It's hot and your plants look awful! Extreme heat can mean extreme responses from our gardens. Let's spend a few minutes talking about what's normal, what we should and shouldn't be doing, and how we can help when needed to help the summer garden get through a heat wave.
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Welcome back my gardening friends to another focal point
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Friday episode. Let's spend just a few minutes
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together, reviewing a snippet of information, from a previous
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episode, highlighting a new topic or quickly focusing on a
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current event in the food and agriculture world.
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Let's get down and dirty. So we hit 102 °F here today,
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with a heat index of 109 and yes, it was absolutely.
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As bad as it sounds, I took a walk in that heat down to our
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front field and I saw a exactly what I expected to see the
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plants were all curling, their leaves to protect themselves
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from transpiring. Any moisture whatsoever.
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Now, the problem here is that, that field is already bone dry,
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due to the lack of rain, and the tomatoes and the peppers are
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absolutely suffering for it, and there's a lot of stunts.
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Growth on some of the other plants.
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So I am right now waiting for the sun to start setting while I
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record this. So I can go back down there and
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use our water wagon to try to get some moisture into those
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plants. And I know a lot of you are in a
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real Heat Wave right now and it's making the gardens really
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suffer. If you see your plants
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completely wilting during the day in the heat right now,
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especially those plants that have larger leaves like the
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squash and the Cucumbers don't rush to water them.
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Before checking the soil moisture and don't do it in the
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heat of the day. So if you check the soil and
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it's still damp, a few inches down your good, those plants are
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just protecting themselves from the heat, they're doing their
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job. Now if you go back later in the
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evening, they should have bounced back after the sun goes
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down and certainly by the next morning they should have parked
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back up. Now if your soil moisture is
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low, the morning would be the perfect time to give them a good
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soak. Remember we want to be watering
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at About the six inch depth when possible though.
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So, if the only time that you have to do that is in the
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evening. That's fine too.
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Just be sure you're doing it at the soil level.
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Now, with this type of extreme heat, you may also be
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experiencing Blossom. Drop.
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This is another energy protection measure for the
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plants if they're struggling in the heat.
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They are certainly not going to expend the energy that's needed
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to start fruiting. So the blossoms are just going
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to drop off of the In my experience, the plants that
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seemed to be the most prone to this are tomatoes peppers and
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beans, although it is absolutely possible that it can happen in
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just about any plant under the right circumstances.
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This problem will stop once you get past, the extreme
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temperatures and the other part of this is that high
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temperatures can also interrupt pollination either from a lack
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of pollinator activity, just because it's an extreme
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situation or because the Colin just gets unusually sticky when
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the humidity kicks in and it can be harder to shake it Loose from
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the flower. This too is a problem that will
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resolve itself once the temperatures settle or you know
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that you can solve yourself with some hand pollination but have
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patience Grasshopper. This too shall pass.
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Now, besides wilting plants that are trying to protect themselves
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from the heat. One thing that you will also
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notice specifically with tomatoes is a lack of ripening
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You may have a ton of tomatoes on the vine that look like they
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should be turning, but they might still be green or they may
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just barely have started to lighten up a shade or two or
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look slightly yellow. This is also normal.
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The optimum temperature range for ripening Tomatoes is 68 to
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77 degrees Fahrenheit, the further, the temperature stray
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away from these Optimum temperatures the slower, the
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ripening process is going to be. And when the temperatures are
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outside that Optimum range for extended periods, then these
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conditions can become so stressful that the ripening
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process basically just stops. So for example, our hi, yes.
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Turday was ninety, nine' Fahrenheit, our overnight low
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was 78. It literally never dropped into
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that Optimum temperature range at any time in the past, 36
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hours, and it's not forecasted to, for like, another 36 hours.
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And at the same time, tomatoes, do not produce lycopene or
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carotene, when temperatures are above 85 Fahrenheit, those are
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the pigments that are responsible for, that ripe,
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tomato color, So, extended periods of this type of extreme
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heat can also cause the tomatoes to just stop ripening and those
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fruits are often going to turn that pale green to yellowish
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color that I mentioned before. If you have tomatoes that are in
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that state right now, and it doesn't look like the
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temperatures are going to be conducive.
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Anytime soon, you can absolutely pick those ones that have
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started. Their color change and bring
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them inside to Optimum conditions and they will ripen
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up properly in just a day or two on the counter.
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Otherwise there are a few tricks that will help your tomatoes and
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your other garden plants. Beat the heat right now.
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Now The Usual Suspects are all at play here like making sure
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they're still well watered and adding additional layers of
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mulch to trap that moisture in if necessary.
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But two things you might not think about our shade cloth and
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fertilizer or well, actually a lack of fertilizer.
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So if you have the ability to use some row covers or even
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Cheese to suspend above or at an angle to your crops, or even a
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patio umbrella or a pop-up canopy, something to protect
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your Tomatoes, or your peppers or your other plants from the
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worst of the afternoon heat than this is going to help.
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Keep them cooler and less stressed and they will need to
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take up less moisture. I might look silly but who
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cares? If it works right?
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We put too much work into this thus far to have it be lost just
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because the temperatures got too high.
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Now the second thing Uh, is to resist the urge to fertilize I
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know the Temptation. When our plants look like
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they're struggling, is to immediately, give them something
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to eat, feed them to perk them up.
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But in this case, I would skip the plant juice.
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For now, when your plant is in survival mode, you don't want to
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encourage any new growth. That takes a lot of energy from
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the plant and that boost of nutrients, you give them is just
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going to encourage the plant to produce.
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More leaves since at the moment, it can't produce fruit so that
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energy will go to leaves instead of flowers and those are going
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to drop off anyway and this is going to put more strain on the
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plant and if that's the last thing that you want for an
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already stressed out plant, I also would not be doing any
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pruning or trellising at the moment either because that can
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also cause further stress that can all wait a few days until
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the temperatures get back to normal.
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So stick to just water for now until Till the heat breaks, add
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some mulch to trap. That moisture, provide some
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shade if you can and then re-evaluate your plants, once
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the worst of the heat has moved on to see if they need
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trellising. Pruning, nutrients or other
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care. Thanks for joining me on this
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focal point Friday. I'll be back again on Tuesday
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for another regular episode of the just grow something podcast.
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So, until next time my gardening friends, keep on cultivating
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that dream garden and we'll talk again soon.
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Till the heat breaks, add some mulch to trap.
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That moisture, provide some shade if you can and then
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re-evaluate your plants, once the worst of the heat has moved
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on to see if they need trellising.
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Pruning, nutrients or other care.
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Thanks for joining me on this focal point Friday.
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I'll be back again on Tuesday for another regular episode of
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the just grow something podcast. So, until next time my gardening
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friends, keep on cultivating that dream garden and we'll talk
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again soon.