What is the hard thing between growing tomato and eating a tomato? It’s growing a tomato. A tomato plant takes up to more than a month time to give well-ripened fruit tomato. And by the way, the tomato is not considered as a vegetable but as a fruit.
But as we tend to do not to care about what it is called, we use the delicious red fruit in cooking and eating it raw. Apart from the whole tomato craving, have you ever thought of growing a tomato plant in the state of Arizona? Indeed, growing tomatoes in Arizona is difficult as the temperature conditions are pretty high while considering the tomato plant.
A tomato plant usually thrives in a moist conditional environment to give well-ripened fruits and good taste. Arizona State is entirely different from the required environment for a tomato plant to grow fully. But nature gives a chance now and then provides the required temperature conditions for a tomato plant to grow in. And by the information you are going to read, you will get to know about how to grow tomatoes in Arizona.
As Arizona is located in the United States’ desert region, it’s pretty hard to find any natural humidity in the atmosphere. And by the hot temperatures in Arizona, it is only possible to plant the tomatoes only twice a year in the winter and monsoon seasons, leaving the summer season alone. Because adding up with the natural heat in Arizona, the summer season becomes hotter and dries up the atmosphere’s humidity.
This is how you can grow tomatoes in the state of Arizona like any other humid region in the world and get a useful batch of well-ripened fruit from the plant. You can follow the below-mentioned points carefully to achieve the ability to grow tomatoes in Arizona.
The first thing you have to keep in the notice is the change in the temperature cycles throughout the day and night in Arizona, and you have to understand the temperature changes in Arizona. The most suitable temperature for a tomato plant to grow will be 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night times and about 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the daytime. Anything above or below won’t allow the plant to give any fruits or even grow any leaves.
So to catch the suitable temperatures in the state of Arizona for growing tomatoes, you have to make sure that you are planting the tomato plants at the right time of the year, and it must not be in the summer season of the year. The most suitable times of the year will be from mid-February to April and mid-September to December.
The tomato plants can grow more effectively as the seasons are mostly winter and monsoon seasons at the time of that year. The temperatures tend to be low than the average overheating temperature during the summer season.
After you have decided the perfect time of the year to grow the tomatoes, you have to do for growing tomatoes in Arizona.
Sowing the Seeds Before the Destined Time of The Year
The tomato plant takes up to two weeks to sprout from the soil, and if you have seeded the seeds at the start of mid-February or in mid-September, the plant will enter the season where the temperatures are not favorable. So, if the plant experiences a slight increase in the surrounding temperature, the plant will not grow effectively, resulting in gradually decreasing the plant’s decimation.
Therefore, for the plant to grow naturally, you must seed the seeds in a container first and let the sprouts occur by taking necessary care of the plant by placing it indoors. The plant does not need any sunlight to grow roots under the soil. You can transplant the baby plant from the pot to the garden grounds or any other suitable place right after the temperature tends to be assisting the growth of the plant outdoors.
Maintaining the Perfect Soil Texture
As Arizona is a hot place, the soil also appears to be dried up and has an absence of natural moist conditions. For a tomato plant to grow in Arizona, you should have to provide moist soil to grow fully and give fruits.
You can take care of this problem by adding extra soil to the garden grounds, which is suitable for the plant’s better growth. The soil can be available in farm fields and in such nurseries, which goes by red soil.
The red soil is rich in the minerals like iron and other minerals which the tomato plant requires to grow in any habitat. The soil has to be scattered all around the place where you want to pant the tomato plant, and the soil needs to be in a depth of at least one to two feet. Doing so will allow the tomato plant to grow and spread the roots very quickly and absorb the moisture very effectively.
You also need to prepare the soil before planting tomatoes, and frozen soil is also not perfect for the growth of tomatoes on the surface. The soil needs to be free of any weeds and other invasive plants to increase and give a batch of fruits by the time summer enters.
Adopt the Usage of Sprinklers
Even if you have taken enough care to plant the tomato plant in a suitable environment, it is unsure how the temperature will be on any day. So, if the temperature rises more rapidly, you must be prepared for alternative methods to keep the temperature in the required range.
