEAT
Just
like
infants, children and the elderly are more suspectable to heat stroke
than healthy adults so are young or old fruit trees. A young tropical
fruit tree planted in mid summer should be given some protection from
the intensity of the summer sun. You can erect a temporary shade
structure out of landscape poles and shade cloth or just use a beach
umbrella, basically anything will do. Even a branch saved from pruning
yours or your neighbors Palo Verde or Mesquite tree placed on the west
side of your tropical fruit tree can block the intensity of the western
sun. Once established you should be able to remove the shade with very
little risk. With the many hours and days of sunshine in the Phoenix
area you can safely plant many tropical trees that call for full sun
under partial shade or filtered light and they will do fine. Bananas on
the other hand need full sun to successfully flower and fruit. The same
is not true for plants that call for shade for their entire lives as
they will surly die in our direct son. Some plants such as avocados
naturally grow in shade under the protection of the mother plant or
tropical canopy and require several years of shade, after which they
need full sun to flower and set fruit. See specific gardening advise
for these plants.
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IMPATIENT GARDNER
Everyone asks how soon they will be enjoying the
fruits of their labor and certainly understandable. It shows you have
interest in what you planted and are excited. Though most of the
grafted varieties have the potential to produce fruit the first season
after they are planted, some restraint should be exercised. Though
grafting produces fruit many years sooner than most seedling varieties,
the purpose of grafting a tree is so that it produces a specific fruit
equal in quality to the parent plant. The first year or even two you
should remove the buds (does not apply to bananas), so the plant puts
most of its energy into developing a good root system and grows faster
so that it can later support larger quantities of fruit. If you can
bring your self to wait and resist the temptation to taste your first
home grown exotic fruit you will be greatly rewarded later with a much
healthier tree and larger abundance of fruit.
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AWARENESS
The best guide to
how your plant is doing and best chance to intervene with a potential
problem is to get outside. Occasionally water with the hose. The time
it takes to fill the basin of each plant will give you the opportunity
to look the plant over. Your plant can tell you many things if you take
time to look. The color of the leaves can indicate certain nutrient
deviancies. Curling of the leaves depending on which direction can
reveal over or under watering. Damage to the leaves or trunk can reveal
pests or disease and all possibly give you enough time to seek
advise and react. If you use a watering system such as drip emitters be
advised they are not fool proof. Apart from the fact that the emitters
have to be changed and adjusted yearly to coincide with your maturing
tree they can also fail or become plugged, and a few days or weeks with
out water might have an irreversible affect.
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LEARN
The further
you take a
plant from its native environment the more you need to know and try to
mimic its ideal growing conditions and needs. These are not plant
and forget landscape trees and the only way you can hope to protect
your investment
is to learn as much as you can. Read books, browse the internet or join
a gardening club, anything you do can only pay off in the long run. If
you have success or failures don't be timid about sharing your
experience, there are any number of gardening clubs and online forums.
We can all benefit from the success and failures of others. I have
listed some sources of information below, and there are more on our web
site. Good luck and happy
gardening!
Sources: Arizona
Rare Fruit Growers, Membership is
highly encouraged.
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