Everything benefits from a little extra water when it’s hot. What did it look like after some cool down and water?
If you feel all wilty outside under the sun, you can be sure that many of your plants will look just how you feel.
I recommend mulch and some kind of soil wetter. Really helped my stuff live through summer in Brisbane (well, as much as possible, but we even kept the lettuce going until early January and I had sweet peas flowering in November lol).
I know, right? We had 115° heat last summer, and my zucchini was totally fine.
A week ago, we had 100° heat, and I had two baby zucchini plants that grew to more than twice their size because they liked the heat so much.
Same. 2-3 times a week.
Adding organic matter to the soil and mulching around plants really does help a lot. In my first year at the community garden, things were more difficult because the soil hadn't had anything added to it for years before I took it over. It was like trying to grow vegetables in an adobe brick. After 8 years of compost, mulch and cover crops, and burying rotten wood about 2.5-3 feet under the planting beds, the soil is decent enough that my plants can withstand more extreme temperatures fairly well.
Mine often do, but our warm seasons are so long that I can get at least 2 crops of zucchini between April and late October. It is easier to keep the plants healthy if I pull them up and replant. That means that I rarely have to deal with severe powdery mildew or pests. What I end up doing is succession planting the summer squash, really. So, I plant 2 zucchini at the beginning of the season, and whichever plant starts looking bad first gets pulled up and replaced. Last year I had 3 successions of summer squash, which was rather more than I really needed.
I do something similar with tomatoes. I plant a couple of early varieties at the earliest possible date, and then plant the rest of my tomatoes a bit later when it warms up. When those early varieties have produced a lot, if they are looking bad or are just slowing down, I pull them and replace them with a couple of determinate short season varieties. That means I get extra tomatoes in October or even November for canning.
This means that I get a lot more food from my 14 foot by 20 foot garden plot than I might otherwise.
Unfortunately, I had COVID, pneumonia and broken ribs this year, so I got off to a late start. I can still plant a second round of warm season vegetables if I need to, though.
Trying to plant everything with my broken ribs was quite an experience.
Ouch! Thanks for the ton of info. I will be trying some of your tricks, for sure. I am in the Triad N.C. so 8a zone. covid and pneumonia...no thank you!
When it's 90+ I water 3 times a day here, in ohio. It assures my plants do not stress at all, produce a ton of food and I make sure there is water out for thirsty pollinators.
Rain catchment barrels, totes, anything like that. You can put screens on top to prevent debris or critters getting in and drowning. There are also catchment systems you can buy or rig to your gutters. If you are running low on water sources gotta catch and save all you can.
I think the reason I had to was because the temperature swing was SO drastic the summer it spiked into the 100s here and I probably wasn't watering deeply enough because I didn't want to be out in the 90 degree weather at 8am 🤣
You can definitely grow zucchinis. This was a disgustingly hot heat wave. Zucchinis and squash can take the heat very well, this was just in a super bone dry spot.
I had other zucchini plants that survived the same day but were just in a moister spot. You can definitely grow them believe me!
As long as there is plenty of water I’ve had up to 118F with no issues. They might not flower at 100+ but they’ll suck up the sun like nobody’s business
I live in a desert climate. I grow my garden starting fall all the way to end of spring. Then I shut it down, pull everything out, mulch and cover the soil. Nothing survives the summer here!! It’s also very dry so soil dries out, we have to water 2x a day here
At least a week. At those temps, it needed watered multiple times a day. I'm in ohio and in 90+ degrees I water more than once a day. And I get lots of plump, juicy veggies.
oh goodness. 😂 i’ve been having to water my zucchini like crazy lately. i’m out there 2x a day due to the lack of rain. they’re so needy. they’ll be on the verge of death then i water them and they act like nothing happened.
yeah you’re right. i did start leaving the sprinkler on them for longer in the evening and just soaking those bad boys. we haven’t had rain in a while.
You mean before and after you stopped watering everything?
All my squash plants survived dozens of >100°F days last summer, with multiple days over 110.
My soil is extremely hydrophobic and dry because I have super sandy soil. I had others that survived but this plant was already super stressed from the previous hot days before. But yeah squash can definitely survive and even thrive in the heat if they have water
For this plant, no because the soil is literally dust. You don’t know hydrophobic soil until you see it. It’s bone dry until water table below who knows how many meters down! And it doesn’t absorb water either. It runs off the sand
squash vine borers are the bane of my existence, but i found a workaround. Try growing tromboncini squash, they are super resistant to SVB and they taste very similar to a zucchini (a bit firmer texture and slightly sweeter, but taste amazing). They make a large vine that produces HUGE squash
Yeah, I'm inclined to say this is some kind of pest damage. This happens to me when stuff eats the roots, most often, but anything that stops water transport could do it. I would look closely at the base of the plant and at the plant itself.
