With the recent heatwave the expected has happened, the
garden has shut down. Afternoon highs have reached near or above the century
mark.
When I harvested on Friday There was a single zucchini. I am
seeing many female flowers either not maturing or just aborting and falling off
the plants.
The cucumbers and okra, so far, have not been effected but
Friday’s high was just a little over 106. It was brief but it hovered around
105 for some time. It is like splitting hairs 105 /106, once over one hundred
it is just plain Hot!! Saturdays high was not much better at 104.
My tomatoes have set fruit and are of mature sizes, so the
heat should only hasten their ripening. On Thursday, I noticed that the first
bed of toms had started to sprout new foliage. This happens on determinate
tomatoes when the fruit are almost completely harvested. Last year the fruit
ripening and “regrowth” happened a month later and last July was an extremely
hot dry month. Instead of the regrowth, most of my tomato plants just faded
away and died. I am hoping that the first bed has enough new foliage to make it
through this heat wave. This year I do have a beds worth of replacement
tomatoes for “just in case” reasons. When I harvested this Sunday not only did
I see new growth but also flowers. With any luck, these flowers will take. I
will know when I harvest the next time (this coming Thursday)
I am grateful that I did manage to get all my beds mulched
and this has helped me to keep everything hydrated a lot easier. Last July
because of “nude” beds it was very difficult to keep everything hydrated.
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