I suggest checking out Native Seeds/SEARCH. They have a catalog of heirloom vegetables that were grown by the native peoples of the Sonoran desert. They also have info on their site about techniques for desert cultivation. (I'm interested in heirloom veggies, so it's nice to know of a source of ones adapted to hot/dry climates and not New England or something.) I live in central Texas, so it's dry, but not desert dry, but I still find tips on arid climate gardening useful. (Especially since we're in year 3 of drought, so maybe before long I WILL be living in a desert!) Another useful forum here on GardenWeb would be the Drought forum for tips on water conservation. Besides choosing varieties that are adapted to a similar climate, I second the soaker hoses and mulch. I also plant in more of a square-foot configuration rather than in rows, so the plants can shade each other a bit. It's a good idea to invest in some rain barrels. That way when it DOES rain, you can catch some of the extra that otherwise would just wash away, and that can stretch your water a bit. Some of my neighbors even have great big tanks to catch rainwater. If you want to get really fancy, you can also rig up some kind of greywater system to reuse water from things like the washing machine, shower, and dishwasher in the garden. Since plants don't need their water to be as clean as ours, it's a shame to let that water go down the drain, and then use more fresh clean water to water plants. Here is a link that might be useful: Native Seeds/SEARCH

I am in the middle piedmont of SC so probably similar growing conditions as you. 4th of July weekend is when I usually start fall cole plants, collards, cabbage, brocoli, brussel sprouts they can be direct seeded in the ground evenly scatter the seed in a straight line and lightly cover with 1/4in of soil keep watered and soil moist when the plants are about 4weeks old soak ground good then pull out or dig them up shake off loose dirt them replant spacing 18-24inches apart in prepared beds.Cole crops like lots of nitrogen so this is a crop that will benifit from adding manure to the soil and heavy straw or hay mulch to conserve moisture and keep down weeds.They will be ready for harvest after the first frost in Oct and will stay until hard freezes in Jan. The fall frost sweeten the greens and are of better quality than spring planted cole crops in the south. Major pest problems in fall are flea beetles on turnip and mustard greens which are planted in late Aug and cabbage worms, leaf hoppers on cole crops but using row covers will eliminate any pest problems then remove covers after first frostwhich will kill any pest. I grow transplants commercially and start all my fall plants first to middle of July to have ready for retail in late Aug early sept. I sure wish we would get some good consistant rainfall here in Little Mountain SC, I am struggling to keep things watered and water is a key to succesfull cole crops they do not like to dry out if kept moist will produce large healthy plants with good flavor if they become dry it stunts the plants and will cause a strong bitter flavor and they are also more susceptable to pest when stressed by drought so keep them well mulched and watered. Rodger

Vegas proper is pretty brutal. Get up in the hills though and you start seeing natural vegetation. I was thrilled with the time I spent hiking at Red Rock and Mt Charleston. A good break from the heat of summer. faeriegarden, if you are ever in Phoenix, lord forbid in summer - even worse heat than Vegas, but if you are ever there they have one heck of a botanical garden. Made me respect arid landscape plants more. Of course the place is so hot the employees drive around on golf carts handing out water so you don't drop dead on their trails. But still I am happy I went and perhaps I just don't tolerate temps above 110 as well as the next guy.

