Is heat a problem in container grows?

[dasflux]

First year newbie here. Following taplas mix. I live on the TN/GA/AL tri-state boarder. When i was reading about vertical rain tower gardening. I remember heat being an issue. Do we have any problems in the containers becoming too hot doing this? I don't live in TX of course. But just wandering. I remember some people burying their towers because of heat.

[ChiliPeppa]

I don't know anything about towers, but where I am I can't grow anything in containers in the summer unless it is in shade. The heat and sun just turns the containers into an oven.

[swordy]

After two years of failure in growing in containers I concluded that Rhodes island was too hot for growing tomatoes in containers, no mater how big they were!
When I say failure, I mean that tomato plants, determinate, even dwarfs didn't grow much and didn't set fruit well. I even had 1 or 2 plants that didn't set any fruit at all!
I don't know about your area to make a comparison though.

[PureHarvest]

Paint them white or wrap them in white plastic to reflect the light/heat.
Or use grow bags or pots that are white from the beginning.

[dasflux]

Paint them white or wrap them in white plastic to reflect the light/heat.
Or use grow bags or pots that are white from the beginning.

I actually bought some grow bags.

Do you think my region gets too hot? I don't even know what temps would fry them. Burying the pots into the ground should remedy the problem fine right? Im just thinking. What about drainage. Or is this a dumb question. Lol

Would it be ridiculous to just pull my auger out make holes and fill them individually staying with the tapla 5-1-1 method?

[PureHarvest]

I guess burying bags in the ground kinda defeats the purpose of using bags, but that would shade and insulate the heat out. As long as the hole doesn't hold water.
You don't want the bottom of the bag (which should have holes) sitting in water.
Sun shining shining onto black plastic pots or bags is definitely not ideal for the roots.
Even if it stayed below 90 all summer, the combination of heat with the sun's rays hitting a black surface is the problem.
Shade the containers or start with or make them white or similar. They will stay cool.
I use plastic corrugated roofing panels on my chicken shelters. It's white, and when you touch it on a hot summer day, it is shockingly not hot.

[sjamesNorway]

I wrap and tape heavy-duty aluminum foil around the sun-exposed sides of mine.

[My Foot Smells]

Chattanooga (where my niece lives) can get rather warm, but not south Georgia warm. I always am weary of WEST sun. A container can be moved, which gives advantage to put it where you want. WEST sun is O.K. early spring, fall, but not summer, IMO. So often relocation (if possible) may be warranted.

Despite efforts here, everything becomes toast in august heat for the most part, the 100+ degree days, 80 degree nights are just too much for most.

As they say in real estate and gardening: location, location, location......

Of course, I'm just a noob here; so just an opinion.....

[fonseca]

Originally Posted by dasflux

Following taplas mix.

If you're following Tapla's mix, drainage will not be an issue. MY question is, how are you going to find the time to keep them watered? That's not as much a problem in large containers, but if you are using smaller than 10 gallon you will be watering at least once daily in the summer heat. Perhaps you have irrigation. An 8' tall tomato plant with two vines can go through a lot of water, and it's not done growing.

I wrap most of my containers in reflectix foil-backed insulation, and I add a layer of jute fabric for extra shade if needed. In 95 degree heat, an exposed, smaller plastic container can get to 110 or more, which also heats up the soil within an inch of the container wall. I try to group containers so that at least half are shaded by each other, and save on reflectix cost, those rolls aren't cheap. I did notice last year that of my plastic 5 gallon buckets, the ones with insulation were ~10 degrees cooler (measured with infrared temp gun in afternoon heat) relative to the uninsulated ones that were always shaded.

I even insulate my big 100 gallon stock tanks on the side where the sun hits them most of the day. I'm using some 10 gallon poly growbags this year with the white side out, very curious to see how they do. I have 50 of them, and am essentially building raised beds.

[Ricky Shaw]

fonseca you're brilliant! The reflectix foil-backed insulation is perfect, just what I've been thinking about.

[fonseca]

I love the stuff. Especially for tapered containers like buckets or tubs designed to nest. You end up with a cushion of air surrounding most of the container.

I have seen people bury even large 30 gallon tubs. It makes sense in that you aren't wasting water or nutrients on the surrounding soil, and it's the best insulation. The problem with that is you now have the drainage characteristics of the ground you put it in. I don't have to dig far to hit orange clay.

Additionally, having the rim of the container above the ground results in less weed seeds getting in, and for me less slugs and earwigs.

[User 636]

I grow in containers in Northern Virginia. I'm also growing on an elevated deck which gives me a tremendous amount of airflow. My plants also get shaded in the late afternoon/evening.

I go through a lot of water. I'm going to try to set up a drip this year. The big plants need to be watered twice a day through the hottest months.

The only place that got two hot was the area over top of the air conditioner and the hot air it blew out.

It hit 90 starting in may and didn't let up until September. Most of plants did amazing. I still have frozen sauce from last year that I need to finish up.

[taboule]

Small to medium containers get too hot even in my area (outside Boston). the best that have worked for me are fabric bags, well watered -the sweating and evaporation through the bag help keep temps down.

[Cole_Robbie]

The root-warming effect of a black container works to the plants advantage in the spring, when it is cool. I think that's why most containers are black; the plants are sold in the spring.

Burying a container is a great idea, but if you have clay soil like mine that holds water, you will want to account for heavy rains that make your hole fill up with water.

[JaxRmrJmr]

Originally Posted by sjamesNorway

I wrap and tape heavy-duty aluminum foil around the sun-exposed sides of mine.

This is what I do as well. I buy rolls at the dollar store and it seems to cover 6-7 five gallon buckets, so I have like 15 cents in protecting each one.