You may be thinking about watering the plants more rapidly, but the watering only makes the soil moist and only helps the roots underground. But the leaves and the tomatoes that are just growing will have some severe effects on the outcome.
To save the plant from overheats, you must install sprinklers to maintain the leaves and the fruits’ moist conditions. By spraying the water, the heat can behold for a specific time by allowing the fruit to continue. It is a normal and natural process in growth.
Never Let the Temperature Dropdown
As you take care of the temperature from not rising above the required range, you also must make sure that the temperature never drops down. In Arizona, it is famous for the dry days with hot temperatures, but the nights can sometimes get a bit cold by dropping the temperatures below 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
The required range of temperature is to be 55 degrees at nighttime. If you fail to deliver the right temperature window, you may certainly not able to taste a delicious fruit from your tomato plant.
There is artificial thermal equipment used to keep the temperatures in the destined range throughout all night. These devices use thermal heating coils powered by electrical energy and are very much handy to keep the plant warm and cozy at needed times. These devices are only to be used at night times as they can only keep the temperature from dropping down but can’t stop it from hiking. So this device is not suitable to use in the daytime.
Natural Fertilizers
There are so many fertilizers and chemical compounds used to increase tomatoes’ growth more rapidly and with an attractive red color. It is better not to use chemical fertilizers for growing tomatoes because they might not be suitable for everyone.
The tomato farmers must use these kinds of fertilizers to meet the supply-demand of the population. As you are growing the tomatoes, you do not need any growth agents for your tomato plant to give more fruits.
Instead of chemical fertilizers, you can use natural fertilizers for growing tomatoes. The natural fertilizer is compost of nitrogenous wastes from domestic cattle. They show excellent results in the harvest.
Look Out for The Pests
There is a big chance of pest infection on your tomato plants at any time. You have to take care to get rid of the infectious Insects which damage the plant. You can find these pests and Insects by having a regular observation over the leaves of the plant.
The larva of these Insects will feed upon by consuming the leaves. If there are any Insects present on the plant, then the leaves will appear with holes in them, resulting from the Insect larva consuming the leaves.
It would help if you got rid of such problems in the starting stages only to avoid further infection. You may also need to cut off certain parts of the plant if the infections seem to be more serious. Use pesticides to remove any possible infections on the plant.
Necessary Care
By providing suitable conditions are not enough for the perfect growth of the tomato plant. Some physical parameters affect the growth of the tomato plant. The tomato plants stems are the most delicate structure and tend to break off with slight pressure.
It would help if you ensured that no kids or any pets would damage the plant while playing. A fence or protective poles have to be arranged around the group of plants for protection. And the fence does not have to be a closed one, and you can use an iron net fence for the purpose.
The Color Does not Matter
As the usual tomatoes you see on supermarket shelves, your tomatoes might be different from them in color and size. Those tomatoes are grown to be attractive for the buyers and grown using chemical fertilizers.
And compared to them, your garden-grown tomatoes will be more delicious in the taste and are healthy with the natural fertilizers used. The tomato fruit color depends on the seeds that are extracted from. The Color sure will not matter in the taste.
Know When to Harvest
You must make sure that you harvest the fruits in time to avoid the tomatoes going full ripe. The tomato plant starts growing the fruits after a period of 4 weeks to 5 weeks. And after that period, the fruits take a week to 2 weeks to get well ripened. And also, if you make any delay in harvesting the fruits in time. The heat of the summer season will make the fruits go dry and make them unfit for consumption.
Do Not Remove the Plant After the Harvest
After a harvest, the farmers will remove the tomato plants and plant new seeds for a new batch of harvest again. They do that because plant losses are the ability to give more fruits after a harvest and only give a small harvest.
You do not need to take off the whole plant away. The plant can still give enough fruits for you in sufficient amounts. You can also take the seeds from the same plant’s fruit and sow those seeds for the same plant’s offspring to grow.
Conclusion
Tomatoes have been playing a massive role in everyone’s day-to-day life. They are used everywhere in kinds of ketchup, sandwiches, and several other delicious dishes.
The tomatoes are also perfect for health, and there are so many health benefits to drinking tomato juice every day.
If you are an Arizona State resident, you can grow tomatoes in Arizona with these above-mentioned simple tips.