Watering notes for a hot day

June 4, 2009 in Grow It Yourself | No comments

It’s gonna be a hot one. Supposed to hit 90 degrees here in Seattle today, so a few words about watering and coping with hot, cranky vegetables.

First, when you get up in the morning, water the heck out of those plants.

When it’s this hot they will take all the moisture they can get and will probably be ready for more tomorrow. Watering everyday in this heat is important (but do check to make sure you definitely need to - gently dig down around the plant roots to see if it is moist or not. Your goal is to have the water penetrate right down into the root zone).

I also give the lettuce - and only the lettuce - a shot of water from the top with the watering can. I don’t know if it helps, but it sure makes me feel better.

Early morning watering is best, but can be tricky when you’re getting ready for work, so watering in the evening is also ok. The reason why watering in the evening isn’t as ideal as the morning is because plants that sit through the cool night with water on their leaves are more susceptible to fungal diseases.

If you have plants in containers, you definitely want to water everyday on hot days like this. Pour it in until water runs out the holes in the bottom of the container.

Plants get the blues, too

In the heat of the day - noon/afternoon - your plants will start to flag and look a bit wilted. Don’t panic - they are not dying and will perk up later in the day when the sun starts to go down and it cools off a bit.

When they are floppy and sad in the hot sun, resist the almost-impossible urge to water them. Getting sprayed unannounced with cold water can be quite the shock, and they’re already having a rough day.

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Put yourself in your plant’s shoes.

Harvesting in the heat

If you were to pick food like lettuce in the heat of the day, the leaves would be rather warm and floppy instead of crisp and alert. Like watering, you should pick food in the morning or evening for best results. We don’t live in a perfect world though, and if you forgot to pick lettuce for your lunch date with grandma, then you can revive the leaves by soaking them in a bowl of ice water for a little while.