Follow these easy Tips for Protecting Vegetables in Heat Waves. As extremely hot weather can make fruit bitter and deformed.
In several parts of countries, hot weather brings many challenges for vegetable gardens. Dealing with heat stress becomes frustrating for some vegetables as they suffer more with high temperatures. These Tips for Protecting Vegetables in Heat Waves will help you deal with leaf scorch, sunburn, and leaf drop. Raising temperature causes problems like blossom end rot in tomatoes, pod deformity in beans, and bitterness in lettuce.
Tips for Protecting Vegetables in Heat Waves
1. Grow Heat Resistant Vegetables
When growing heat-sensitive crops, choose heat-tolerant varieties. These types of vegetables handle the heat and have less quality issues in hot weather.
Lettuce: Leaf: Starfighter, Romaine: Arroyo, Butterhead: Forlina, Skyphos
Snap Bean: Annihilator
Broccoli: Eastern Crown
Tomatoes: Red Bounty
Brussels Sprouts: Dagan, Hestia, Marte
Sweet Corn: Xtra-Tender 378A, Whiteout, Mattapoisett, Nirvana
Read: What to Plant in July
2. Keep Soil Moisture in Check
Plants maintain the temperature by evaporating water from their foliage. When underwatering, the plant closes the pores in the foliage (stomates) that enable water to vaporize to avoid wilting. With closed stomates, leaves heat up, and the plant struggles to keep itself cool, causing stress. Ensure proper watering in the absence of rainfall. Add compost to improve organic matter in the sandy soil so it keeps moisture.
3. Apply Mulch and Shade Cloth
Keeping the soil cool is essential for crops like lettuce and tomatoes, apply straw as mulch to keep the soil cool. Place shade cloth above crops with the help of hoops; it will decrease the soil and air temperature near crops.
4. Choose Heat Resistant Crops
Heat-resistant crops are naturally very heat-tolerant. Vegetables like eggplant, okra, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, peppers, or melons in your garden can simplify growing and enjoying fresh produce during hot conditions.
Use shade cloth, especially for crops such as tomatoes and peppers. A 30-40 percent shade cloth offers sufficient cooling and does not block light for many vegetables. Instead of using colored-shade clothes in white, silver, red, or blue, go for black-shade clothes, which is a cost-saving option. Also, apply 50-70 percent shade cloth in case of highly heat-sensitive crops such as lettuce.
5. Avoid Overhead Watering
To prevent leaf burn and reduce evaporation, avoid overhead watering. Use a soaker or drip hoses to water plants efficiently by directing water to the roots. Be patient with young fruit trees, as they focus on root growth initially. Use the right fertilizers and prune in early winter to boost fruit production.
6. Try Different Watering Methods
An Olla is a narrow-necked clay pot with just the neck exposed. You bury it in your garden, fill it with water, and cover the opening to prevent evaporation. The water oozes through the clay to moisten the soil around it, right at the roots. The soil surface stays dry, but the soil an inch or two down will be moist. Refill the Olla as required.
Ollas are an ancient irrigation method popular in the southwest and drought-prone areas but useful in any garden. They come in different sizes, with smaller ones ideal for container gardens. The type and number of plants will determine the Olla size you need.
Another irrigation method is the tree diaper, a circular sponge pad filled with water and placed around the base of a tree or shrub. It gradually releases water directly into the soil, which is helpful for young trees not yet established in their new location.
For a DIY watering method, use milk cartons. One way is to punch several holes in the bottom, add clean stones for weight, fill it with water, and place it next to a plant. The water will drain gradually through the holes. Adjust the hole size and number for proper water flow.
Alternatively, cut off the bottom of a milk carton, partially bury the inverted carton next to a plant, and fill it with water. This method makes it easy to refill the carton through the large opening as the plant grows, ensuring the water reaches the roots.
