Topic: An Allotment in the Desert

[Stork]

Hi everyone,

A month ago I moved to Qatar in the Middle East. The soil here ain't what you would call fertile and it only rains on seven days a year. So I thought my growing days were over for a few years.

But they sell veggie seeds at the supermarket. There are tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and a few other things to boot. So I'm going to give them a shot and see what happens. Winter is on its way and the temperatures will soon dip below 35 and then down to about 28 by December. Not a bad winter really!

The other good news is that there is plenty of water here in the desert and no hosepipe ban. They desalinate seawater to keep the supply flowing and to keep the fine city of Doha looking nice and green.

So, wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.

Stork

[Admin aka Dan]

Blimey, bit different to North Wales!

Don't forget to post some pics.

Dan

[katynewbie]

 :o :o :o

Wow! That's what I call extreme gardening! The very best of luck!

As Dan says, pics soon please!

 ;)

[Robert_Brenchley]

It would be interesting to hear what the local gardens are like. In Mali, they use small sunken beds which retain moisture out of the wind. I wonder whether something similar would work there.

[wahaj]

Yea...good luck! sounds very interesting!

I'm assuming it's easy to get hold of manure there aswell? I'd probably dig in as much as you can as the soil's bound to be very loose. Something to hold the soil together a bit so that nutriets and water doesn't get washed away so easily. and then the sunken beds as rob suggested. And I bet it'd also be good for you to build very shallow trenches between all the beds as a cannal/irrigation system. They used to have them in paskistan. so that you allow water in one end and it washes into all the sunken treches and then straight to the roots of the soil.

oh and then mulching would obviously help retain the moisture and help the soil structure aswell :)

again! good luck!

[Barnowl]

I saw a sunken spiral garden (chelsea on the TV?) which was designed so that the water made its way down / drained round / down the spiral into the middle. Can't remember if the plants that needed the most watre were at the top or down in the middle - I guess the latter

[artichoke]

My sister tried to grow veg in Oman, but her only success was okra...

[Robert_Brenchley]

More tropical-type veg like okra, aubergines and peppers should be fine if they have water. Toms switch off in very hot weather, but they might be OK in winter. Cold-climate stuff probably wouldn't do well. See what the locals grow and do likewise.

[artichoke]

I was invited to Qatar a few years ago to illustrate their desert plants. The time allowed was 2 years. I consulted Kew colleagues and learnt that it is perfectly possible for no rain to fall for 5 years. So I could have hung about all that time and been able to do nothing at all.

They asked me because I had already done desert illustrations for Oman (and Saudi Arabia), in a southern area that has a slight monsoon every "autumn".  I cravenly decided not to do it. I do hope you have better luck with rain.

[Stork]

Many thanks to all of your for thoughts and ideas. There is a thriving horticultural society here so I will pick their brains.

There are quite a few very nice gardens and some lovely parks that have been built in the last few years. Irrigation pipes running across the soil seem to be the preferred way of watering. There must be thousands of miles of the stuff along the verges in the middle of the dual carriageways (almost every riad here). They have just planted what look very much like petunias in the verge outside the hotel I'm holed up in. Perhaps they do ok in the winter.

More to follow as things grow and wilt.

Stork.