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| I'm container growing my veggies for the first time. Someone gave me alot of free nursery cloth. I have that on the ground with my veggie pots (3 gallon and larger) on top of it. My summer squash and tomatoes are wilting from the heat. I want to use the cloth, but what can I do to help my poor babies survive? We just had our first 90+ day. TIA! |
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| Fabricate some sort of canopy to suspend that shade cloth over your plants to provide some sun relief. Having the cloth underneath the pots is bass-ackwards of what you need. You could also put them in a spot where they don't get hammered by strong, afternoon sun. Joe |
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| The cloth is called ground cloth. It is what the nurseries use to keep the weeds away. I will try and find some shade cloth. Thanks! |
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| Ahhh, ok. I read "nursery cloth" and instantly thought of the stuff they make canopies with. |
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- Posted by greentiger87 none (My Page) on Mon, May 7, 12 at 21:47
| Summer squash and tomatoes should not be wilting just because of above 90 temps... there's something else going on. Container size: 3 gallons is just too small for tomatoes. 5 gallons is the minimum, and I generally use 20 gallon tubs. Transplant shock: did you just transplant them? They should be in partial shade until they establish. Watering frequency: When first establishing, you may have to water transplants several times a day. In such small pots, you may not be able to get away with watering just once a day as the plant gets bigger... tomatoes pull a LOT of water as the summer goes on. Root temps: Even when a plant is adequately watered, the roots can bake in the summer heat, causing a variety of problems. Small and dark colored pots aggravate this. Solutions include insulated pots, unglazed terra cotta pots, much larger pots, shading the pot with a some kind of box structure, spray painting pots white, using a pot-in-pot system with mulch as an insulator between the two pots. Pests: Check for destroyed stems at the base of your squash plant, as sudden wilting can be indicative of squash borers. |
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| They look fine today. Thanks for the info! |
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