Watering Fruit Trees in the Desert

[@bigdogdazza]

Thank you! We are just about to buy a 30acre property in Queensland Australia. It’s hot 🥵 low rainfall 400mm per year and the ground is hard/rocky/clay. We wish to grow as much as we can to be as self sufficient as possible. You’ve given us hope that it can be done here!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

It sounds very similar to what we experience here. Our normal rainfall in any given year is actually less than 400mm, so very similar indeed. We have a lot of viewers in Australia, so I imagine there are a few areas that are similar to what we face here.

[@loriwoo8408]

Thanks as I am planning an irrigation system for just a few trees in LV....very dry too!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Lori! You'll be facing the same challenges we do here, but the advantage is all that amazing sunshine. The trees really thrive with plenty of sunlight!

[@r4ng3rownz8]

You mentioned having a well, where can I learn more about building a well in Phoenix?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a good question and I don't have a specific resource. We did a short series on putting our well in here that may help give you an idea of what it entails. I'll link the first in that series for you here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3O7onuQadZrg7M

[@r4ng3rownz8]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for your reply!!

[@rejahmuhyi5791]

I have two questions for you: 1. How do you fertilize your trees? 2. When you plant your trees in the dessert, do you mix some manure with the sand before you plant your fruit tree?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Rejah! We have a few videos where we show how we fertilize our trees and I'll link that for you here; kzbin.info/aero/PLnT_wyDSIC9hhrpT7rbj1xbxAw7Ex7LpK We don't amend our soil at all when we plant potted trees. For bare root trees we mix native soil with about 30% compost.

[@timmytrimble4069]

Exactly. I planted 100 mix of fruit trees in desert conditions, put exactly the same amount of water. Put mulch, Put the trees in holes 70cm by 70cm by 70cm with good earth. They are no where near as big as these after 4 years.

[@justinhart8652]

Can you please do a very simple video about how to terraform a large area cost effectively.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Justin. I'm not sure I'm qualified in that regard. We have done some small earthworks here, but not on a large scale. Were you thinking dozens of acres with swales, berms, etc?

[@swalker6399]

Thanks Dwayne! I appreciate the answers and effort you guys are putting into your videos. It helps us out a lot. I was thinking of using flat tape drip line in the shape of hula hoops around my trees. What do you think? Just an idea... Take care. 😊

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey S Walker. Yeah, I think that would work out good. We considered using a soaker "ring" as well, but I wanted to know exactly how much water I was using on each tree and be able to adjust easily. How many trees do you have?

[@lobzangchoida6904]

Hello, I am lobzang from Bhutan, a small nation sandwiched in between India and China. I have a 2acres 16 decimal of kiwi and pear orchard each consisting of 115 nos. of kiwi and 160 nos. Of pear. It's been 2yrs since then I have been in this fruit farming. Its amazing that I came across your video on how to use drip irrigation effectively. Thanks alot. And also I ll be glad if you can roughly tell me the cost of setting up drip irrigation in my farm I have mentioned. Catch you again..good day

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hello Lobzang, it's great to hear from you in Bhutan! Congratulations on your kiwi and pear orchard as it sounds quite amazing. As for drip irrigation cost, that's hard to say for sure as I don't know the price of supplies for you there. However, we just ran irrigation on our new farm to just over 100 trees and the cost for everything including labor was $12,000 USD. I would say approximately $2000 - $3000 of that was labor, so if you do this all yourself if would be a bit less.

[@lobzangchoida6904]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you

[@pubdefendr]

I have city water. Any recommendations for a filter?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

There are a few options out there, but I'll link to our favorite for you here; amzn.to/3zQQxWG

[@michaelagibbs9695]

Hi thanks for the information, when do you change how many days per week you water? Do you go by the temperature or a set date and schedule for winter,spring summer and fall.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Michaela. We usually go by the time of year and temperature. Summer and above 100 we stick with the watering schedule we cover here. Once we get below 100 degrees we back down to either fewer days per week or less time each day. Once it's below 90 we cut back to 1 day a week. Right now we don't need to water at all, but we have the schedule set for 1 day a week for 1 hour to ensure we have water in and around the woodchips if it doesn't rain. We'll ramp back up the same way once it's regularly in the 80's each day and so on until we hit summer again.

