Growing Tomatoes in Desert, Hot & Dry Desert Climate – 13 Proven Tips For You

Are you also living in a desert and hot area but love to eat homegrown tomatoes and are worried whether they can be grown in your local hot climate? Here I have discussed easy tips and tricks to grow delicious and healthy tomatoes in hot, dry, and desert climates.

So the main concern is whether tomatoes can be grown in desert areas or not.

The answer is yes; it can be grown if a few things are taken care of. Tomatoes can do quite well and produce high yields in deserts, also. The main advantages of growing tomatoes in such climates are tomatoes are very less prone to diseases and fungal infections, and chances of root rot are also very low due to dry weather.

But the challenges faced in desert climates are more. When the temperature drops, it reaches around freezing point. So temperature fluctuations are a major concern, and less availability of water, low humid weather, and high level of monsoon rain also make the situation difficult for growing tomato plants. 

So, how can tomatoes be grown with such obstacles? 

With a decade of experience growing vegetables and tomatoes in the scorching desert climate of Arizona for farmers markets, I’ve accumulated some invaluable tips to help you cultivate great-tasting tomatoes even under sweltering heat.

Here I have elaborated various tips and techniques to grow tomatoes with high yield outdoors and in containers in a hot desert climate. So let’s jump into it!

Choose The Right Variety Of Tomato Plant

To plant tomatoes in a hot climate, the 1st step is to choose the tomato variety that is resistant to hot and dry climatic conditions. You can plant most varieties in hot climates, but some do exceptionally well. 

For purchasing seeds or plants, go to a nursery that can provide you the varieties well suited for your local climates and area. Choose the “heat tolerant” types to grow the tomatoes in hot and dry conditions. 

Hybrid F1 plants are bred to produce the best varieties of tomatoes, which are resilient to various diseases and can be planted well in tough climates. But they are not genetically modified and are very expensive compared to open-pollinated seeds. 

And there is a big disadvantage: it won’t produce seeds when planted most of the time. So you won’t be able to preserve the seeds to grow new plants of such varieties next season. 

Open-pollinated and heirloom varieties are good to be planted to keep the seeds growing next season. Avoid planting dark-colored varieties; go for red, pink, yellow, or orange fruiting varieties. These varieties can bear hot conditions and are less prone to sunscald as compared to darker varieties. 

Small fruiting varieties like cherry tomatoes or saladettes can perform better than large ones like “big boy” in hot weather. Here’s a list of a few varieties that can be successfully grown in desert areas.

• Early girl tomatoes
• Roma
• Celebrity
• Sweet 100 tomatoes
• Summer girl
• Other cherry tomatoes

Consider Virus Resistant Varieties

Plants grown in desert areas, like beets, tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucurbits, are more susceptible to pathogens like “curly top viruses.”

Beet Leafhoppers are the main reason for the transmittal of curly top viruses in the plants, which can worsen the situation.

So if you want to grow tomatoes in desert areas, choose a variety resilient to “curly top virus.” Cherry tomatoes are less prone to CTV as compared to heirloom tomato varieties. 

The plants impacted by CTV look wilted and do not recover even after watering adequately. As a result, the plants fail to flourish, remain small in size, and twist, and the color turns yellow and brown at the end. The worst thing is it is not curable at all. You are not left with options other than discarding the impact plants as soon as possible.

So when you buy seeds for planting tomatoes in hot or desert areas, go to the nursery, choose the varieties listed as CTV resilient or Curly Top Virus resilient, and ask them if they have varieties that can resist the CTV. 

Know Your Last Frost Date

Who does not love the warm winters of desert areas? It’s really awesome. But winters in desert areas can simply trap the tomato gardeners. The desert winter night temperature can fall below freezing. 

Ensure the last frost date in the spring, and continuously pay attention to the night temperatures throughout the spring and early summer. 

Even if the temperature of your surrounding area is more than freezing, The temperature of your area, i.e., your micro-climate, may remain cooler.

If you have planted the tomatoes, use a row cover or shade cloth to keep your crop warm and protect it from frost. 

Observe Your Microclimate

For gardeners, microclimates can be advantageous in the colder months – like a southern-facing area that will warm up earlier during spring. In the summertime, trees that provide dappled shade also create favorable microclimates.

However, these same microclimates can annoy when a vegetable garden in low-lying areas remains frosted for weeks after other places have already thawed out.

When it comes to growing tomatoes, your selected area is paramount. It should be level terrain with optimal sun exposure—avoid choosing the lowest point of your property since colder air will always settle there and make frost more likely.

With careful thought about where tomato plants are planted, gardeners can maximize their harvest potential!

When early spring temperatures begin to dip, heat banks such as large rocks can help bring warmth. However, come summertime, these same warmers could become unbearably hot.

So, it’s always best to have access to gentle air circulation or a breeze to reduce potential illnesses and delay frost, depending on its type.

Plant Extra Tomato Plants

Your tomato plants are mostly at risk of damage due to over, or under-watering issues, pests, diseases, Curly Top Viruses, tomato hornworms attack, damage due to animals, and many other factors. 

Thus, planting some extra tomatoes every growing season would be a good idea. If you have grown excessive tomatoes, you can always opt for pruning them.

The plants love to be with their company, which helps them absorb and retain heat at night, creating a warm microclimate around the plants. 

Water Deeply When Soil is Dry

Deep watering is the key to enhancing plants’ growth and keeping them healthy. Tomato plants also love when watered deeply and correctly. It helps to develop a strong root system for plants.

Deep watering is better to practice than frequent watering as it can only promote lateral growth, i.e., side shoots which is a disadvantage for the fruiting ability of the tomato plants.

Never set a schedule to water your plant. Always check the mixture in the soil; if the soil is dry, you should water it.

