Desert Permaculture .....

Hello.

My name is Yusuf. I live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (capital). Recently started my rooftop garden, applying Permaculture principles (I am a student at Regenerative Leadership Institute). While we are at the onset of summer, the peak temp is reaching low 40's at noon. Currently I have the following plants on my garden:

Zuchini, cucumber, bitter melon, okra, kangkong, sweet potatoes, roma and cherry tomatoes, zinnia, job's tears, napier grass, guava, mullberry, lemon, fig, hibiscus, cilantro, sweet and purple basil, talinum, rosemary, roses, amaranth, cucumber, watermelon, some annuals.

For my plants in pot, I practice sub-irrigation where almost all my pots does not have direct drain hole at the bottom, instead, the drain holes are around a couple of inches from the bottom of the pot. I put perlite as subtrate in the water reservoire. This helps me water only ever other day during these hot summer days , or after several days during winter.

Soon, I will be starting my Aquaponics system.

Thank you for sharing the sub-irrigation. i do not do much gardening in pots and had not heard of it - it would work well where I am as well. We get low 40's temps, too, right now.

Out of curiosity, are you able to keep your cilantro from bolting in the current heat? And if so, was it a particular variety, or are you doing something else to keep it from bolting?

Nice work, that's impressive! Do you have issues with wind and sand that affect your garden or is the area your pots are protected from most of that?