Hilery Hixon, the author of Growing Under Glass: Your Guide to Greenhouse Gardening Success which is available on Amazon.com lives in the famous Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert is a very hot and dry environment that receives less than 10 inches (25cm) of rain per year, it has a climate that very few plants will survive in. Hilery uses her greenhouse to control the temperature and humidity in her plant growing environment which allows her to grow plants that would normally never thrive in the Mojave Desert climate.

BeingGreenOnline: I know from first hand experience that trying to grow anything in a desert or semi-arid climate is very difficult. What's the main reason that made you decide to challenge the odds and start growing plants that would never survive on their own in such an inhospitable climate?

Hilery Hixon: The idea of a greenhouse always intrigued me and the initial thought that made me want to start greenhouse gardening was tomatoes. Where I live there are a lot of desert cottontail and jackrabbits, so planting an outdoor vegetable garden would be an open invitation for a bunny buffet. Also, the extreme heat of the summer creates sort of a “winter”. Just like other climates experience in the winter time, July and August here in the desert is such an extreme heat that most varieties of vegetables have a very difficult time producing.

As the research project went on as to what it was going to take to keep a greenhouse going in the desert, more possibilities opened up to me including creating a personal plant nursery where I can start desert plants in a controlled environment and nurture them until they are large enough to handle life outside.

Then after the greenhouse went up and I began growing plants inside, it turned out to be an excellent environment for all kinds of plants, including tropical plants. In fact, nearly every plant I tried in the greenhouse grew like crazy!

BGO: We all hate to admit our failures but learning from other people is an important thing we can all do to help ourselves. Could you share the biggest failure you had in your desert greenhouse with us?

HH: I agree, it is through our mistakes that we have our greatest advances. There are actually two failures that I would rather someone learn from instead of growing through them themselves.

My greenhouse is exclusively container gardening. When I first started out, I did not have much experience with container gardening and I broke the cardinal rule: drainage. I could not figure out why my tomato plants stopped growing and producing until I lifted one out of the pot and the most horrible smell filled the greenhouse! The drainage holes in the pot were not large enough and clogged, so the soil and roots began to rot and become rancid. Lesson learned, and now as part of my regular routine I periodically check to make sure the pots are draining correctly.

The second failure was of a catastrophic nature. I am actually on my second greenhouse because six days after the first one was built, a windstorm sheared the roof right off and the structure collapsed. Now I recommend to everyone considering purchasing a kit greenhouse to check the wind rating. If the documentation does not show a wind rating, call the manufacturer. If the manufacturer cannot tell you, then you might want to consider a different greenhouse.

BGO: In your desert greenhouse, was there ever any one project that even yourself thought would be practically impossible but its success surprised you?

HH: The greenhouse itself was a surprise as to how successful it became. Out of all the greenhouse projects, the one that surprised me the most was starting the mesquite trees from seed. I had picked up pods in a parking lot and thought I would try to grow them. Come to find out, starting seeds of summer germinating desert plants is not as easy as I thought it would be. It took a bit of experimenting, but ended up with a winning formula of a boiling water treatment, two day soak and planting in extremely damp soil. This resulted in an extremely high rate of germination and then after transplanting into a light weight potting mix, the growth took off. The trees grew so fast that I could look at the plants in the morning and then return that afternoon to find that a tremendous amount of growth occurred in such a short time.

BGO: On your web site DesertGreenhouseGuide.com it's hard to tell what types of plants you're most fond of. I seen that you grow a lot of herbs, but outside of herbs, are you more particular to food producing plants or ornamentals?

HH: The reason for so many articles on herbs is that they grow so quickly, that it is easy to try out the plants for myself before writing articles on them. To say that I have a favorite plant is like asking a parent to name their favorite child. I love all kinds of plants and have many types growing in my greenhouse including vegetables, fruits, flowering bulbs, trees and drought-tolerant landscape plants. So far my favorite gardening project was starting a pineapple plant from a pineapple top. It is currently about a foot tall and is growing happily in its new home.

BGO: Gardeners are inherently more green than a lot of people. I think it just goes with the territory as they're more conscious of the things that effect plant life. Other than gardening, do you consciously do other things that you consider as being more green than the norm?

HH: I agree, nearly all the gardeners I met are very conscientious about chemicals and recycling. Around our home, we are avid recyclers however we also look at the packaging of products we purchase. If there are two similar products, but one uses less packaging, we go with that one. We also constantly look for ways to conserve energy and there is not a single incandescent light bulb in our home. All of our kitchen scraps go into the compost bin as well as our yard waste. We buy locally grown food when possible. We replace things only when necessary and donate old items instead of throwing them away. My husband also runs a website called Nevada Solar Living NevadaSolarLiving.com to help people learn about energy conservation and renewable energy.

Living in the desert, you become invested in water conservation since water sources are scarce. We use drip irrigation for less water evaporation and do not have a lawn. I garden organically, do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers and I hand water my greenhouse plants so they only get water when they need it. One of the biggest problems with lawns is all the chemical fertilizers running into the waterways via storm water runoff causing algae blooms and all kinds of serious imbalances in the ecosystems.

BGO: You have some pictures of Mesquite saplings on your web site and they look like they're doing great. Have you heard of Mesquite Flour which is made from the mesquite seed pods as a food or what are your plans for these saplings?

HH: Yes, I read about making flour with mesquite seeds but have not tried it. I do not know that I have the patience to try it because mesquite seeds are quite difficult to get out of their pods. Most seed pods crack open with little effort, however the mesquite pods are extremely tough. When I harvested the seeds for my trees, it took two pair of pliers and a lot of elbow grease to crack them open, but it did not stop there. Underneath the outer layer of the pod is an inner layer that is very leathery and does not tear open, so I had to use a pair of sharp scissors to cut out each seed. It took a couple hours of work just to get the seeds I used to start the trees!

BGO: Last but not least. A lot of published authors dedicate their books to other people. Who is yours dedicated to and why?

HH: A quote from the book:

To Adem, my dear husband who believed in me.
To my husband’s parents who supported me throughout the process of writing this book.
And to my mother and father for giving me the corner in the yard to grow my heart’s desire that started it all.

Thanks a lot Hilery! I wish you continued success and look forward to watching the progress in your greenhouse. I hope to one day advance my desert projects more and be as successful as you at it.

Shopping Result: 

Growing Under Glass: Your Guide to Greenhouse Gardening Success

Author: Hilery Hixon

Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (2009)

Binding: Paperback, 104 pages