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Vegetable Gardening

100 degrees and everything's blooming...

15 years ago

We're due to hit the 100s again this weekend and everything in my garden is flowering.

My peas (Little Marvel) have been growing like mad and they just started flowering this week. I know peas are cold season, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway.

My lima beans are going to flower any day.

My yardlongs are only a foot high and they're starting to blossom out (climbing appears to be beyond them, though).

My tomatoes and bell peppers are covered in blossoms and fruit.

And my tomatillos are flowering.

Will anything set fruit in this heat?

I know tomato pollen gets sticky after a certain temperature and then isn't viable anymore in extreme heat, but what about the rest?

And then there's the huge daytime temperature variance. We can be 100+ degrees in the afternoon and then get down in the 50s at night.

Is there a chance for pollination in the early morning hours before it heats up? And is this variance hugely stressful for plants? Is there anything I can do besides mulch?

Thanks!

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Comments (6)

davidandkasie
15 years ago
other than the cold season peas have i good luck with all of the above at the same temps. my green beans are ready for the first harvest already, and they ain't even a foot high yet!

we are in a "cold snap" right now, temps are only hitting the low 90's the last couple days.
westtexan
15 years ago
It's been extremely windy here lately and in the upper 90s and my beans just aren't forming. There are plenty of blooms, but no beans yet. It looks like it has slowed down the pollination of my tomatoes too, but some are managing. Same for bell peppers. The nighttime temps are staying about 70 too, unfortunately. I assume David is having similar overnight lows in MS too??
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Here is a link to that thread.
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I can stand heat but unfortunately my plants can't, not even our present moderate temperatures in the low 80'ies (moderate compared to Texas). I water pots, vegetables and some perennials every evening. When I was young I experienced heat in the Sudan where 110F was the normal temperature in May. We had one day of record heat, 116 F, hot even for Khartoum which is on the Nile and generally cooler than the desert. I took part in a voluntary workcamp for two months, doing heavy manual work, digging, carrying mortar and tiles. But work started at 6 with a break between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. We stopped working at 7 p.m. I think the early pioneers in Texas and other hot places must have stopped working mid-day, too. Unfortunately that is not possible in the modern world. My favourite hot weather drink is Lemoon, a drink I learnt to like in Khartoum where it was sold in the market. It's simple, squeeze as many limes as you want and mix with syrup, made from sugar boiled with water. Add ice and dilute with cold water. Hot tea is also very good in heat. (Nobody believes this but it's true.)
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What about planting the lilies in pots until the Spring, and move the roses then? I uses to have lots of bulbous lilies scattered around my gardens. Most of them were planted in buried pots, to keep any baby bulbs from getting mixed up with those of another color. They mostly did fine, the asiatics having to be dug & divided more than the others, as they produced more baby bulbs. Then a few years ago we got hit with a severe invasion of red lily bugs. I was heartbroken and dug up most of the pots, with the intention of getting rid of them. Two years ago I found that my daughter-in-law's area, about 3 hours drive North of me didn't seem to have the problem yet. I took a few pots up to her on the next visit, but kept some close together in a pot ghetto away from the garden beds. It is easier to check for the bugs and slugs when they are close together rather than scattered, so the problem isn't as bad as it has been. When something blooms, I move it to a spot more visible from the road, as I have started doing with the daylilies that were once my addiction. And hostas that are crowding out the neighborhood. These are in gallon or so pots, rather than the larger tubs I grow many of my clematis and some roses in. With the lilies, I found it is essential to keep the pots filled up to the rim with soil so that thawing snow doesn't have as much chance to get in and rot the bulbs. One nursery I had visited a few years ago tipped their potted lilies on their sides for Winter protection, but I haven't had to do that. You probably would want to unpot the lilies and plant in the ground after you move the roses in the early Spring.
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digdirt2
15 years ago
You'll find the FAQ here on "Blossom Drop" somewhat depressing reading I fear. But of course there is always hope. All you need is just a couple of upper seventy or low eighty degree mornings when you can get out there and brush those beans, shake those trellis, and rattle those cages. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom Drop FAQ
marleigh
Original Author
15 years ago
Ugh, yes it was depressing. Especially the part about dry, hot winds - which we're about to get.

I make it a point to go out every morning and vibrate my tomato cages, I wonder if prodding the beans would work as well...
aclum
15 years ago
Hi,

I just did a post over at the tomato forum asking if misters might be an appropriate way to keep the temps down around the tomatoes during the summer.

Here's the link: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg061813008447.html

Any comments appreciated!

Anne
desertgirl
15 years ago
It has been around 100 or so for at least the past month. Most everything I'm growing is setting fruit, with my beans being the exception--lots of blooms, no pods. And my peppers, they just refuse to grow at all!

Something I have found to keep my tomato temps down and still have fruit setting all summer is to plant 'em dense with no pruning. The plants shade themselves and keep each other cool, the temp difference just standing next to them is amazing. Last year, I had pollination problems, so this year I planted tons of flowers around my garden, and the pollinators are flocking in. They seem to be most active mid-morning, before the intense heat sets in. Well, duh, that's the only time anything should be active around here!!

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