Preparation for high temps??? - Page 3

melody · July 19, 2006

Just got a weather advisory on my computer...heat indexes in excess of 110* the next two days....probably won't get much fruit set, huh...

Tomstrees · July 19, 2006

I'm just hoping that with this
heat wave , and a
"RAIN DUMPING THUNDERSTORM"
last night , I woun't get "too much"
mater splittage ~

Tom

**coronabarb** · July 19, 2006

If I waited even a week between watering in the middle of summer here, my plants would be almost dead. I do agree with the deep watering regime and do that, early on. But the plants need more when it is over 100 and 10% humidity and drying winds too. I often overhead water during the heat of the day to wash off dust (and mites later on) and perk up the plants.

Also, many areas in the west have gosh darnoodley clay soil and that makes it difficult for roots to go real deep. In some areas of my yard, the roots tend to stay near the surface, even with soil amending.

sirtanon · July 19, 2006

A week? Heck, I can't even go 3 days without watering most of my plants or they end up crispy and brown.

As it stands, I've pulled all but 5 of my mater plants, as they were totally toast. And the 5 that I have not pulled have been trimmed back severely in order to reduce aspiration and maximize water conservation.

Actually, funny thing.. 4 of those are in the ground, and one is in a pot - and the one in the pot has actually just starting springing up lots of new green growth. It's a CELEBRITY, if you can believe it.

The ones in the ground have pretty much stalled for the moment, although 2 are showing SOME new growth.

melody · July 19, 2006

I just went and put another thick layer of straw mulch down..(yea, in this heat!)...the early straw was getting a bit thin and beaten down. I put it on thick and hopefully, it will keep the soil a few degrees cooler.

I've been doing like coronabarb and washing the dust off the leaves too. Something seems to be working...I have no disease that I can find at this point...everything is lush and green...what fruit have set are looking good.

I'm several weeks behind my normal time frame due to the 15 3/4" of rain in the month of May....put me into June for planting out...but as long as everyone remains healthy, I'll take a later harvest.

**coronabarb** · July 19, 2006

"A week? Heck, I can't even go 3 days without watering most of my plants or they end up crispy and brown."

Mine too, tanon. That was a reply to keith's comments.

"I water for about 4-6 hours at low pressure per row about every 14 days. If the plants look stressed and then dont recover in the AM then I will go ahead and water then but wait another two weeks. I am dealing with hot dry and wind. So if my plants can make it others should too."

montanamato · July 19, 2006

I am watering daily with the winds and low humidity. We also have nasty clay soil and I am not worrying about flavor or splitting tomatoes at this stage....just spraying off grit and cooling the ground some...mulch doesn't stay around on the windy side slope my tomatoes are on. Close spacing seems to work best for wind and heat protection.
My peppers are loving it and I don't remember them doing so well in such wind/heat before.

Jeanne

piegirl · July 20, 2006

just heard it was 108 today not counting dew pt and hum. Toms still looked pretty good - put old folded sheets over the tops of the cages and inserted some tree trimmings into the cages of the taller vines. Anything helps. Surprisingly, the soil remained wet in some areas of the garden. No wonder it was sooo hot when I walked home from work! Here's looking at 78 for a high on Friday. Piegirl

sirtanon · July 20, 2006

I just saw/heard something on my way into work that I thought was just nuts, and I can't figure out how it is going to translate to my plants, but I figured I'd share to see what everyone thinks...

Okay, On my way in, there was HEAVY cloud cover all over.. still is, actually. I could see rain falling in various places, some spots heavy, other's not. It appears as though the valley is finally going to get a fair share of rain.. 'bout time

Now, I'm listening to the radio on the way in as well, and I hear the weather person come on and say that the high is supposed to be 112 degrees. So this got me thinking... 112 degrees?!?! AND rain? What the hell?

....so looks like my ride home in my BLACK car with busted A/C is going to be VERY unpleasant.

I just have to wonder if the plants are going to like it or hate it. Any thoughts?

feldon30 · July 20, 2006

Watch Weather Underground closely.

