When talking about protecting our summer transplants from excessive heat to get them through to a fall harvest, we can't overlook the possibilities of shade. Temporary shade structures in the late summer garden can help protect our transplants, but it doesn't always require us to purchase or create something! On this Focal Point Friday episode, we spend just five minutes discussing six different options for protecting our fall transplants from too much sun.
Resources:
Fall Garden Transplants: Tips for Success in the Heat - Ep. 161
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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. We talked on Tuesday about
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strategies for successfully transplanting our fall seedlings
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into the garden while it's still excessively hot outside.
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One of those strategies was providing some additional shade
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or other protection from the sun during the hottest part of the
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day, just temporarily. Here are some ways that we can
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do that. The 1st is with shade cloth now.
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Shade cloth is a woven fabric that can be suspended over
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plants to provide varying levels of shade.
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It comes in different shading percentages, allowing from 50%
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all the way up to 90% of the light to come through, which
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lets you choose the right amount of light reduction for your
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plants. Now these can be purchased
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through agricultural supply stores and sometimes in smaller
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sizes from local nurseries and online.
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The good news is they are very, very durable and they will last
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a long time, but they can be a little pricey depending on how
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much you need. So our second option is row
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covers. So row covers are usually made
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of lightweight fabric and are placed directly over rows of
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plants to protect from frost or insects.
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But if they are suspended above the plants and the sides are
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allowed to remain open, they can be excellent shade cloths, you
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know. Make sure you let them remain
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open though, because that excess hot air builds up very quickly
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underneath, and even though it seems like it's a breathable
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fabric, it can actually cause it to be warmer under the cover
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than outside of it. But using row covers is a really
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good way to reuse something that you may already have from the
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spring that you used as frost protection.
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And just like with frost protection, in the spring, you
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can use tarps or bed sheets or other household items that you
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already have as a shade clock. Anything that's going to block
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some of that midday sun from beating down on sensitive
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plants, but that will also allow for air flow around them will
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work. Now we can get a little bit more
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structured with this by utilizing mobile shade
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structures. Things like umbrellas, shade
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sails on adjustable poles, even wheelbarrows with shade cloth
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draped across, or two kitchen chairs with a tablecloth
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suspended across them that are fastened by clothes pins.
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Anything like this is going to do the trick.
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It doesn't have to be fancy, and it doesn't have to be permanent.
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Anything goes. Now.
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If you want to talk about options that don't involve other
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structures, we can look at intercropping with our other
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garden plants. So if you're growing climbing
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plants like beans or cucumbers that are on trellises or are
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over arbors, these can actually create natural shady spaces for
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other plants to grow underneath. So this is going to help to
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shield those fall transplants from the direct sunlight.
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You can also use any taller plants that you're growing
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vertically, like corn or trellis.
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Tomatoes that can also offer shade to shorter plants planted
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in front of them, like lettuce or spinach.
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Another consideration would be while we're actually designing
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our garden plan at the beginning of the year, we can consider the
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orientation of our beds and where we plan to grow those
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taller plants or where we plan to place structures.
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So if we place the taller plants or those structures on the
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southern or western sides of our garden, if you're growing in the
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northern hemisphere, these can provide shade to the rest of the
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garden during the hottest parts of the day in late summer.
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Now, one last thing that we consider consider is if we have
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established trees that are nearby our gardening area, we
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might consider just selectively pruning those branches back
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instead of pruning all the way so that we can allow it to be a
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dappled sunlight rather than full sun.
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Now this is of course going to depend on whether or not you
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need that full sun during the the warm part of the season to
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grow your summer plants. But if you're more concerned
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about protecting your fall crops, then this might be a way
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to go. No matter what you choose.
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Just remember to monitor your plants closely and adjust your
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shading strategy as you go along, because you want to make
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sure that your fall garden transplants are protected from
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the excessive heat and sun exposure, but you also want to
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make sure that they're getting enough sun to continue their
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healthy growth. Thanks for joining me on this
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vocal 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.