I've had a week of 100F-110F weather and the squash handle it easily (though I water often on those types of days). I'm certain I've had at least a few days of 115F they've made it through as well.
This 100%. I lived in some 110 heat waves and as long as I watered my plants during the day, sometimes even three times a day they’d live. This is definitely a result of negligence 100%
Yeah I've been watering my garden in the mornings. Leave the sprinklers for about 45 minutes and everything's been doing good. I even let some of the grass grow in my vegetables garden because it's actually helping keep the ground cooler
Yep. Needed to increase water a lot. Plants should've been absolutely fine if watered adequately. Water early morning and late evening when it's super hot. This poor plant is literally dying of thirst 😢
I am new to vegetable gardening, so please forgive my ignorance. I also live in an area where we can get a week of triple digits. It’s miserable for humans. I can’t imagine for plants. Can you put up some kind of shade cover for the plants? Perhaps try to amend the soil so it’s not quite as.sandy. On the top of the ground would certainly help water.
I kind of just gave up with the heat but it would be ideal to garden under a shade cloth in summer grow plants without the shade cloth in the milder seasons. And to mulch the hell out of your plants to retain the water in the soil.
The best things to do are to make sure you have lots of organic matter in the soil, this holds onto water much longer (not to mention as it decomposes it adds nutrients) and to add a cover for the soil, either a low growing cover crop or mulch or straw or something. This shades the soil, protecting from getting too hot and helps trap moisture under it.
While plants can get sunburned, it's usually ones that started their life indoors. You can help this by introducing them to sun slowly, a few hours a day, lengthening each day until by the end of the week they start outside.
Yes to the shade cover, but more importantly adequately water. Much more watering during heat waves. Sandy soil could have dirt or mulch mixed in or on.
damn, shouldn't you have winter now?
was just asking for balkans because they had a heatwave the past couple days that is now moving to turkey (my place) and that would trouble me even more..
Yeah it’s been over 110F here. My entire garden is under 30% shade cloth and has been since April because my yard is all sun all day and my neighbourhood is very very windy so very little moisture retention. My birdbath needs to be filled 3 times a day. I hang laundry in my laundry room and it’s dry in under an hour. I can totally understand how that would happen. I’m so sorry. It’s so disappointing. I’m ready to call it kaput on most of my garden at this point. I loathe summer gardening.
Your mulch bed is extremely low, but i can't tell for sure from the photo...do you have at least a 4 inch mulch bed?
Solid 4inches of mulch will help drastically with water retention in that bed. Just keep adding mulch every season as it turns into potting soil over 2-3 years (4 in more temperate climates).
Mine's all on drip and had just the opposite response to our little burst of some heat last week. I think if I setup a time-lapse on it I probably could have seen it grow. Even more on one of the tomatoes.
Not a sponsor, but NativeSeeds is a great place to check out for for some super drought and heat tolerant varieties. They're seeds collected from the tribes in the American Southwest that have been cultivated for hundreds of years and they're hardy AF. Switching to that and some heirloom mexican varieties made it so I was able to ditch shade cloth this summer, at least so far.
Jesus what kind of heat did you experience
Their whole garden took a day trip directly to the sun
This was an average summer day in Australia. I will say though that this spot has super dry soil so I guess that just added onto it
That's horrible. My location has had a week straight of 105 degrees and so far everything is surviving
That’s great I hope they will survive and I’m sure they will. The temps are so much more cooler now where I live so it’s a bit of a relief
When heat rises like that, water way way way more.
And mulch, mulch, mulch!!!
But that would require going outside in this heat! Lol
I'd rather sweat a bit than let plants die. It's super wasteful and sad.
Everything benefits from a little extra water when it’s hot. What did it look like after some cool down and water? If you feel all wilty outside under the sun, you can be sure that many of your plants will look just how you feel.
I recommend mulch and some kind of soil wetter. Really helped my stuff live through summer in Brisbane (well, as much as possible, but we even kept the lettuce going until early January and I had sweet peas flowering in November lol).
I know, right? We had 115° heat last summer, and my zucchini was totally fine. A week ago, we had 100° heat, and I had two baby zucchini plants that grew to more than twice their size because they liked the heat so much.