**coronabarb** · July 21, 2006

WOW!!! I just found out how *MUCH* it is costing me to run the A/C during this heat wave...more than the house payment for my other house....$350 for the last month.

and tucked into the bill was a notice for hearings for another rate increase

spyfferoni · July 21, 2006

I am dreading our next electic bill!!! I've even been conservative and kept the thermostat around 80, and it still seems like it is running all of the time. Atleast here it cools down nicely at night we usually get dowm to atleast 68 at night, so our AC isn't running constantly all night long. I remember Vegas a couple of summers ago. We were walking the strip in the middle of the night and it was still in the high 90s. I keep saying to myself---it could be much worse! Atleast we have dry heat. I hate the heavy feeling of the heat we experienced last summer in Puerto Rico. It could be only in the 80s and I was dripping with sweat---then when you take a shower it feels like you never completely dry of, and then my in-laws are so used to the heat that they don't have AC, nor do they ever plan on getting it, so I told my DH the next time we visit we are buying an AC unit for them, so we don't feel like we are melting the time we are staying with them. Its hard on my kids---they don't feel like eating, and get heat rashes.
Anyway---off on a tangent there---Sorry

Tyffanie

QAGuy · July 21, 2006

I often overhead water during the heat of the summer
like Coronabarb (we're not that far apart).

Not only does it wash of dust and mites, it also cools
the plant, waters them through the leaves and washes
off any nasty spores too!

Of course, our super-low humidity also helps keep the
spore damage down. Not sure if I'd do it in more humid
areas of the country.

Vince · July 22, 2006

It is suppossed to be 109 tommorow here in Riverside, Ca. I don't know what the high was today but I am sweating and it is 9:30pm and 88 degrees. Pruned back half of my determinants to 3Ft(the ones with no more fruit). My Tom plants look much better than I would if I were baking in the direct sun all day. It seems that heavy mulch and consistent water does the trick here in this dry SoCal heat. If we get a cool spell(95 or so) I will plant my Fall seedlings. Good luck everybody.

Vince.

**coronabarb** · July 22, 2006

Vince, I didn't realize you are in Riverside...we're neighbors! Was just there tonight at the Citrus State Historic Park for the jazz concert, with my mom. I didn't want to go in this heat but she REALLY loves those concerts. This could be her last summer to enjoy them, so I HAD to go.

Yeah, it's gonna be a killer on Saturday and this is only July. We still have August to get through. I need to move somewhere cooler.

The weather people *say* we should be down to 95 mid-next week...we'll see.

July 19, 2006	#32
Tomstrees Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Bayshore Posts: 3,848	I'm just hoping that with this heat wave , and a "RAIN DUMPING THUNDERSTORM" last night , I woun't get "too much" mater splittage ~ Tom __________________ My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~ H. Fred Ale

July 19, 2006	#33
coronabarb Tomatoville® Recipe Keeper Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Roseburg, Oregon - zone 7 Posts: 2,821	If I waited even a week between watering in the middle of summer here, my plants would be almost dead. I do agree with the deep watering regime and do that, early on. But the plants need more when it is over 100 and 10% humidity and drying winds too. I often overhead water during the heat of the day to wash off dust (and mites later on) and perk up the plants. Also, many areas in the west have gosh darnoodley clay soil and that makes it difficult for roots to go real deep. In some areas of my yard, the roots tend to stay near the surface, even with soil amending. __________________ Corona~Barb Now an Oregon gal

July 19, 2006	#36
coronabarb Tomatoville® Recipe Keeper Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Roseburg, Oregon - zone 7 Posts: 2,821	"A week? Heck, I can't even go 3 days without watering most of my plants or they end up crispy and brown." Mine too, tanon. That was a reply to keith's comments. "I water for about 4-6 hours at low pressure per row about every 14 days. If the plants look stressed and then dont recover in the AM then I will go ahead and water then but wait another two weeks. I am dealing with hot dry and wind. So if my plants can make it others should too." __________________ Corona~Barb Now an Oregon gal

