Preparation for high temps???

[spyfferoni]

My toms are finally doing good after a late frost and marble size hail, and the forcast for Saturday is 101. Is there anything I can do to help them through the heat? How much blossom drop should I expect? My plants are loaded with blossoms and only 2 plants so far have set any fruit. I planted them in black plastic, so that will keep the moisture in, but may add to the heat problem. Any suggestions???

Thanks,
Tyffanie

[Rena]

Could you use a shade cloth? I wonder if it would be good to multch over that black plastic with straw? I would think it might help keep the heat back??

[spyfferoni]

The latest forcast has the temps reaching 104, so even worse than I thought. I've never used a shade cloth before. Do many people use them? Would they help with fruit set???

I'm thinking of watering twice today---less water, but more frequently. Would this help at all?

Thanks,
Tyffanie

[coronabarb]

Tyffanie,

We're looking at 109 today...that's the hottest it's been in the 22 yrs I've lived here. This is the pits...like the pits of hell

You're not going to get any fruit set in this heat. The best you can do is keep the plants alive until it cools down some. Putting shade cloth over the plants will help reduce some of the stress on them. Water as often as needed to keep the plants from drooping too much. And hope and pray that, come Monday, cooler temps (90-95 ) really do come our way.

[vodreaux]

SoCalif has been 90-110 Degrees for 3+.

[coronabarb]

Well, of course that depends on if you're at the beach, inland, at the mts, or in the desert.

[spyfferoni]

What is really the pits is that we had some extremely low temps the first couple of weeks of June---even a late frost, and when the plants that survived started to recover, they were hit with marble sized hail, so now I'm starting to get some nice looking plants, and they can't do anything becasue of the heat. Oh, well. I have learned a lot though---like take the tomato cages off before you cover the plants, and start extra seeds for back up, and plant out good sized healthy seedlings. Maybe we'll get some of the monsoon moisture again and get some nice cloud cover to cool things off like we had a few days last week. Its crazy---my little boy went to his first day camp last week about 20 minutes away up the canyon/in the mountains, and nobody thought to have them bring jackets, so they froze for the first couple of hours, and then a few hours later they went on their hike and it was in the 90s and they were suffering from the heat. Anyway, good luck to everyone!!!

Tyffanie

[piegirl]

Suffering in Nebraska too! 100 yesterday, today and the next 3 days. My toms are over the top of the 5 ' cages otherwise I would use shade clothe - homemade - old sheets folded in half or quarters and clothes pinned in place. This does help with wilting, but my yard looks like a garage sale gone bad! But it is all about the tomatoes so who cares! It is ugly out there! At least the humidity is surprisingly low. Piegirl

[username5]

Wow, I feel for you folks. Here is Wisconsin it hit 93 today and tomorrow is supposed to hit 95. I sweat just looking out the window at the garden.

I did manage to get some weeding done this evening after the temps dropped into the mid 80s.

I never really worry about fruit set in the heat as there are only a few days where the heat is excessive, but the rest of you getting triple digit temps need to bunker down and crank the AC.

[matermama]

here in Oh it is 90 but with high humidity so it feels like 110 , i lived in AZ i understand what is said about " dry heat ' :wink:
i know this wont help this yr ,but i usually plant sunflowers in with my garden, to help with shade . it seems to work so far so good. 8)
I plant about 1-3 in every bed of about 9 tomatos, so far the birds like the seeds in the sunflowers and don't bother with the rest of the stuff in the garden. :wink:
sue

[coronabarb]

Mid 80's sounds mighty nice about now. We'll be lucky if it gets down to 70 tonight.

"...the rest of you getting triple digit temps need to bunker down and crank the AC."

That's EXACTLY what I've been doing. (it's gonna cost me though...boy, is it gonna cost) I didn't go out to water until the sun went down...even then, it felt like I was in Lost Vegas. I'm really glad I planted the tomatoes to get afternoon shade from a large tree or they'd be toast, no doubt about it.

[Tania]

wow... in Vancouver area we think it is hot when the temps go to 72-78F in summer... I can't even imagine how tomato plants survive the heat like that.

[melody]

Upper 90's with heat index over 100 here too...I've been watering, and day before yesterday we got a thunderstorm that dumped 2" in a little over an hour....most of it just ran off.

I've got some fruit set, and some lovely blossoms...but as I was late planting out this year due to the monsoons, I won't have ripe fruit for about 2 weeks.

I'm keeping an eye for blossom drop...expecting it, actually...but figure that if I can keep diseases and pests to a minimum, I should get a good harvest this fall.

Everybody got a shot of fish emulsion this week, just before the downpour....hoping it soaked in rather than ran off. My biggest problem with fish emulsion is keeping the dog out of it...she thinks it's grand.

[coronabarb]

"My biggest problem with fish emulsion is keeping the dog out of it...she thinks it's grand."

Yeah, I bet, Melody! The stinkier, the better when it comes to dogs...you're lucky if she doesn't try to ROLL in it.

[Denise_in_MI]

I think about that with fish emulsion, too. I use it on my tom's on my dock at our lake cabin - the dogs don't pay close attention on the dock... And, run off is run off. Wouldn't use the blue stuff out on the lake.

Try and keep cool out there west coasters! Hot here today too. Expecting 94F with high humidity and high heat index. My tom's here at home are looking good and aren't showing any sign of wilting yet....