Heat Wave Almost Killed My Plants

[schill93]

Originally Posted by MarianneW

I grow my tomatoes so they only get sun between 10 and 11:30 am and then 1:30 to 3 pm. Once they get taller, the tops get more sun. I grow them under a tree in the narrow strip of land between my house and a block wall, about 6 or 7 feet wide at the most. Yes, I can grow good tasting heirlooms. This year it was black krim. The trick is I plant in January. I don't get much frost so I can do that. By April I'm picking tasty tomatoes! I can do it in the fall but the season feels too short for any of the good ones.

Have you tried any of the black cherries? Next spring I'm going to try kiss the stars and black & brown boar.

The only cherries I have grown were Sungold this year. It is my only surviving plant, and the one I seldom would eat. Actually, I pulled the plug on my Yellow Pear, as even my dog wouldn't eat them> I've ordered Ron's carbon copy and Black Cherry for next year. I also bought the Black/Brown Boar as well as a lot of other blacks and purple. This will be the first year for me in growing from seed.

The one remaining nursery here that sells veg. plants carries mostly the heat tolerant hybrids. You know the yucky tasting ones. The only one I got from there that put a smile on my face was called Cherokee Carbon. It is a hybrid (they call it a marriage) between Cherokee Purple and Carbon. I didn't get very many tomatoes off of the two I had, but what I got was so much better than the standard fare they carry. I'd rather have less of something good than more of something bad.

I lived in Ahwatukee, so I'm very familiar with your weather. What surprised me about here was how much colder it gets here in the winter. It averages about 10 degrees colder in the winter and only about 2 or 3 degrees cooler in the summer, so surviving a winter here is typically not doable without a greenhouse of some sort.

Of what I have tasted so far, I prefer the blacks, but I have not tasted enough to be knowledgeable. I'm going to try and get a jump start myself here and try and plant out in February depending on how cold it is. I've bought some Wall O Waters and a small plastic enclosure to put some plants out early.

What others have you grown besides Black Krim? Any other blacks or purple? I think I have ordered seeds for just about all of them mentioned on here with any favor. It will be interesting sharing my success and failures with someone who understands heat. (the three month long non stop 110 degree kind )

[BajaMitch]

Shill, I think you're on to something; big pots are better in hot weather. I took soil temp readings several times and some pots got to 100 degrees. That can't be good. So, I painted the buckets white...that seemed to help. One thing to consider, however, is that big pots will not cool down as readily as smaller pots after several days of hot weather.

[schill93]

Originally Posted by BajaMitch

Shill, I think you're on to something; big pots are better in hot weather. I took soil temp readings several times and some pots got to 100 degrees. That can't be good. So, I painted the buckets white...that seemed to help. One thing to consider, however, is that big pots will not cool down as readily as smaller pots after several days of hot weather.

Well, trying to figure a way to best insulate the pots from sun directly hitting them was what I have been trying to figure out. I am sure shade cloth will help, but would like to come up with something for the pots. I've even considered buying sheets of that 4' x 8' Styrofoam with reflective material on one side and laying it against the pots.

Don't think they would stay put, and oh boy would that look ghetto!

[Ricky Shaw]

The foil sided bubble wrap insulation does an adequate job and would be a cheaper alternative than stryo panels. The stuff comes in rolls at Home Depot. Works best if there is air apace between the container and the wrap. Shading and reflecting is what you want.

Cut it in short lengths and clip it to the container with clothespins or clamps.

[schill93]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

The foil sided bubble wrap insulation does an adequate job and would be a cheaper alternative than stryo panels. The stuff comes in rolls at Home Depot. Works best if there is air apace between the container and the wrap. Shading and reflecting is what you want.

Cut it in short lengths and clip it to the container with clothespins or clamps.

Yes, that is exactly what I use, except I wrap it all around the pot and use the silver reflective tape to hold it together. But there is no air space that way. Love your cages by the way. Are they the Texas Tomato cages?

I like your idea of the 1/2 circle, and perhaps it could be attached to the cage. I will have to look. The top of my pots are thicker so don't think a regular clothes pin would work, but I might have something else that would.

What is your temperature there now? We are still in the low 100's, but supposed to drop next week into 90's.