14 Best Vegetables to Grow in Arizona (With Pictures)

The lovely climate numerous get pleasure from in sunny Arizona is fascinating for many reasons, but retaining a vegetable backyard can be a distinctive problem. Few greens are hardy enough to prosper, or even survive, in the very hot local weather, specially in lower desert regions in which temperatures often exceed 100°F.

It could seem like a lost trigger, but you can nonetheless give your green thumb a work out in the Arizona warmth. Get your natural garden started with this list of the fourteen best veggies to increase in the Grand Canyon Condition.

The 14 Best Vegetables to Grow in Arizona

1. Okra

Okra vegetation had been built to tolerate Arizona climate. They enjoy full sun, and even even though you require to drinking water them each and every couple of times, they can deal with time in dry soil. Start off planting in March, and you can appreciate these delightful and nutrient-wealthy snacks all through the summer season.

2. Asparagus Beans

Asparagus beans are an additional flowering vegetable that do nicely in Arizona growing situations. They expand very best on a trellis in entire/partial sunshine and dry, sandy soil, so keeping them healthier isn’t a tall activity for any person. You can plant beans in March and begin harvesting when they get to eighteen inches in size.

3. Snap Peas

A delightfully crunchy snack, snap peas make a great amazing-temperature addition to the lineup for the year-round gardener. Whilst they prefer full sunshine in cool areas, they need shifting shade in warm Arizona locations throughout the afternoon. Plant them in November, and you can start incorporating them to salads and stir fry by February.

4.  Peppers

From bell peppers to jalapenos and habaneros, you can create a dazzling spectrum of colours with all of the diverse pepper types that prosper in Arizona. Most peppers increase very best in the awesome time, with early December generating an ideal time to plant. It will be lots heat to satisfy them, and you won’t have to fret about scorching them if they are still left out in the sunlight all day.

5. Armenian Cucumbers

Armenian cucumbers are a flexible foods, generating a hearty snack, healthy shake, or tasty addition to cooked dishes. Even though technically not a cucumber, you’d in no way know it by the seem and flavor of these very hot-weather conditions vine vegetation. You should plant outside seeds commencing in November and provide lots of water. In about ten weeks, you’ll have foot-lengthy greens completely ready for all sorts of foods.

6. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a popular fruit in sunny areas across the world. They might need to have some shade go over when they commence bearing fruit, but you can come to feel great leaving them in the sunshine by means of most of the day. Just make confident to give them plenty of drinking water and well-fertilized soil to hold them developing.

Transplants give you the most easy routine maintenance, but tomatoes will increase rapidly from seed as nicely. If you plant them outdoor in mid-late February, defending them from the occasional frost, you are going to start seeing fruit all set to harvest in only 7–10 months.

7. Green Beans

A single of the advantages of Arizona is the late developing time, and you are going to recognize that to the fullest when you see how extended green beans can prosper. Give them a reliable trellis assist to increase in the sunlight, and you can make them a yr-round backyard attribute.

Environmentally friendly beans do not do effectively with chilly temperature, even though, requiring a include for occasional chills. But if you plant them in November, they need to be all set before the first January frost. For spring planting, start them just after the last frost, which is generally close to early March.

8. Eggplant

Delightful, robust, and colorful, eggplant is a vivid addition to the garden and an antioxidant-wealthy centerpiece to a lot of vegetarian dishes. Although it is a heat-year vegetable, you are going to have the best good results with eggplant by planting it indoors as early as December and transplanting it in March. You can also harvest later in the time by transplanting in late July to have experienced veggies prepared by November.

9. Pumpkin

Pumpkins are greedy veggies, but the good news is, they crave the daylight that Arizona is much more than happy to provide. You will nonetheless require to do your component to accommodate them, supplying good room so they can sprawl out and compost-wealthy soil to encourage growth. And whilst they are hungry for fertile ground and plenty of daylight, they’re just as thirsty, demanding generous amounts of h2o to stop wilting and get the premier specimens.

Pumpkins really do not get to the cold nicely, so program your outside planting a even though after the final frost. In Arizona, you must begin your seeds indoors in February or outside in March, offering them about 3–4 months to mature.

10. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a hardy vegetable when given moist, nutrient-prosperous soil. Although cool climate kinds exist, this crop primarily prefers hotter temperature, and it can endure the occasional heatwave or drought. Pests and disease seldom trigger an situation possibly, so there’s tiny possibility for your crop to fail if you start off it at the correct time.

Once the ground stays regularly previously mentioned 65°F, you can plant sweet potato slips outdoors. These are sprouted shoots pulled from the roots. For the best final results, nurture slips in jars of h2o so they can grow roots even though the temperature is cold. Soon after the ultimate frost, you can plant the prepped stem in your backyard.

11. Malabar Spinach

Malabar spinach is a tropical crop, but it calls for constant moisture to endure the warmth-drenched Arizona landscape. Luckily, it won’t wilt like spinach in higher temperatures, supplying you a continual crop through the summer time months.

Grow Malabar spinach either from seed or transplant it in March-April, supporting it by way of a trellis for the best results. Soon after your original planting, you can take pleasure in this leafy eco-friendly year right after yr, as it tends to reseed each season.

12. Corn

Corn is a staple at the evening meal table and simple to grow in Arizona, so it’s well worth it to give it a row in your yard this 12 months. Whilst it does not desire a ton of h2o, corn wants fertile, nitrogen-prosperous soil and total solar to increase to its complete prospective.

The soil demands to get earlier mentioned 60°F ahead of it can take corn seeds, so you are going to generally require to wait around till around mid-February or early March to start planting. You can commence seeds indoors, but it is typically ideal to wait to sow them immediately into your backyard. Reseeding each two months can give you a continual crop all summer season.

13. Onions

One particular of the most functional greens about, most dishes wouldn’t be the exact same with no the flavorful zip of onions. Make natural onions element of your late-year yard blend, planting them in September or Oct as seeds or starter plants in November.

Select a limited-day onion range to align with the Arizona increasing year circumstances. No issue what sort of onion you plant, make confident you maintain them effectively-watered, halting ahead of you harvest to allow the earth dry out.

14. Carrots

Couple of snacks are far more fulfilling than a crisp, refreshing carrot, and they get even far more gratifying when you develop your own. Plant carrots right from seed in awesome seasons from August to March, thinly sowing them for good-sized crops. Use clean manure in properly-draining soil while creating positive to preserve the carrots moist at all instances. You might want to cover them on sizzling times to retain dampness in the floor.

Final Thoughts

Gardening in Arizona is a problem, but that can make it all the far more satisfying when you pull off a flourishing garden entire of your favored greens. Despite the fact that most plants have a hard time placing up with the nagging heat, these fourteen vegetables make it effortless to get outstanding yields even with the problems. Regardless of whether you are a rookie or a seasoned professional, as lengthy as you are an Arizona resident, you are going to have a fantastic knowledge crafting a garden you can appreciate all yr.

Showcased Impression Credit: elouis73, Pixabay