[@Bhogs619]

I am in hemet california zone 9b. and my soil is hard clay. so for my fruit trees, I dug down 2 feet deep and 3 feet wide square hole. and back filled that with 80% compost 20% native clay soil. then top dress it with more compost. my question is, will my soil loosen up before the roots hit the native soil? is that how your soil work that's why you have success?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Oscar. If you check out some of our planting videos from this past year you'll see how we plant all of our trees. We have near identical soil and we don't amend the soil for fruit trees. The key is moisture in the soil surrounding the plant, so be sure to water heavy, but infrequent and mulch heavy. I'll link our fruit tree playlist where you can find some of our recent tree planting videos from this past winter, so you can see exactly how we plant our trees; kzbin.info/aero/PLnT_wyDSIC9iSsCp34Athj2aGsUQ7vEkF

[@Bhogs619]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you I will do that.

[@fattirefables9500]

Hi, I am in Phoenix, I have heard that for our area, watering for a tree should be mostly on the root ball, close to the trunk. Also heard to water the dripline. Which one is right? Thanks!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there! We always have questions on irrigation and there is a lot of mis-information out there, especially when it comes to fruit trees. However, we do know that fruit tree root systems are horizontal as opposed to vertical (I.E no tap root). Because of this, it's critical that you water away from the trunk of the tree out near the drip line. This is where the feeder roots are located. We just planted our first 55 fruit trees on the new property and when we went back to fertilize them we found that within a few weeks the roots had already grown at least 8-10 inches AWAY from the root ball! This is what you want to ensure the tree will develop strong root systems that will be able to support a healthy tree and eventually a strong harvest. Hope this helps settle the question for you!

[@fattirefables9500]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you, that helps a lot! I will set up my irrigation on my new fruit trees just like this. Does this also apply to non-fruit bearing trees such as pistachio, Ficus, Jacaranda, etc?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@fattirefables9500 the pistachio and ficus (same as figs) yes. I'm not confident on the Jacaranda.

[@fattirefables9500]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Awesome, thank you for the great info!

[@AM2PMReviews]

I am in Phoenix too and I don’t know what to do with my drip system

[@neilprusinski9666]

Hey there love the channel and watch it all the time. Need some help if you have a minute would greatly appreciate it. I have less than a year old semi- dwarf citrus trees here in vegas in the ground. I have been watering them 15 min 3 times a day with two 2gph drip emitters 7 days a week in summertime. After watching, should I just keep the emitters 2gph and run them say for an hour or two every 3 days? Right now my soil stays mostly on the wet side when checking with a moisture meter and rarely gets to the moist part and never ever to dry. Some tree leaves show deformed crinkled leaves but I thought I was overwatering cause there not dropping down. I guess I’m scared of overwatering. I have clay and caliche here to as well. Any info would be appreciated, thank you and look forward to more videos, keep up the good work!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Neil. Watering fruit trees is by far the most asked question we get and it's complicated, but simple at the same time. Generally speaking, fruit trees need deep, infrequent watering (think 1-2 times per week at the peak of summer and much longer timeframes (multiple hours with 2gph emitters)). Citrus trees in particular respond best to this method and while you don't want the soil to dry completely it does need to dry up a bit between watering days. Watering daily for in ground trees is not good for them long term as they need to be encouraged to put roots down deep and wide. You'll see we always surround the trees with heavy wood chip mulch. This helps cool the soil, retain moisture and keep things consistent. It's a great way to buffer either too much or not enough water. Keep water at or just beyond the drip line (where your branch tips end). With this you'll need to extend the watering out and away from the tree as it grows. Dwarf trees grow more slowly, but we've had dwarf lime trees get 12-15 feet tall over a few years. So while you may not need to water them quite as much as you'll see us watering full size trees they will still need a good amount of water in the hot, dry summer months. If you follow these steps you'll find it's very hard to overwater a fruit tree in the desert. In fact, we've never lost a tree to overwatering, but the opposite has been true on more than one occasion! Hopefully this helps.

[@neilprusinski9666]

Thank you, I’m new to citrus trees and this is very helpful. I will start with deep infrequent watering. I will have to take some soil out from around the tree so that I can mound and build outside of the drip line for watering since the way my gardener planted the trees is slightly low. Love the channel, looks amazing 👍🏼

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@neilprusinski9666 sure thing and it's pretty common to have trees planted a bit too deep. You can get away with it when you're planting desert adapted trees and shrubs, but it just adds too much stress on fruit trees that tend to get stressed with our conditions.

[@jeffkammerzell1264]

Enjoyed the video. Looking for a little help.... Planted a Dave Wilson Nursery's multi-graft plueot last spring according to recommendations. Tree is in grass getting 6 gph 3x's per week in the Phoenix area during heat of summer. Pulled back the spiral guard & found these two nodules on the trunk. What are they & should I be concerned?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Jeff. It's hard to say for sure what you're seeing based on the description. It might be easier if you send us a pic of the tree, the surrounding area and the area of concern. Generally speaking, it's tough on trees to be planted in and immediately around grass as they are competing for water and nutrition. Fruit trees in the middle of summer in Arizona need a LOT of water, especially as they grow larger.

