Everyone is saying "MULCH"! >> I have added several inches of mulch around the tomatoes and cucumbers >> I used a composted soil amendment as mulch Mulch is insulation. Like fiberglass insulation (which would work, in its own weird way!) the thicker the better. Also it's best dry on top, damp on the bottom where it touches that non-insulating soil amendment, and airy in the middle. Several inches isn't a lot if you are having problems that could be linked to heat and humidity. Tomato roots are impressive water sucker-uppers. IF they're healthy. Water and healthy roots do not add up to heat wilt, even without shade cloth. I have conditions similar to yours: heat, sun and wind. What the tomatoes DO have is gangster roots, and they haven't the slightest tendency to wilt. YET. Knock on wood. I just jinxed it, didn't I? Are you absolutely SURE that the watering goes down to an appreciable depth? Water it with a dribble for hours! Since there's no such thing as water wilt on a grown tomato that's not going to die, what do you have to lose? Then add another four inches of straw on the previous four.

One thing that is hard to grasp here are the water needs... in pots especially they are going to need more water... you mulched, which is good... but it's in a pot and the pot is going to be prone to warming which is going to keep the roots a whole lot warmer than if it were in the ground... and that's something to think about if it's a color other than white... the thing with terra cotta is also true... you can't keep those pots wet enough... and the soil is different as well... the soil in my front yard drain extremely fast so I need to water more often... just some things to think about... the backyard is on an every 4 day schedule but will probably be increased when the heat really comes... Brittany

tom, Is perhaps your ground waterlogged from all the rain we've received lately? I ask b'c with waterlogged soils the plants can't get oxygen or nutrients and so wilt and then the leaves turn yellow. Also, Yellow Pear is quite susceptible to Early BLight ( A. solani) but you haven't described any lesions on the leaves that go a long with that, and EB doesn't show wilting anyway, as a symptom. But if we're talking just this yellow Pear and the others of the same variety are fine right now then perhaps one might start thinking about a seedborne disease. Are all the Yellow Pears being grown in the exact same area and receiving the exact same treatment? Carolyn

If it's just missing stuff, it should be fine. But if it's got like sulfur or something in it then it could affect the plants. I don't think having cleaner water will do anything unless your plants rely in the calcium that's in the water! Your acidic loving plants will look better too.