July 20, 2006	#40
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Watch Weather Underground closely. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

July 21, 2006	#41
coronabarb Tomatoville® Recipe Keeper Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Roseburg, Oregon - zone 7 Posts: 2,821	WOW!!! I just found out how MUCH it is costing me to run the A/C during this heat wave...more than the house payment for my other house....$350 for the last month. and tucked into the bill was a notice for hearings for another rate increase __________________ Corona~Barb Now an Oregon gal

July 19, 2006	#31
melody Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kentucky Posts: 162	Just got a weather advisory on my computer...heat indexes in excess of 110* the next two days....probably won't get much fruit set, huh...

July 19, 2006	#34
sirtanon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ (zone 9b) Posts: 796	A week? Heck, I can't even go 3 days without watering most of my plants or they end up crispy and brown. As it stands, I've pulled all but 5 of my mater plants, as they were totally toast. And the 5 that I have not pulled have been trimmed back severely in order to reduce aspiration and maximize water conservation. Actually, funny thing.. 4 of those are in the ground, and one is in a pot - and the one in the pot has actually just starting springing up lots of new green growth. It's a CELEBRITY, if you can believe it. The ones in the ground have pretty much stalled for the moment, although 2 are showing SOME new growth.

July 19, 2006	#37
montanamato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Montana Posts: 1,038	I am watering daily with the winds and low humidity. We also have nasty clay soil and I am not worrying about flavor or splitting tomatoes at this stage....just spraying off grit and cooling the ground some...mulch doesn't stay around on the windy side slope my tomatoes are on. Close spacing seems to work best for wind and heat protection. My peppers are loving it and I don't remember them doing so well in such wind/heat before. Jeanne

July 20, 2006	#38
piegirl Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 791	just heard it was 108 today not counting dew pt and hum. Toms still looked pretty good - put old folded sheets over the tops of the cages and inserted some tree trimmings into the cages of the taller vines. Anything helps. Surprisingly, the soil remained wet in some areas of the garden. No wonder it was sooo hot when I walked home from work! Here's looking at 78 for a high on Friday. Piegirl

July 21, 2006	#42
spyfferoni Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 675	I am dreading our next electic bill!!! I've even been conservative and kept the thermostat around 80, and it still seems like it is running all of the time. Atleast here it cools down nicely at night we usually get dowm to atleast 68 at night, so our AC isn't running constantly all night long. I remember Vegas a couple of summers ago. We were walking the strip in the middle of the night and it was still in the high 90s. I keep saying to myself---it could be much worse! Atleast we have dry heat. I hate the heavy feeling of the heat we experienced last summer in Puerto Rico. It could be only in the 80s and I was dripping with sweat---then when you take a shower it feels like you never completely dry of, and then my in-laws are so used to the heat that they don't have AC, nor do they ever plan on getting it, so I told my DH the next time we visit we are buying an AC unit for them, so we don't feel like we are melting the time we are staying with them. Its hard on my kids---they don't feel like eating, and get heat rashes. Anyway---off on a tangent there---Sorry Tyffanie

July 21, 2006	#43
QAGuy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Glendora, CA Posts: 167	I often overhead water during the heat of the summer like Coronabarb (we're not that far apart). Not only does it wash of dust and mites, it also cools the plant, waters them through the leaves and washes off any nasty spores too! Of course, our super-low humidity also helps keep the spore damage down. Not sure if I'd do it in more humid areas of the country. __________________ "We have met the enemy and he is us" - Pogo

July 22, 2006	#44
Vince Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Riverside, CA Posts: 942	It is suppossed to be 109 tommorow here in Riverside, Ca. I don't know what the high was today but I am sweating and it is 9:30pm and 88 degrees. Pruned back half of my determinants to 3Ft(the ones with no more fruit). My Tom plants look much better than I would if I were baking in the direct sun all day. It seems that heavy mulch and consistent water does the trick here in this dry SoCal heat. If we get a cool spell(95 or so) I will plant my Fall seedlings. Good luck everybody. Vince. __________________ Vince

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