To check the soil moisture, you can stick your finger in the garden soil, and if 1 inch of your finger comes out dry, it is the right point to water your plant. Do not let the soil be soggy. It can result in lesser soil oxygen and plant roots rotting too. 

Harvest Before Watering or Heavy Rain

If you find any tomatoes which are ripe more than ⅔, it is recommended to harvest them before watering your plant deeply. You would be amazed by the flavor of those tomatoes. The tomatoes are tastier at this stage.

Very ripe tomatoes are more at risk of getting cracked when watered. You won’t be able to store those tomatoes longer after their harvest.

Bigger-sized or thin-skinned tomatoes are at more risk of getting cracked. So wisely choose the variety of tomatoes while growing them. 

Add Compost That Can Increase Organic Matter

Every gardener prefers organic materials to grow their crops. While growing tomatoes in desert areas, the biggest challenge is the soil’s low content of organic matter.

Desert soil has shallow organic matter compared to darker soils. Desert soil makes gardening challenging and complex because of being sandy, clay, and rocky. 

But you can also enhance the quality of desert soil by adding some organic compost. You can slowly add organic matter and can be economical at the same time. 

Compost the top layer of the soil if it is sandy or dusty, or rock-hard. Improve the soil quality at the initial planting to get a better result. 

Mulch the Soil Around the Plant

Mulching Benefits the tomato plant in many ways. It can help to build organic matter in the soil, maintain the required amount of moisture in the soil and balance the temperature for the plants.

You can use grass cutting, straw of wheat, or oat to mulch the tomato plants. Alfa hay is also commonly used to mulch the soil and is a great option.

But the worst part is mulching can attract slugs as the soil remains wet for a long time. You need to keep a regular watch to track the slugs, if any, and take action accordingly.

Water the plant consciously when you have mulched the plant and maintain a proper balance. Don’t let the soil be soggy. 

Do not mulch with Bermuda grass hay, or else the risk of Bermuda grass infestation increases. 

Use Supports When Plants Are Small

Giving support to your plants play a vital role in their growing and fruiting journey. It protects your tomato plants from leaning and directly touching the ground.

If they are left unsupported, they can easily catch enough pathogens to destroy your plant by spreading diseases and infections and even rotting your fruits. Trellis and tomato cages are generally used to support the plants. 

You should take a step towards supporting the plant on the planting day itself. If, due to any reason, you have not placed stakes or tomato cage for trellising, you should anyhow support your plant when they are grown up to knee height. 

When your plant has already reached a long height, developed branches, and even started thriving, it becomes challenging to trellis them. It becomes very risky to trellis your plant when they have already started producing fruits, and even the green tomatoes on the plants can also drop off from the plant.

Keep an Eye on Tomato Hornworms

Tomato Hornworms are large caterpillars with horn-like tails and are a curse for tomato gardeners, even if it’s a desert area. 

They are hard to spot when small, but female hornworms can produce babies after chewing on tomato plants for 3-4 days. It feeds foliage and stems and sometimes makes holes in the fruit. They can even destroy the whole plant within a blink of an eye. 

You need to regularly and closely monitor your tomato plants to check the presence of dangerous hornworms.

Black droppings on the plants and large holes in the leaves are some of the signs of their presence. Usually, they come out in the evening, so take a UV flashlight to spot them on your plants. 

Hand-picking and throwing them is the best way to remove them without chemicals. 

Harvest or Prune in the Morning

It is always said never to prune, harvest or support your plants when their leaves are wet. It can attract many pests, diseases, and infections. You can do all these things when the leaves are dry. 

Harvesting or pruning your plant when the leaves are wet can attract many diseases, and you might be unable to work flawlessly. Avoid harvesting tomatoes when the plant is covered with dew, or you will get flavorless fruits.

Thus the best time to harvest your tomatoes is in the morning, just when the dew has vanished. But keep in mind that fruits should not start to absorb heat. One of the advantages of desert areas in such cases is that the dew gets dried up soon. 

Tomato is Not Setting Fruit

Are you expecting your tomato plant to produce fruit and keen to see those who love small green tomatoes? But even after waiting a little longer, your plant is not showing green tomatoes. Don’t panic; it’s normal in desert areas because of temperature fluctuations during the day and night. 

Tomatoes prefer to set fruits between the temperature range of 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature reaches around 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit and falls below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, it becomes impossible for the blossoms to set fruit.

And as I already mentioned, temperature fluctuations in desert areas are very common in both summers and winters. 

You don’t need to panic in such situations. New blossoms are always set on the plants, and you could get a high yield of tomatoes. You must wait for the temperature to reach a normal favorable range for your tomatoes. 

To combat such situations, you can make the microclimate favorable for your tomatoes and can make a perfect growing environment for your tomatoes.

Shade your tomatoes with clothes to reduce the temperature during day time but ensure good airflow between the plants.

Containerized plants should be brought indoors or in a shaded spot till the high temperature reduces to some extent. 

To protect your plants from nighttime temperatures (cold climates), cover the plants with an old bed sheet or with a row cover to provide warmth to your plants.

Do not forget to remove those covers in the morning. You must perform this thing for a few nights, specifically in the summer. 

The tomatoes mainly go through the low fruit set problem because of temperature fluctuations. But do not ignore the fact that tomatoes can produce less or no fruits due to over or under-watering issues or the use of more nitrogen-continent fertilizers.

So do not panic in such situations. The plant always puts its best effort into setting flavorful and tasty tomatoes, so have faith in the plants. 

Summary

Growing tomatoes in desert areas are really rewarding. Tomatoes grown in desert areas are most delicious and flavorful due to the dry climate. Tomatoes are heat-resilient plants and can be planted successfully in hot and dry conditions.

Follow the above-discussed tips, and you will definitely be rewarded with a large harvest and flavorful tomatoes.