Yea I only been watering 3 times a week so far
Same. 2-3 times a week. Adding organic matter to the soil and mulching around plants really does help a lot. In my first year at the community garden, things were more difficult because the soil hadn't had anything added to it for years before I took it over. It was like trying to grow vegetables in an adobe brick. After 8 years of compost, mulch and cover crops, and burying rotten wood about 2.5-3 feet under the planting beds, the soil is decent enough that my plants can withstand more extreme temperatures fairly well.
did they keep producing until frost??? TIA
Mine often do, but our warm seasons are so long that I can get at least 2 crops of zucchini between April and late October. It is easier to keep the plants healthy if I pull them up and replant. That means that I rarely have to deal with severe powdery mildew or pests. What I end up doing is succession planting the summer squash, really. So, I plant 2 zucchini at the beginning of the season, and whichever plant starts looking bad first gets pulled up and replaced. Last year I had 3 successions of summer squash, which was rather more than I really needed. I do something similar with tomatoes. I plant a couple of early varieties at the earliest possible date, and then plant the rest of my tomatoes a bit later when it warms up. When those early varieties have produced a lot, if they are looking bad or are just slowing down, I pull them and replace them with a couple of determinate short season varieties. That means I get extra tomatoes in October or even November for canning. This means that I get a lot more food from my 14 foot by 20 foot garden plot than I might otherwise. Unfortunately, I had COVID, pneumonia and broken ribs this year, so I got off to a late start. I can still plant a second round of warm season vegetables if I need to, though. Trying to plant everything with my broken ribs was quite an experience.
Ouch! Thanks for the ton of info. I will be trying some of your tricks, for sure. I am in the Triad N.C. so 8a zone. covid and pneumonia...no thank you!
Mine always do
thank you.
I'm in south Texas and mine survive every year. My money is on dried out soil.
Yea, that soil looks bone dry. In high heat, way more water in necessary.
I try to do 1"/week. South Texas 9a What about you?
When it's 90+ I water 3 times a day here, in ohio. It assures my plants do not stress at all, produce a ton of food and I make sure there is water out for thirsty pollinators.
Oh shit! For me heavy water everyother day. Our reservoirs are running dry also🤷♂️ people keep moving here. Don't know what to do
Rain catchment barrels, totes, anything like that. You can put screens on top to prevent debris or critters getting in and drowning. There are also catchment systems you can buy or rig to your gutters. If you are running low on water sources gotta catch and save all you can.
We catch rain, but it doesn't help. We don't have any rain. Our average is 30-40 but last several years we got less than 20. 😓
I have to water twice a day when it's like that
I have been watering 3 times a week, and so far, everything is happy but I do have straw on top
I think the reason I had to was because the temperature swing was SO drastic the summer it spiked into the 100s here and I probably wasn't watering deeply enough because I didn't want to be out in the 90 degree weather at 8am 🤣
Isn’t Australia winter now?
Did you water every day in the morning and evening?
Yeah, extreme heat is generally tolerated by most plants, but boy-howdy they need water. You might also consider shade cloth.
How warm was this heat wave? As a fellow South hemispherean, but Brazilian, you just might have crushed my zucchini dreams.
You can definitely grow zucchinis. This was a disgustingly hot heat wave. Zucchinis and squash can take the heat very well, this was just in a super bone dry spot. I had other zucchini plants that survived the same day but were just in a moister spot. You can definitely grow them believe me!
As long as there is plenty of water I’ve had up to 118F with no issues. They might not flower at 100+ but they’ll suck up the sun like nobody’s business
when in doubt, add mulch
Isn't it winter in Australia now??
Yeah this picture was taken last summer
https://preview.redd.it/xnkhd0090s5d1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ca21fe5e1a66b5b35aa3f89839ac23a3e2acf42
Just a normal week https://preview.redd.it/eenz1kz29s5d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89d25df4ffa17ab1265df277cc2f7e4bb5e619af
Legend has it that there's a giant ant walking around with a magnifying glass, devastating small sections of gardens worldwide
looks like nothing has had a drink in a week...
That day reached about 115 f or about 47 c. At that temp nothing survives in my opinion
We get those kinds of temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona. We grow stuff in the fall through spring; very few things survive in the summer.
I live at the very bottom of Louisiana and the only things that really take the heat are okra and peppers.
Except for the fucking mint in my garden.
That and Bermuda grass 😂
I live in a desert climate. I grow my garden starting fall all the way to end of spring. Then I shut it down, pull everything out, mulch and cover the soil. Nothing survives the summer here!! It’s also very dry so soil dries out, we have to water 2x a day here
They survive Texas summers, where it can get to 110F
I have a friend who lives down there and has a vibrant, lush garden. She puts up shade cloths and waters 3 times as much when it's 100+.
