Tips to help keep gardeners, gardens more comfortable in triple-digit weather
A shade cloth (or burlap or a lace tablecloth) hung on a tomato cage can protect developing fruit from sunburn during a heat emergency. Kathy Morrison
Are you ready for 109 degrees?
That’s the forecasted high for Sacramento on Saturday, says the National Weather Service. And that won’t be the only super-hot day. The Sacramento region will be under “Excessive Heat Watch” from 11 a.m. Friday through 8 p.m. Monday.
“Widespread MAJOR Heat Risk will impact our area this weekend,” tweeted the NWS Sacramento office on Tuesday. “This heat will be dangerous to anyone without proper hydration and cooling. Reconsider outdoor plans and if you must go outside, take frequent breaks in the shade and drink plenty of water.”
According to the NWS, the Sacramento region can expect “dangerously hot conditions with daytime high temperatures 98 to 113 with overnight lows in the upper 60s to low 80s possible.”
The heat watch includes a wide area: “Sacramento Valley, Northern San Joaquin Valley, Motherlode, Northeast Foothills, Burney Basin, Coastal Range, Delta, Shasta County Mountains, and portions of the West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada and Lassen/Western Plumas Counties for elevations below 4,500 feet.”
So even retreating up into the Sierra won’t bring much relief.
While people (and pets) can retreat indoors, our plants aren’t so lucky. Before Friday, make a point to deep water perennials, shrubs and trees.
Move potted plants into partial shade if possible. Containerized gardens may need daily watering during this heat wave.
Don’t let tomatoes, squash, peppers and other developing fruit dry out completely; that can lead to blossom end rot and other problems.
Here are more hot weather survival tips for gardeners and gardens:
* Stay hydrated! That applies to both you and your garden. Water early in the day – before 8 a.m. if possible – to cut down on evaporation.
* Cycle and soak. Water needs a chance to soak in, especially if you have clay soil. Otherwise, it will run off (and down the drain) instead of reaching roots. Run your irrigation for a short period. Wait an hour or two. Then, run your system again. The water from the second cycle will reach deeper than the first.
* Mulch, mulch, mulch! A layer of 3 inches of straw, wood chips, dried leaves or other organic material will keep soil and roots cooler while conserving moisture.
* Shade any sensitive plants and developing fruit on tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash. Your harvest can get sunburned. Protect from intense afternoon rays with temporary shade such as burlap draped over trellises.
* Wilting can be normal. Some big-leafed plants such as squash may seem to wilt every hot afternoon; that’s OK. They recover overnight. It’s when they’re still wilted in the morning that it’s a problem.
* Check the soil before you water. It may look dry on top, but still have enough moisture in the root zone 6 inches below the surface. Plants can suffer from too much water (especially in containers) as well as not enough.
Heat is often on the minds behind Sacramento Digs Gardening. Here are links to several past columns with heat-related advice:
-- Get Ready for Hot Days Ahead
-- Mulch is Good, and More Mulch is Better
-- 5 Hacks for Shading Your Precious Vegetables
-- Hot Tomato! How to Help Your Vines During High Heat
-- Speaking for the Trees: Don't Forget Them in This Heat
-- For Best Roses in Heat, Watch Water and Mites
And if you’re too late:
-- Rescuing a Heat-Stressed Plant
Finally, for the gardener:
--- Too Hot to Think? Follow These Tips
– Debbie Arrington and Kathy Morrison
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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