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Back in August, I wrote about what I was planting for my Arizona fall garden.
I had plans.
I had vegetables.
I had optimism.
And now, a little over a month later, I have a poblano plant that apparently wants to take over the entire raised garden bed, a cucumber that was doing fantastic until it basically broke itself in half, blooming jalapeños, one dead bell pepper, and no tomatoes.
Welcome back to beginner gardening in Arizona. 😂
And you know what?
I’m actually calling this progress.
Because I’m starting to understand that gardening isn’t just about what you plant. It’s about watching what happens afterward, figuring out why something worked—or didn’t—and trying something different the next time.
So here’s what has actually happened in my little Arizona garden since that August planting update.
The Cucumber Was Doing Great… Until It Wasn’t
Let’s start with my cucumber because this one hurts a little.
It was doing really well.
Like really well.
It kept growing and getting bigger, and I was pretty damn pleased with myself.
There was just one problem.
I didn’t give it a proper trellis.
As it got bigger and heavier, the plant didn’t have enough support. Eventually, it broke in half.
Well, crap.
That’s one of those gardening lessons you don’t necessarily understand until you watch it happen right in front of you.
The cucumber didn’t fail because it wouldn’t grow in my garden.
Actually, it was almost the opposite.
It grew so well that I wasn’t prepared for it.
Next time, that cucumber is getting support from the beginning. I’m not waiting until it’s huge and trying to figure it out afterward.
What I’d do differently: Get the trellis in place when I plant the cucumber—not after it starts taking over.
And yes, I now understand why gardeners keep talking about trellises.
Then there’s the poblano—or ancho chili, depending on what stage we’re talking about This plant apparently LOVES its life.
It has become this giant freaking bush in the raised garden bed.
Of everything I’ve planted, this has probably been one of the biggest surprises because it didn’t just survive our Arizona summer.
It took off.
📸 GIGI’S GARDEN PHOTO
This is the poblano that apparently decided the entire raised garden bed belongs to it.
Now I have the opposite problem.
I think I’m going to have to transplant it because it’s getting so large.
But I’m not doing that yet.
We’re still averaging temperatures around 100 to 103 degrees, and while that feels cooler after the summer we’ve had in Arizona, it’s still freaking hot.
I don’t want to stress a plant that’s currently thriving just because I’m impatient.
So for now, I’m watching it, letting it do its thing, and waiting for the temperatures to drop a little more before I decide where its new home is going to be.
That’s another thing gardening is teaching me:
Sometimes the best thing you can do is leave the damn plant alone.
The Jalapeños Are Finally Blooming
My jalapeño plants are blooming now!
This is one of those little gardening moments that probably doesn’t sound exciting unless you’ve been staring at the same plant every morning wondering:
Are you going to DO something?
Apparently, yes.
They’re blooming.
📸 GIGI’S GARDEN PHOTO
Finally! Jalapeño blooms after making it through the Arizona summer heat.
After dealing with the Arizona heat all summer, seeing those flowers feels like a little victory.
I’m not counting jalapeños before they happen, but I’m encouraged.
And that’s enough for now.
And Then There’s the Bell Pepper…
Dead.
That’s pretty much the update.
What makes this one frustrating is that the bell pepper was doing well.
And then it wasn’t.
It didn’t slowly struggle for months.
It just died.
I don’t have some brilliant gardening explanation for you because, remember, I’m learning this as I go.
Sometimes I know exactly what I did wrong.
Other times I walk outside and think:
What the hell happened to you?
The bell pepper falls into category number two.
For now, I’m chalking it up as part of the experiment.
I’ll try peppers again, but I’m paying closer attention next time to the heat, watering, drainage, and exactly where I have them positioned.
The Tomatoes Are Gone Too
My tomatoes didn’t make it either.
And honestly, I’m not terribly surprised.
Tomatoes and an Arizona summer apparently decided they didn’t want to participate in my little gardening experiment.
Fair enough.
I tried.
They’re gone.
And I’m not immediately rushing out to replace them just because I have an empty spot.
That’s something else that’s changing about how I’m approaching this garden.
When I first started, I wanted to fill everything.
Now I’m learning to slow down.
See what works.
Watch the weather.
And then decide what makes sense to plant next.
The Biggest Surprise? Rainwater
Here’s something I’ve noticed during monsoon season.
My plants LOVE rainwater.
I mean, you can almost see the difference.
We’ve had more rain than usual, and whenever we get a good monsoon rain, I swear the garden looks happier afterward.
Everything seems to perk up.
Now, I’m not going to pretend I’ve suddenly become a scientist and can explain every reason why.
I’m just telling you what I’m seeing in my garden.
When Mother Nature waters these plants, they seem to respond differently than when I’m standing out there with the hose.
And considering we’re gardening in Arizona, I’ll happily take every free drink of water the sky wants to give us.
One Little Tool I Keep Reaching For
One thing Arizona gardening keeps teaching me is that looking at the top of the soil doesn’t necessarily tell me what’s happening underneath.
That’s why my moisture meter has become one of those simple things I keep around.
Especially when we’re bouncing between triple-digit temperatures and monsoon rain, I’d rather check than automatically assume a plant needs more water.
Gigi note: Arizona weather can go from blazing hot to monsoon rain pretty quickly. I use a moisture meter because I’d rather check the soil than guess.
What This Beginner Gardener Has Learned So Far
When I started this little garden, I wasn’t trying to become an expert.
I wanted to see if I could grow some food on my Arizona patio and in my raised bed.
That’s still the goal.
But I’m realizing the fun part isn’t just harvesting something.
It’s learning what my particular space can handle.
So far I’ve learned:
Cucumbers need support before you think they need support.
Some peppers apparently love my garden while others just up and die.
Plants will surprise you.
Arizona heat changes everything.
Rainwater seems to make my garden ridiculously happy.
And sometimes doing nothing for a minute is smarter than immediately trying to fix something.
Most importantly, I’ve learned that a dead plant doesn’t mean the whole garden failed.
That’s a big one for me.
The tomatoes are gone.
The bell pepper died.
The cucumber broke.
But the poblano is turning into a bush and the jalapeños are blooming.
That’s gardening.
Actually, that’s probably life too.
Some things take off.
Some things don’t.
Some things need more support than you realized.
And sometimes you just have to wait for the temperature to come down before you make your next move.
Well, damn.
Apparently my garden has become a Reinvention blog too.
What’s Next in My Arizona Garden
The next big decision will probably be what to do with that monster poblano.
Once our temperatures finally start coming down, I’ll look at transplanting it and making some room in the raised bed.
I also want to decide what deserves another try as we move deeper into fall—and what I’m perfectly happy saying, Nope, not doing that again right now.
Because that’s where I am with gardening.
I’m experimenting.
I’m learning.
I’m killing a few things.
I’m accidentally growing a few things really well.
And every morning I still walk outside to see what changed.
For a beginner gardener, I think that’s pretty damn good.
Next garden update: we’ll see whether I successfully move that poblano—or whether the poblano officially takes ownership of the raised bed.