[@jeffkammerzell1264]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks... Have tried posting a pic to this format. You Tube isn't allowing it in the reply field. Is there another path?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@jeffkammerzell1264 send them over to our farm email account. You can find our contact email on the about tab here on YT.

[@AM2PMReviews]

I am in Phoenix and I have a drip system in my front yard and back yard. How do I know what zones are setup to the palms vs bushes vs cactus? I wish I knew how much water they all need.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Oh ok, saw your other comment first, so just regard the reply. The only way I know to test this would be to run each zone separately and see what is getting watered each time. As for the watering needs of your trees, bushes, etc that will really vary based on several things. We're very familiar with fruit trees which is what we specialize in, so I wouldn't feel qualified answering the question on your other plants. I do know that most cactus should not be on a drip system as they will do fine with very little water in our desert environment. Especially once they are established (at least a year or so old). Couldn't say for sure on the palms and bushes.

[@thedolfinishangri-la2181]

Great video, did you say that you were watering 26 trees on one zone? If so, is that why it takes three hours? I would have to imagine that the water pressure is pretty low with that many trees being watered at once. The reason I ask is because I have 13 bubblers and 10 drip lines on one zone and I was going to dig a new trench and add a zone, but maybe I don't need to? Just water for along time? What do you think?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

These are great questions and it really depends. On this property we were on a shared well, so we had to be careful with how much water we were pulling at once to ensure we didn't empty the tank. So we had all of these trees on drip irrigation to ensure we didn't pull more per minute than the well pump would generate (I believe it was 12 gpm). There are a lot of variables if you're going over long distances, but 3/4" PVC over short distances can flow over 30 gpm. If we were on city water with higher flow we could water more trees at the same rate or we could water less trees, but at a higher flow rate. On our new property we own the well, but still have a flow rate of about 13gpm from the pressure pumps, so we use 1/2gpm (24 trees max/12gpm) or 1gpm (12 trees max/12gpm) bubblers on the majority of our trees to ensure we have full flow to each tree. We do this because flood type irrigation is superior to drip for most fruit trees. If you're able to separate your fruit trees onto their own zone it would be ideal and then you can decide from there how you want to water them. If you decide to just add to the line you'll need to figure out your water flow from the source and total the amount of output through the irrigation. Save yourself at least 1 gpm to ensure you can evenly water the trees. This is a bit complicated, but hopefully this helps.

[@thedolfinishangri-la2181]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thankyou I appreciate it. Very helpful.

[@shanismith8339]

Thank you 😊

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Shani, you're very welcome...and yes, this was for you.

[@shanismith8339]

Edge of Nowhere Farm Awee 💕! I will probably watch this another 8-10 times! Addicted to your channel! You guys make this look easy 💚 Thx for all of the awesome info and laughs!

[@franswa7251]

Hi Duane, were you watering your established citrus trees on a different schedule on your old farm, like once a week to make sure the soil would dry? Thanks in advance!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Franswa, great question. We keep all of our fruit trees on the same basic schedule. Vines and bushes don't get the same amount, but the full size fruit trees all do. There are times when we'll add additional water as needed, but that's pretty rare.

[@franswa7251]

Thank you Duane, I was asking that because I hear a lot of people saying citrus trees need at least a week between waterings, and my citrus trees are on the same zone with my stone fruit trees. Thank you for all your videos and your help, God bless!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@franswa7251 I think a lot of the advice for watering, especially citrus, stems from the only system folks had to do so back in the day here in AZ. When you have flood irrigation you only water as often as you flood and many times that is every other week or so. Citrus is very resilient once it's established and we do plan on eventually being able to cut back on irrigation once the orchard is mature. I suppose we'll see how that pans out!

[@stp7629]

Thank you for the well detailed informative video! I would love to put a chlorine filter and pressure regulator setup like you mention in the video. Where can I purchase these items for 3/4 inch pvc water lines for city water? Could you provide amazon or Home Depot links? Thank you.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey S TP. The pressure regulator is pretty straight forward, here's one on Amazon that can be used with threaded PVC fittings or with a hose; amzn.to/2EPe6Qc The filter is tough to recommend as I have very limited experience with them, but I've heard good things about this one and the reviews look good; amzn.to/2MDbzyy This one is quite a bit more expensive, but it's the one I would probably go with if we were not on well water. Highly recommended online and from top notch organic gardeners like John Kohler; amzn.to/2XsghAj Hope this helps!

