Permaculture Nursery in a Hot Climate

Hello everyone.
I am looking for information about starting a small scale permaculture nursery in a hot arid climate. I am looking for a practical information, as I have found some books about the business side of starting a nursery. I am also looking for information ok starting from seed (not everything of course, but this my preferred choice for some of the fast growing trees and plants). I want to learn what time of the year to start seeds/propagate and graft cuttings, size of pots and flats/plugs, more about grafting etc. I am looking for information for both annual and perennials, though it’s the perennials that I have trouble finding info for. For example, I want to know how asparagus plants are started from seed, a-z info, because I don’t want to import it as it’s a lengthy and complicated procedure among other things. Everywhere I read the instructions are very vague, they tell you to sow seeds, then next year plant them out in their permanent location. The most important piece information of what to do with the seedlings between starting them in small pots and planting them out is missing.
So why do I want to start a nursery? Even if it’s not going to be a big project, I still want to start it. Most fruit trees (and not only) available locally are imported. Most of the time no one will even tell you the variety name, it’s good if they tell the country it came from. Of course we have a few bigger nurseries that sell all sorts of fruits trees (even apples, cherries, plums etc) with labeled varieties, but they’re sooooo expensive and the nursery just wants to sell, that’s it. Very often these saplings/young tees are sold with a rootball that has native soil attached to it (especially if it’s clay). These types of tress/plants have a really hard time adapting to our soils and climate, some just die with the onset of summer. I have spent thousands on plants, and lost a good majority of them. So I want to not only start a business, I want to experiment and grow locally adapted trees and plants.
So I am looking for any info that would be helpful: books, ebooks, other publications, videos, even courses.

Hello Yana,

Hot climate is rather broad.  Hot /dry/tropical/wet?  Annual Rainfall?   Coldest it gets?  Are you going to be utilizing greenhouses or will it be outdoors?  

Asparagus growing here https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/asparagus/planting-asparagus-seed.htm

There is a book list and review here https://permies.com/w/book-reviews.  Some of the gardening books should have info.  

David the Good writes for a hot wet climate https://www.amazon.com/s?k=david+the+good&ref=nb_sb_noss_2.

Good luck to you in your endeavors!

This is a topic I am passionate about but I will defer specific answers to another volunteer that is an expert on this in a dry climate.  Joseph-Lofthouse profile I suggest you follow him on Permies.  I hope he has good suggestions for getting asparagus roots [called crowns] to the point that they are hardy enough to become productive without a lot of attention.  Although I am in a wet climate my summers are dry.
Meanwhile It would help us answer your questions if you would click on your name in the upper right corner and edit profile then about you. When you fill in that information it will appear alongside your name so others can give answers appropriate to your climate without having to ask you for more information.

P S this topic may be for you. https://permies.com/t/171807/Landrace-Gardening-online-Joseph-Lofthouselink to post

I see now you said hot and arid.  My advice may not be helpful in that case, but I still wish you good luck!

I would try http://www.sonoranpermaculture.org and https://www.nativeseeds.org.  Native Seeds Search is a nonprofit and they may be able help in that direction.  https://www.beantreefarm.com is a remarkable site with many dryland plants and species.  They offer many classes throughout the year and I imagine that they would have ideas for plants, trees and shrubs that they would like to see available in a nursery.  Any visit to the above should be made in advance.  Good luck!

Blessings...Hugh

I too agree that your region would be helpful.

I could talk about a nursery in the Mediterranean though maybe you are on the other side of the world.

Here are some books that might be helpful:

https://permies.com/wiki/171545/Orchard-Book-Wade-Muggleton

https://permies.com/wiki/155809/Shrubs-Gardens-Agroforestry-Permaculture-Martin

https://permies.com/t/94568/Twisted-Tree-Nursery-book

I did mention that I am in a hot arid climate. More details: I’m in the Middle East, UAE specifically. We have very little rain that falls in winter, and very irregularly (just a few times per year). A coupe of years ago we had so much rain in one day that the streets and even some houses were flooded (got more than in a day than we get in the whole year). Rain in summer is pretty much non existent (in our area at least). I’m in the city of Dubai, and in our place it hasn’t rained for two years (just got some rain recently, but we had a drought for almost two years). Other towns in the country enjoy more rain and a little more regularly. Like it can rain some place that is only 20 minutes away from where we are and not a drop for us. Summers are brutal, we have temperatures that can reach 50c and stay there for days. Winters are cool, but recent years not much. Just a few years ago the temps would drop below 10c pretty often, this year I don’t think it even dropped below 19c. Even in Dubai we have microclimates. Coastal areas are very humid, especially in summer, but in the inland (closer to the desert, around 25 kms away from the coast) it rarely gets humid, usually in August and for a short period of time. I live in the suburbs closer to the desert, so we get to enjoy cooler temperatures in winter, yet we face hotter temperatures in summer.

With that information here is where to start.

The place I would start, is to pay close attention to what is already growing in your town. Focus your nursery on plants that thrive in that ecosystem. Cactus? Palms? Visit nurseries. Observe what they are selling -- ghaf, acacia, vitex, techoma, citrus? Which herbs do your neighbor's grow?

In my ecosystem, asparagus seeds fall on the ground in the fall, they germinate where they fell, and grow into new plants. A year or two later, they may be transplanted to permanent beds. Around here, they have gone feral, and are self-propagating. I think that asparagus would not thrive in UAE, because it wouldn't get enough cold weather.

Propagation is also a matter of observation. Watch what happens to a plant's seeds, then mimic that in your nursery. Do they fall on the ground in the spring or fall? When do they germinate? Mimic that. You might put netting or something over them to protect from seed predators. Does the plant touch the ground and sprout new roots where it touched? You might propagate by cloning.

If I were wanting to start a nursery business I would pick just a few plants or trees to get me started and to find out if I can get people to buy from me.

Since you mentioned asparagus, why not start with perennial vegetables?