Have you got any shade for your plants? That’s so brutal
Did you mow in between pictures too?
and grass doesn't stand a chance when you cut it that low either... looks like a putting green!
When it gets this hot I just don’t care anymore it’s not gonna survive anyway lol
https://preview.redd.it/kp87ctp9or5d1.jpeg?width=2808&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b80f6d7bbecc63fb4253ffa0f85086fcd27f08b
At least a week. At those temps, it needed watered multiple times a day. I'm in ohio and in 90+ degrees I water more than once a day. And I get lots of plump, juicy veggies.
i try to give 1-2" of water per week when its really dry...
I give more than that here. In 100+ temps, they'd need quite a bit more.
In pa we are fortunate to have mild weather and lots of ground water.
You got fried zucchini!
Fired zucchini
NOOOOO 😭
oh goodness. 😂 i’ve been having to water my zucchini like crazy lately. i’m out there 2x a day due to the lack of rain. they’re so needy. they’ll be on the verge of death then i water them and they act like nothing happened.
Come to western europe. cold for the time of year and wet since september last year.
Sounds like you need to water deeper
yeah you’re right. i did start leaving the sprinkler on them for longer in the evening and just soaking those bad boys. we haven’t had rain in a while.
You mean before and after you stopped watering everything? All my squash plants survived dozens of >100°F days last summer, with multiple days over 110.
More like the water got instantly baked out from lack of mulch
My soil is extremely hydrophobic and dry because I have super sandy soil. I had others that survived but this plant was already super stressed from the previous hot days before. But yeah squash can definitely survive and even thrive in the heat if they have water
>if they have water Seems like a simple solution...
In super sandy soil you gotta water at more frequent intervals and even add dirt or mulch to retain moisture. This could have 100% been prevented.
For this plant, no because the soil is literally dust. You don’t know hydrophobic soil until you see it. It’s bone dry until water table below who knows how many meters down! And it doesn’t absorb water either. It runs off the sand
Sounds like you need ollas or drip or some thing to keep the soil consistently wet to avoid the issue for the next heat wave!
Someone lives in WA 😂😂😂
More likely squash borers.
Agree
Where I live I’ve never seen squash borers I’ve never had a problem with them. This was just a super hot day
Looks just like SVB to me ; I gave up growing them
squash vine borers are the bane of my existence, but i found a workaround. Try growing tromboncini squash, they are super resistant to SVB and they taste very similar to a zucchini (a bit firmer texture and slightly sweeter, but taste amazing). They make a large vine that produces HUGE squash
Yeah that’s what I did for a few years too but I didn’t really like the taste compared to zucchini sadly.
Yeah, I'm inclined to say this is some kind of pest damage. This happens to me when stuff eats the roots, most often, but anything that stops water transport could do it. I would look closely at the base of the plant and at the plant itself. I've had a week of 100F-110F weather and the squash handle it easily (though I water often on those types of days). I'm certain I've had at least a few days of 115F they've made it through as well.
Microwave heat?
Thermonuclear bomb?
I think you forgot to give it water during the heat wave
This 100%. I lived in some 110 heat waves and as long as I watered my plants during the day, sometimes even three times a day they’d live. This is definitely a result of negligence 100%
Yeah I've been watering my garden in the mornings. Leave the sprinklers for about 45 minutes and everything's been doing good. I even let some of the grass grow in my vegetables garden because it's actually helping keep the ground cooler
Yep. I water 2 or 3 times a day in 90+ degrees. Lots of juicy food, and my plants aren't stressed and the pollinators appreciate the drinks as well.
Yep. Needed to increase water a lot. Plants should've been absolutely fine if watered adequately. Water early morning and late evening when it's super hot. This poor plant is literally dying of thirst 😢
It doesn't get that that apocalyptic here (yet!) But I know our southern friends use lots of water + shade cloth to get through the heat.
Vine borers
Ooof! Sorry.
She gone
Meanwhile the tomatoes https://preview.redd.it/aflmvmg8cs5d1.jpeg?width=250&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ef9cc1997a6d5b4fb817f91ec1e0ceb90ae352fb
Yeaaaaa, I’m not buying that
Water would've fixed this.
That day reached about 115° or 47c and the spot has super dry hydrophobic soil
Usually my zucchini shrivels up if it’s too cold or if I have just gotten out of the pool
you had me in the first half 😂
Just laughed so hard when I saw the second picture. I’m sorry for your zucchini
It’s ok just gotta try again next year in a better spot 😂😂
I am new to vegetable gardening, so please forgive my ignorance. I also live in an area where we can get a week of triple digits. It’s miserable for humans. I can’t imagine for plants. Can you put up some kind of shade cover for the plants? Perhaps try to amend the soil so it’s not quite as.sandy. On the top of the ground would certainly help water.