[@f.larson6989]

Hey Duane, how wide and deep do you make the hole to plant fruit tree? I have caliche and hard pan at around 7 inches down. Thank you.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a great question. If the tree is bare root I make the whole just wide enough to fit the roots comfortably in the hole. For potted trees it's a few inches in diameter larger than the root ball. As for depth, I concern myself more about the depth of the root flare and trying to ensure you can still see the root flare above the soil line. Keep in mind the area around the tree where the roots are growing into is really where you want to focus your attention. Fruit trees generally have roots that grow outward as opposed to say a mesquite tree with a large taproot. We have caliche as well at varying depths, so we focus on heavy wood chip mulch to build soil that the tree roots are growing into as they move outward. Also, if you can't dig down far enough you can also build the soil up to plant the tree. Just realize you'll need to watch how often you water to ensure the roots are not either sitting in water or drying out, because our dry air will dry that dirt pile out pretty quickly. Hope this helps!

[@f.larson6989]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thnks for the reply. It rained mighty hard the past two days and the soil is soaked so that will make the digging a little easier.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@f.larson6989 You got it and yes, now is pretty much the perfect time to put a shovel in the ground. Happy planting!!

[@ceciliaalejandrariva]

What filter are you using at the beginning of the line?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question Cecilia. If we were on city water we would definitely be using one to filter out chlorine and other contaminants. However, we are on well water out here in Wittmann, so no filter is necessary. If you're on city water we have a great option in our Amazon Affiliate shop that I'll link for you here that would work great to help with this; amzn.to/2Pjqlwu

[@davidbauman7234]

woohoo I am half tempted to call my wife and tell her to subscribe to your channel so she can be your 1000th. congrats

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey David. Thanks for always being so encouraging to us and yeah, it was a little humbling to see that many people interested in what we're doing.

[@lokanoda]

It doesn't seem you're using 100 gals per week. You mentioned: 4 gals /hr * 3 hrs * 3 times/week = that's 36 gals/week Am I missing something?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Ah, yes. With these old videos we were using qty 3, 4gph drip emitters on each tree that ran for 3 hours 3x/week. So technically it was just over 100 gallons per week. In these older videos the nerves were getting the better part of me, so I talk way too fast!

[@lokanoda]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Ah now it makes sense. No worries. Appreciate all the videos. I'm abusing them at the moment. I hope you don't mind :) Best of luck to you.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@lokanoda no worries, any other questions, please shoot them over!

[@shamanking5195]

you created a micro-climate perfect for unwanted critters to move in ;; have had any problems with snakes or any other after adding wood chips ???

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Shaman. The only thing we see consistently are frogs/toads believe it or not. We also see road runners regularly that are digging for critters. We do also see grubs, but haven't had issues with them killing trees. Ants are harder to see also. Not really any additional snakes, although they are very common out here. Biggest change is earthworms. They are everywhere and were nowhere to be found before the mulch.

[@ghoomophirowithfamily3152]

Stay connected from Pakistan

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hello in Pakistan! Agreed, we need to all stay connected in this crazy world we're living in. Way too many folks are completely disconnected in more ways than one!

[@ghoomophirowithfamily3152]

U belongs from

[@OustBearings]

Where is your property aT sTATE AND TOWN?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there! We're in Wittmann, Arizona which is about 30 miles NW of downtown Phoenix.

[@OustBearings]

What zone is that because I have a very large property in Antelope Valley, CA. and I'm in zone 9B and I was just wondering what zone was that AZ property in?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@OustBearings Oh, gotcha. We're in 9b also, but our high temps are very high (125+ some summers) and we are extremely dry (single digit humidity right now and most of the year), so it's a bit unique.

[@wildcat4478]

11:40 farmers in Israel use this technique

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

They have it perfected and we're thankful for that!

[@motafarraghe]

So you are saying 4 gallons of water per hour for 3 hour for 3 days a week become 36 gallons not 100. and you use well water so wasting underground waters. I assume you got a permission for this well?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yes, our well, pump, tank, etc are all registered. You can't install a well in AZ without a permit that designates this. What's amazing is we use less water than most of our neighbors who have pools.

[@jamesjessen6253]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I am surrounded by pools as well, but its the city.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@jamesjessen6253 so now imagine all of that water was being placed back into the ground to produce trees that help regulate and retain the moisture when it does rain. What a different world we would live in.