The dowel or other object has to go up through the BOTTOM of the pot into the perched water there - a dowel in the top of the pot won't affect drainage, even if it's stuck way down into the soil. Think of it as making a bridge for the water at the bottom of the pot to cross. We're talking about drawing the water DOWN and out, from the bottom. Here is a picture of someone who was using yarn to wick perched water out of her pots: I looked and looked for a picture of someone using the stick-through-a-drainhole-to-drain-more-water-out trick, but couldn't find one. I'll try to stage one in the next week. It's amazing when you're not expecting it, LOL! Cotton is a good wicking material, the problem with it is that it will rot pretty quickly. As long as you don't mind replacing those wicks regularly, it will work. I would replace a cotton wick every year, because though you MIGHT get 2 years out of it before it starts to rot, you also might not, and end up with nonfunctional wicks halfway through the 2nd year. However, you might be able to get cotton t-shirts for free or cheap from local thrift stores - they often toss damaged or stained items, or sometimes even stuff they just get too much of. T-shirts these days are usually a 50/50 cotton-poly blend - so wicks made from this will probably be a little bit longer lasting than 100% cotton. I'd still replace them every spring, especially if you're getting them free or for super cheap. Just be sure you don't end up with t-shirts somebody was working on their car in, soaking up oil with, or using while painting and/or cleaning their paintbrushes! Some people use strands from Rayon mop heads. These also tend to break down (they're made from wood fibers, cellulose) but they are cheap and effective. Al, of Al's gritty mix fame, uses them. Go to the following post and search on "Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 13:24" to go down to the post where he talks about wicking to remove perched water. Container Soils - Water Movement and Retention XVI Here is a picture showing the kind of wicking you need to do to drain off that perched water, from the thread above: Now, if we're talking about drawing water UP from the bottom (wicking UP rather than down and out) here are some pictures illustrating that. You can use almost anything that will absorb water for the wicking - I bet even cut up strips of "super towel" might work, though I don't know how long they might last. But nylon clothesline is a good choice that is cheap and easy to find. You could also buy capillary matting (which comes by the yard in widths up to 72") and cut that into strips. I think that is mostly polyester felt (THICK polyester felt, you won't find it at JoAnn's). Anyway here are some pictures: Here's one who used cut up capillary mat: Here are her directions for how she made her pots: DIY self watering pots A lot of folks swear by using soil wicking systems. There is a reservoir (or several sometimes in commercially built self watering containers that use this) into which you firmly tamp soil, which will be partly below the water line of the water reservoir in the bottom of the container. Here is a picture showing the system: The air space between the water reservoir and the soil is important to this design, and its what makes it different from sitting your pot in water and doing what we think of as conventional "bottom watering". As for the video links you posted - there are problems with that guy's system. First is the soil medium. Straight MG garden soil is a TERRIBLE medium for a container. That needs to be mixed 1:1 with peat, or even 1:2. Even so, in our conditions here that isn't an ideal potting medium by a long shot. I've used it for years and so far I am getting away with it here- but I'm not sure I would be getting away with it in a tall container like that, wicking or no wicking. Second is the way he planted that tomato. Firstly, a 5 gallon bucket is really too small for most tomato plants. Still you can manage with that more or less, if you take a little extra care. When I plant tomatoes in the ground (or in a raised bed), I snip off all but the top two or three leaves/stems and plant it in a trench with the root ball at least 8" to 10" deep, angled up from there so the top two leaves come out just an inch or two above the soil. I also plant in water catchments (a depression so water is guided to the plant. Because a tomato will root all the way along the stem, and this is one of the best ways to drought-proof your tomato plants. When planting in a container, I do something similar - I will snip off all but the top 2 or 3 leaves/stems and plant it with just a couple of inches of soil below the root ball, then fill just to where those top few stems are poking up. This will likely be way below the level of the top of the container. Then as the plant grows, I remove lower stems and add planting medium. This way the tomato roots all the way along that stem and you aren't waiting for the roots to grow down into the bottom of the container - they are already there, and strong and healthy to boot! when I get to within about 3" of the top of the container, I mulch (about 2" of bark). Then there is your selection of plants. For a 5 gallon bucket, a determinate variety is a must. Also, look for varieties specifically bred as "patio tomatoes" or for containers, such as Celebrity, Bush Champion, Bushsteak, Bush Early Girl, etc. Burpee's has a bunch of varieties specifically for container growth - probably other seed sellers do as well. I grow determinate paste varieties in small spaces in raised beds when possible, though this year I ended up with Early Girl because that was all that was left by that time (mid-July, we moved at the end of June so my garden went in VERY late). When I was growing tomatoes in containers, I grew them in cut-off garbage cans instead of the 5 gallon buckets. I just don't feel those are really big enough for tomatoes. Garbage cans were a lot cheaper back then ... but if they go on sale, you might grab some for your tomatoes next year. I use the garbage cans because they are UV stabilized, intended for outdoor use. Other plastic containers usually break down pretty quickly in the sun. I HAVE grown them in 5 gallon buckets but they were hard to stake, hard to keep from falling over in a wind, and didn't yield as well as when they're in larger containers. I put the garbage cans up on spaced pavers or concrete brick to improve drainage - but that might not be as much of an issue in LV, with the right potting medium. Just make sure the drainage holes are good sized - like 1/4". Cover with soil fabric or coffee filters to keep the soil from washing out. You can also build mini-raised beds out of concrete blocks - a raised bed doesn't HAVE to be 4' wide and 10' long. Bonus - for me anyway - is having that thicker edge to sit on when I get tired, LOL! A concrete block "container" 24" square (internally) would need 2 courses (16 total) of standard 8x8x16" concrete blocks, and you'd then have a 16" tall raised bed to work with which will NEVER wear out (well not in OUR lifetimes). The soil dynamics in a raised bed are MUCH more forgiving than in container growing. The bricks run about $1.50 here when they're not on sale - if you keep your eyes peeled, watch craigslist and your local freelist, etc, you might catch them for less. A concrete block raised bed takes no real skill to build - just lay them out so the corners alternate. With no frost heave you'll be good to go to just lay them out on a level piece of ground. Hope there are some ideas that might be of use to you.