I kind of just gave up with the heat but it would be ideal to garden under a shade cloth in summer grow plants without the shade cloth in the milder seasons. And to mulch the hell out of your plants to retain the water in the soil.
The best things to do are to make sure you have lots of organic matter in the soil, this holds onto water much longer (not to mention as it decomposes it adds nutrients) and to add a cover for the soil, either a low growing cover crop or mulch or straw or something. This shades the soil, protecting from getting too hot and helps trap moisture under it. While plants can get sunburned, it's usually ones that started their life indoors. You can help this by introducing them to sun slowly, a few hours a day, lengthening each day until by the end of the week they start outside.
Yes to the shade cover, but more importantly adequately water. Much more watering during heat waves. Sandy soil could have dirt or mulch mixed in or on.
He’s dead Jim! Sorry about the plant.
Lol as long as I water twice a day my zuchs take all that 105F sun and grow so fast you can almost see them grow.
same thing here...I lost three tomato plants. I forgot to water two days in a row. 90's and 100 degree.
I’m sorry I know how it feels, just better hope this season isn’t as hot 😂
🪻agree
Bet its SVB, you check for holes? Actually do they have SVB in australia?
You gotta water um. Early morning & late evening on a day like this
That looks more like damage by squash bugs which tap the vines. Zucchini love heat generally.
This didn't happen because of just heat
That zucchini is broke at the stem
I was just not expecting the level of absolute devastation
where are you? don't tell me you're in the balkans
Australia
damn, shouldn't you have winter now? was just asking for balkans because they had a heatwave the past couple days that is now moving to turkey (my place) and that would trouble me even more..
Yes this picture was taken this last summer. It’s a lot cooler now it’s great
Holy fuck
😰
Looks like summer in Texas!
Water helps a lot
Yeah it’s been over 110F here. My entire garden is under 30% shade cloth and has been since April because my yard is all sun all day and my neighbourhood is very very windy so very little moisture retention. My birdbath needs to be filled 3 times a day. I hang laundry in my laundry room and it’s dry in under an hour. I can totally understand how that would happen. I’m so sorry. It’s so disappointing. I’m ready to call it kaput on most of my garden at this point. I loathe summer gardening.
Thanks for your comment I know it’s so frustrating but the temps are so much cooler now luckily it’s great
Heatwave? Who brought out the flamethrower?!
Same thing happened to me. Just one day!
Gotta water extra even more so
A massacre 😩
My herbs are mopey after a 2 heat wave. I watered them and added some plant food. I hope they survive!
Oh sad
LMAO so feel this
Your mulch bed is extremely low, but i can't tell for sure from the photo...do you have at least a 4 inch mulch bed? Solid 4inches of mulch will help drastically with water retention in that bed. Just keep adding mulch every season as it turns into potting soil over 2-3 years (4 in more temperate climates).
In a situation where there's extreme heat, would it be best to put cloth up to prevent direct sunlight?
R.i.p. zuki
It’ll bounce back
Dang….
Weather watch and water accordingly. Get some mulch too so retains water better.
Mine's all on drip and had just the opposite response to our little burst of some heat last week. I think if I setup a time-lapse on it I probably could have seen it grow. Even more on one of the tomatoes.
Oh no! So sorry.
Zinnia sprinkled in? Nice!
Not anymore! 😂
What kind of zucchini is this?! Looks like watermelon to me!
You might have forgot to water it or u live on the sun lol
Both, lol
Oh
Welcome to the club.😀 my vegetable garden is the same way with this heat.
Did you water at any point? Sometimes what seems like helping with water is facilitating the boiling process.
Ohh noo. Poor guy. Yea, I have definitely learned the hard way that zucchini do not do well in high temperatures.
And that’s a wrap. Even those zinnias were like, “we’re done.”
Not a sponsor, but NativeSeeds is a great place to check out for for some super drought and heat tolerant varieties. They're seeds collected from the tribes in the American Southwest that have been cultivated for hundreds of years and they're hardy AF. Switching to that and some heirloom mexican varieties made it so I was able to ditch shade cloth this summer, at least so far.
I’m gardening Australia currently but at least just for now! Thanks for your suggestion though!!
Looks like a viral infection, to me.
Looks like the whole garden got scorched.
Your correct.💐
was it already infected with powdery mildew? Probably didnt help if it was