KGP asks: How do you protect a vegetable garden from the heat in Oklahoma City?
I follow the planting guidelines provided by the OSU Coop Ext to make sure I plant the right kind of vegetables at the correct time of year but the heat kills everything – regardless of watering. I lived in the Northeast and never had a problem with a vegetable garden, but OKC gardening has got me beat at this point. How do you protect the plants from the heat?
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Answer by Schiller
It has nothing to do with the heat – I live in NW OK and have grown several different types of vegetables, without problems. It’s probably just a matter of under/over watering, and/or the type of vegetable you are trying to grow. I have a neighbor who successfully grows tomatoes, zuchinni, cucumbers, squash, and potatoes every summer. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to reach 105F or higher every summer, so the termperature isn’t a factor is raising vegetables, just a matter of soil quality and how you manage your garden.
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We live in the desert in Tucson, AZ. Always have a garden and when it gets hot it is really tough on all the plants. I mean dry hot like 110 degrees hot. We put some netting up to protect the tomatoes and also to keep the birds out and other pests like squirrels that will take a bite and ruin the fruits. The netting also gives some shade. Yes, if you recently moved to OK and gardening is somewhat different in all areas. We grow all the vegetables, flowers, tomatoes, cucumbers all on our mobile home lot in our backyard. We buy clean steer manure granulated every fall and dump several huge bags of it in the soil and let it sit in the soil for weeks or longer. By several I mean like about 20. You don’t want to plant much until it has soaked into the garden soil and you work the dirt and manure together. We’ve had a garden for 20 years and every yr it gets better and better. So if your area has not been gardened for a very long time it takes a couple years to build your soil into a good condition. Best of Luck to you and hope your garden grows good.
after watering very deeply put mulch around the plants, that will keep roots cool
Grow your plants in HydroHuts as it has a capacity to protect high intensity of sunlight
If you want to protect vegetable then you grow it inside means indoor gardening where you can give them artificial lighting which is provided equal amount of grow light to plants and that will never harm your plants. There are other many techniques which will help you to protect your vegetable.
I moved from the Northwest to a tropical climate and had the same problem. Tomatoes, peppers, even okra wilts here. Lots of mulch and temporary shade for the hot part of the afternoon. Stakes and cardboard or whatever I could find, made the difference. Not pretty but it works.