As long as I stay on top of the watering, they do pretty well--but by being stingy & careless with the irrigation I nearly killed my biggest one last year, and when I went out this morning to take photos I saw that another one has dried out and is really suffering. So, due to my own neglect, I've only got two decent ones left. This one is now my best hope. It's 6 feet high and even made a few flowers this year. This had been the biggest until last summer when the main trunk died due to water stress. At first I thought the missing leaves were due to leafcutter ant, but no such luck. It's now trying to come back from the base, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will succeed as a multi-trunked tree (which would make a good base for grafting on a few named varieties). This one has been slow but is hanging in there; it put out a few flowers this year as well. Your request for photos may have saved this one--time will tell. I went out to take pictures and saw it was on its last legs, so I gave it a soak. Hopefully it's not too late. This 10" runt came from the same batch of seeds as the others, and was planted at the same time. Aside from being tiny, it seems healthy enough, so I just leave it alone to do its thing under a white sapote. I include it with the other shots just to make the point that, if you're starting them from seeds (and you have enough to waste some), you might as well plant several in each location and then cull the least vigorous. I kind of got sidetracked by avocados last year, and haven't been paying enough attention to the pawpaws. In Arizona they clearly need frequent, deep irrigation, and one hot day with a water deficit is enough undo several years of progress. They also need deep mulch, which I also haven't gotten around to adding yet. I'll try to do a better job of taking care of them this summer, in hopes of being able to give a better report next year. In the meantime, if you haven't already done so, you might want to join the Pawpaw Fanatics Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/927257504078942/

I've found that Aquaponics seems to extend the growing season for tomatoes a bit as does adding some shade for the hottest part of the day during the hottest part of the season. Even so, when the night time temps don't get cool enough, the plants probably won't set fruit but if they are indeterminate, they can just keep growing until the nights cool off and allow them to start setting fruit again. Be prepared for monster plants though and don't be scared to prune hard though that might make for some not so attractive plants. If you want to know about good summer crops for around here, sweet potatoes are good so log as you can provide enough water to them (leaves and vine tips are a handy edible summer green too.) Okra does well in the high heat as do many southerns peas and beans, yardlong beans seem to like the heat (peas and beans can also improve the soil by fixing nitrogen.) I'm trying out Strawberry spinach this summer as well as New Zeland Spinach since I don't like the taste of Malabar spinach though it is an attractive plant. Basil can grow on through the summer if you keep cutting it. Some melons can also do well in the extreme heat at least for a while though when the rains come you might need to watch for splitting. for some light shade mixed through the garden it might be worth planting some moringa or papaya among the garden space though these plants can be killed back to the ground by frost so might not be as useful long term in zone 9 and cooler. Mixing stuff like corn, sunflowers, and other tall stuff into the garden among everything else can help provide some shade and make a small garden more productive than if you simply planted just one type of plant. Mix things up with low growing plants to help cover the ground and keep it cool and moist then some middle level plants and then some tall plants all jumbled together and add some flowers and herbs into the mix and the pests get more confused and the beneficial bugs are attracted and the garden is more productive. Heck, I've still got lettuce surviving in my herb garden and it's been over 93 F here every day for a week!

um, I talked to my dad yesterday, who is 5 hours north of me, in zone 5. (they keep saying I'm zone 6 but I don't believe it). He said it snowed yesterday. What are you going to do if it snows? What's your planting day, like Memorial Day? If you've got a bunch of plants to throw away, you might try putting one in a milk jug IN WARM DIRT with good vents in the sunshine (I think this won't work either)--but I think that not only is the air too cold but the dirt is too cold. I wouldn't be surprised if in zone 4 you still have near-frozen dirt several inches down. I just took my plants out yesterday--here is my 10 day forecast, and my "safe plant out date" is mother's day (2 weeks, 2 days from now) 59/58 (severe storm warning with possible hail) 70/54 65/57 75/62 71/57 66/45 (I usually cover/bring in if under 50) 65/48 (I usually cover/bring in if under 50) 63/51 62/48 (I usually cover/bring in if under 50) When people plant out early, they always warm the soil first--they put out a hoop house with nothing in it, a wall-of-water with nothing in it, or something like that. You COULD put a seedling in a pot (and pot up as needed) and carry it out every day that it is warm and letting it sit in a window when it's below 55. It's almost time! Hang in there!

Hi lazy, I had luck with C, so I'll answer that one and defer to the more experienced on the other two. I have been compiling a list of determinates for your A request. I'm probably going to experiment in a plot that fits 40 plants. Narrowing types to 20 (2 of each) gives me a headache. We share the same mindset on the concentrated early set though. I'd like to clear out that garden by the 4th of July next year. I had good results with cherries. Sungold and Super Sweet 100s as usual suspects. Both have a reputation for cracking. I saw little, maybe 1 in 50? I may pick earlier than most. Azruss in Tucson had good results with Gardener's Delight and I'll put in one or two of those next year. Juliet gets good reviews for our conditions. Mine was a weak plant from the start and the fruit is plain in comparison. I keep going back to this, but Porter's Dark Red Cherry Hybrid is healthy and still setting fruit. The flavor suffers a little in high heat, but it's still good. Like some other crops, pick it early in the morning before the heat messes with it. Rather than being a sweet sugary marble like the others it has a nice bigger tomato taste. It is a bit larger too. 4 Husky Red Cherries acted like determinates, which is okay for us. They're small plants, 3 feet high, very compact and stout, and they covered with dozens of nice size delicious cherries that some (mom and sis) felt were the best I grew. They stood up to the sun, delivered heavily for a month+ and perished. I could have cared for them better. It came the closest to ripening clusters evenly per your request. Starting as early as you said, these could be staggered every two weeks for about six weeks into mid march and give you a strong steady supply through mid July, I think. I'm also thinking they have what it takes for a fall crop. The type I am trying currently is not up to this heat, but that husky bull of a cherry plant may do much better. It was my earliest cherry. Another project for next year. As the cherries go, I feel emboldened to try just about anything. I have seed for all above but the Husky and Sungold plus Black Cherry, Chocolate Cherry, Large Red Cherry, Orange Cherry, Green Grape, Red Grape, and Black Plum. I'm looking for more varieties and want great big plants. I'm happy to send you a few seeds if any interest you. I'd like to spread them around hard core desert conditions like ours and see other results.