I know it's not much help to new gardeners to be told this but you do develop an ability to know how your plants are feeling after a few years. Something about the way they hold themselves and the surface appearance of the leaves tells you they are thirsty long before they wilt. And I don't personally think it's that bad if they do wilt sometimes. They can get over reliant on being babied and stop bothering to root deeply and go looking for water. Also some plants will droop naturally during the heat of the day (even over here!) and perk up at night. It's their natural behaviour and doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them. If you are short of water give it to your vegetables and let the ornamentals tough it out for a bit.

I am going to throw out a passle of names gathered from leafing through Howard Scott Gentry's "Agaves of Continental North America". And I have listed some species that are more humid tropical loving than I can grow here in Texas. I might be wrong on some of these, since I am only regurgitating a quick perusal of written material. I have looked for ones listed in Southern wet areas of Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala. There are some semi arid areas in San salvador and these countries harbor swift changes of micro zones, so further study is warranted. That said, I really do not know how these will behave where you live, but if you are interested in experimenting or running down odd seeds, fun could be had. Most of these areas has summer water and a winter dry season, but maybe these plants are adjustable since you really do not have to worry about cold and wet. How far up the volcano are you?? I would still creat mounds or fast draining walls for your agave with your rainfall. The lave should wick the moisture away fairly quickly. I also looked through the description on Rare Palms Seed Sight that has good descriptions. But this will give you some variation and a lot of choices but I think seed is the only way that you will find most of these suggestions. Agave Angustiarum (cliff agave) A angustifolia (66" of summertime rain)***** Agave horrida (40") Agave seemanniana **** Agave samiana var salmiana agave tenuifolia Agave pedunculifera (wet cliff dweller) Agave atrovirens ***** Agave parvidentada Agave obscura Agave potatprum Agave nussaviorum agave nayaritensis Agave mitis var mitis also known as A. celsii Agave desmetiana ***** (62") Agave neglecta Agave wrecklei (Costa Rica)***** Agave tecta (huge!)**** Agave pygmae (quatamala) Agave congesta Agave rhodacantha I have grown Agave attenuata on the windward side of Oahu where rain is gentle but almost every day for short periods but nowhere near as wet as where you are. Agave proto America is a hummid tolerant agave in Texas. So is Agave lophantha, Agave ovatafolia, Agave potrerana (seen growing in Florida) Agave seeds are listed near the bottom of the rare seed site. Mesa Gardens is also a good place to get agave seeds. Here is a link that might be useful: Rare palm seed site

A lot of places are wet some times of the year and dry others, so plants have evolved that are adapted to those patterns. You need to find the ones that suit your conditions. I can't tell you what they are, as my own climate and conditions are different from yours, but they're out there. Take note that a lot of spring-blooming plants that grow winter and spring, can handle a lot of dry summer weather. Daffodils and tulips, peonies and lilacs follow this pattern. A lot of the tougher roses--I like antiques--can handle both wet and dry periods as long as they don't sit for months with their roots in the water. I grow all these plants through mostly wet falls and springs and invariably dry summers, and they do fine. But I must add that they're all in ground that drains, as all our land slopes. Melissa

you have to understand, tomato cages are not used where i live (croatia), you can't buy them, and making them would cost loads. and honestly, i don't see the point, except for tomatoes grown in containers (which is very very rare here). there are a myriad of simpler solutions, people here sometimes emulate the greenhouse system of tying, by putting in the ground two concrete poles on the opposite sides of the tomato row (we use them in vineyards to attach wire too) and string the wire between them at about 2 m high. then attach a single lead for each plant to that wire and the ground beside the plant. then as the tomato grows just wrap it around the lead, it ends up supporting itself no matter how big or heavy it gets. the thing is, i plant more of them so if a couple die, or get diseased i just don't care. also, i plant a lot of varieties and am not OCD about taking care of them. as i said, some just sprawl around, and i'm happy even if i pick a bit less fruit from them than if i was fussing over every detail and stressing out ( i have chillies for that lol ). i was just explaining this to my mother the other day, she was freaked out by some of the sprawling ones touching the ground : "oooomg why are they down there, you know they'll get diseased! and you didn't prune them, birds will fall from the sky when they fly over your tomatoes! no they won't, over the years i've realized tomatoes are much stronger than we give them credit for, leaving them the hell alone to do their thing is the best fertilizer in the world (as a member on another pepper forum said when i posted the above chilli pictures haha). to get back to tying them up, there is also this tunnel system used here occasionally, which may or may not have netting put over the top of that center line, again relatively simple and effective. about selling produce, i don't sell, would you believe? i cook a LOT of paste and sauces, and interestingly how ever much i make i always run out before the next season's harvest. relatives and friends have gotten used to the "tasty paste" and snag it all away haha. the thing is, here most people are still growing oxhearts (if they are growing anything at all, the "grow your own food" movement hasn't really caught on yet, especially among my generation - under 30), and simple red cherries were considered exotic not that long ago. so when i cook or give away a rainbow of colors from my 30ish varieties it makes quite a bang. about space, i have what would translate to 3.7 acres of land around my house, most of it just empty with some fruit trees and stuff. but planting all that in tomatoes would be insane of course, so i think of it as unlimited space but limited gardener time and energy :D anyhow, to sum this way longer than needed post up, i think one has to decide where their priorities are, and cross reference that with available nerve and happiness amounts. in the middle is what you do to your plants :)