Ugh, I just ordered shade cloth for the greenhouse. Never thought I would need to do this here, but the heat coming in the next several days will be too much I think for the tomatoes and cucumbers in there. With a record-setting air temp of 100º I will be watering a lot.
Ugh is right! I empathize. We haven’t hit an actual air temperature of 100 yet this season, I don’t think, though the heat index has been above several times, and we have been in the nineties for quite a while.
I don’t have a greenhouse, and I haven’t put shade cloth back above the garden for the summer because I have some plants where I’d have to sacrifice the top growth to do so, and I’m not ready to do that. You’ll definitely need it for your greenhouse with high temperatures and those long sun hours at your latitude.
How is your Poniente cucumber doing, Begreen? You had mentioned an infection a few posts back.
Our cucumbers have done very well this spring, but they are slowing down now. Even well watered they can have trouble facing our afternoon sun. I had my camera out just a bit ago, and this is what my droopiest looks like in the heat of the day. It’s been doing this every afternoon for a week, but it still has enough life and health to perk back up when the late afternoon shade covers it even though the air temperatures are still high at that point.
If it gets really bad in your greenhouse, you could consider using ice to cool some watering cans of water before applying it. Obviously you wouldn’t want to make it too cold, but it would help keep soil temperatures down for those really brutal couple of days you’re expecting this weekend. If you’re running air conditioning during the heat wave, do you have a way to run the drain water to needy plants or to a container?
The ginger in pots on the front porch and back deck (both in shade) is doing well. I’m noticing that it must be developing new rhizome material and putting up new shoots. I’m thinking of giving some leaves a try in cooking later today. The first shoots are maybe two and a half feet tall now, but I’m glad to see the multiplying.
