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| Potted eggplant with petunia |
Sunday, July 2, 2023
We are into the hot, humid and dry summer days in our Midwest edible garden. There are many crops that thrive in this weather as long as they get adequate moisture. For some edibles like Mediterranean herbs, they'll do well even without watering. Others like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, eggplant and beans will produce much more with supplemental watering as needed during dry spells.
Heat Tolerant Edibles
Most culinary herbs that we are familiar with hail from the Mediterranean region. Rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, oregano, fennel and basil all do well being left on their own. Watering and fertilizing will increase basil growth. The other herbs have more intense flavor without watering and are best harvested in the late afternoon when their oils are at the most intense.
Another favorite herb cilantro bolts as soon as it gets above 80 and produces seeds. The seeds are called coriander as a spice. You can let the plant go to seed, harvest some and let some go to self-sow for a second crop.
The edible garden favorites of tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash all originated in southern US, Central America Mexico, and northern South America so all native to dry, warm weather regions. They will all do well in our hot, dry summers.
Tomatoes and squash are susceptible to the fungal diseases that come with our humidity. Watering early and not on the leaves along with keeping the soil covered and the plants off the ground will all help keep fungal disease at bay. Planting crop varieties that are resistance to disease is another smart strategy if you experience issues. Ask at your local farmers market which varieties work best in our area. You can also spray natural fungicides as a preventative.
Cucumbers and eggplant are from India so are not as susceptible to fungal diseases. I have not seen any disease on peppers or eggplant. I have seen some powdery mildew on cucumber leaves but it doesn't appear to effect production.
In the fruit department, figs and blackberries seem to love hot weather. Blackberries are ripening now. They grow wild everywhere around here. I have not seen any disease on them. They are native to this area. Figs are native to western China and the Mediterranean areas. They do very well in our summers. There are varieties like Chicago fig that are supposed to be hardy down to Zone 6. They will survive for a few winters outdoors with protection but when we have a long warm spell in late winter followed by a really frigid cold, this kills the tree even with straw covering. To be on the safe side, grow them in a pot and overwinter inside. I have done this for years successfully. Another option is to grow in a greenhouse.
There are a few options that love the heat in the greens department. I grow orach, amaranth, sprouting broccoli, Chinese cabbage, select varieties of large leaved mustard, Red Malabar spinach and New Zealand spinach. I practice succession planting for lettuce with the most heat tolerant varieties I have found. During the summer, lettuce just doesn't last long before going to seed.
Beat the Heat Strategies
Aside from planting crops that like the heat and humidity, there are strategies for keeping summer maintenance at a minimum and maximizing the harvest. The requirements for growth and fruiting of edibles are enough sun, adequate moisture, the right varieties, nutrition, and pest avoidance.
In the cooler days of spring, giving your plants as much sunshine as you can, stimulates growth. As the mercury climbs, plants appreciate some shade, particularly in the hottest part of the day. If you are growing in pots, you can just move the pot from a full sun location to one that provides some afternoon shade. If growing in the garden bed, you can grow plants that grow taller on the sun side of your edibles to provide shade as summer progresses. You can also move pots of sun lovers in front of your edibles or use a sun shade.
Most edibles appreciate about an inch of water each week if they are planted in the ground; double that if grown in a pot. To keep the moisture in the soil, use a soaker hose and cover with a mulch. This keeps the water in the ground where the plants can use it. Keep a log of when it rains and how much it has rained. You don't need to water if you have gotten 1" of rain during the week. You can also buy a timer and set it to water once a week so you don't forget.
For edibles in pots, use larger pots that hold more soil and therefore more moisture, buy pots that have a water reservoir (also called self-watering pot). Cover the soil with mulch to keep the moisture from evaporating. You can also use lighter colored pots and plastic or fiberglass pots that keep moisture in. Moving the pots to a shadier location will also decrease the watering needs.
Also look for varieties that are grown in your area or under similar conditions to your garden. You can google where the seed company grows their seeds or buy from companies that specialize in garden varieties that do well in your conditions. For me, Baker Creek grows many of their seeds in southwest Missouri and Southern Exposure specializes in varieties for the south so both are good fits for my garden conditions.
Look at the seed packet or internet description for the variety you are buying. Terms like "drought tolerant", "heat resistant", "disease resistant" are all good ones for our hot and humid summer conditions.
Keeping your plants well fed so that they have everything they need to grow well also helps plants stay strong and produce as much as possible. For greens, they use a lot of nitrogen. For fruiting plans, they need all 3 of the NPK combo. You can use a general fertilizer for greens and a tomato fertilizer for all fruiting vegetable plants. Typically for fruiting plants, you fertilize when you transplant, again when the plant flowers and then monthly thereafter. For greens, I fertilize at planting and then monthly.
You can buy all natural fertilizer stakes that advertise to be good for the whole season so you can fertilize once.
Harvesting frequently also stimulates that plant to keep producing. I pick beans, eggplant, squash and cucumbers when they are fully ripe. I pick tomatoes and peppers just when they start to turn. If I leave tomatoes on the plant until they are fully ripe, the birds and raccoons start sampling before I get them picked!
Last is pest avoidance. There are a variety of ways to practice pest avoidance. You can companion plant so one plant deters another's pests like tomatoes with basil and marigolds. You can time your planting to avoid a pest like waiting until mid June to plant squash to avoid the vine borer or harvesting broccoli as soon as you see the cabbage worm moth fluttering about. You can plant two crops of tomatoes and squash so that as the early crop is losing steam, the second crop is just getting going.
Take a walk around the garden on a daily basis looking for any big changes in your plants. If they are drooping in the morning, they may need a watering. If the leaves have turned from dark green to a pale green, they may need a nitrogen boost. If it looks like something has been eating the leaves, look to see if there are caterpillars on the undersides of the leaves. And, of course, harvest anything that is ready to be picked and enjoy the pleasure of watching your food grow!
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