The 2011 New York City Heat Wave: Not Good For The Garden

You may have heard of, or been affected by, this heat wave that's been moving across the country recently. From what I read, New York City hit 104 degrees last week, and the heat and humidity lasted for so long that the 91-degree day we had this week felt like a cool rest from the heat. But here's the thing: I wasn't in NYC for any of this.

I took an 8-day roadtrip down the Pacific Coast Highway last week, driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a fancy new (rental) Mustang convertible, stopping at tiny towns along the way. And yes, it was fantastic, thank you for asking. A good friend offered to care for FarmTina the entire time I was away, and I was grateful for the help and felt a little guilty about leaving her with the daily responsibility. But then my guilt grew when, sometime in the middle of the week, I emerged from a tiny no-cell-service valley town to find texts from her that I had missed while in the dead zone: What special care does the garden need when it's over 100 degrees?

Honestly I had no idea what to tell her. I responded, water the plants multiple times each day, instead of just once. Water early in the morning so that the plants have time to absorb the water before the heat evaporates it away. I thought, move the plants, which are all growing in buckets, into the shade? But that seemed ridiculous, like one of those TSA 8-oz liquid rules that gives the appearance of doing something helpful but it really has no effect on anything.

My kind friend worked very hard to care for my babies, and I am so apologetic that she had to deal with the garden at its worst! Despite all her care and attentiveness, some of the plants didn't make it through the intense heat and sun. You might remember dear readers that this is the second disaster to strike FarmTina in the last year... Brooklyn tornado, anyone?

The wilting plant in the yellow bucket is my edamame, gone beyond repair. Bummer! That bucket is a found & reused Ikea metal trash can, and I'm sure that material contributed to heating up the soil beyond healthy levels. The second edamame plant to the right in a plastic pot is a little brown around the edges but salvageable. The eggplant (the other plastic pot and the black pot) are looking great and are still thriving and blooming!

My poor cucumbers! Before I left they were vining and looking healthy, but now they've totally collapsed. It looks like some cucumbers attempted to ripen during the extreme heat but eventually gave up when their vines died. However, the marigolds growing in the cucumber pots, which act as a natural deterrent to cucumber beetles, are doing fine.

 

The petunias in my pallet garden are totally withered, but the succulents planted in the same space are perfectly happy! They're native to hot weather climates.

My watermelons are all like, "Heat wave? What heat wave?" Just a brown leaf here and there but the melons are growing steadily.

I started pruning off the dry and dead pieces of my plants to save the healthy parts. Here's a peek at some of the aftermath, cut off of my sunflowers. But don't worry, the flowers themselves are doing ok...

They've grown taller than the 8-foot fence that surrounds my yard, and the blooms are following the sun as it moves across the sky all day. Thank goodness for sunflowers!

Let's do a quick check of my garden, shall we?

Gonna be fine

• tomatoes
• sunflowers
• eggplant
• watermelon
• lilies
• rosemary
• strawberries
• blueberries
• basil
• lemon tree

Might Pull Through

• apple tree
• string beans
• corn
• hydrangeas
• mint
• sage
• brussels sprouts
• edamame
• chives
• hot lemon peppers
• some morning glories
• salvia

Gone But Not Forgotten

• spaghetti squash
• lettuce
• cucumbers
• an entire wall of climbing morning glories

Has anyone else been affected by the heat wave? What are you doing to keep your plants healthy?

Comments

[Yana]

Martina your garden looks amazing!!!!! Where do u live now? I'm growing a bunch of stuff inmy backyard and it is THE best. Gardening is totally my new love! P.s that pallet planter is such an amazing idea!!!

[Jo Ann Fugazzotto]

My pepper plants grew too big for the space, so I decided to try to transplant them, in the 100 degree weather! I would douse with water each morning and evening, but when I came home from work, they were wilted. I was worried that I would loose the 5 plants that I moved. (my garden is planted directly into the soil). Luckily, my neighbor is retired and offered to water mid day, which is what they needed. Now, a week out of the heat wave, the pepper plants are all doing well and have many peppers on the plants. The rest of the plants did okay, but I did water twice per day.

Will you omit using metal planters in the future?

[Martina Fugazzotto]

Oh no, bad timing to transplant! Lucky you had good ole' Frank to help you water. I think plants directly in the ground retain more water and stay a little cooler than container plants. Are the rest of your plants ok?

I will definitely stop using metal buckets. No matter how many holes I drill in them for aeration, they get way too heated!

[Alay]

Right up my alley!I teach botany/environmental sccneie (and also forensics and biology...) and have a greenhouse attached to my room. The biggest problem I've encountered is that the school year and the growing season are direct opposites, since the school calendar was originally developed for farming societies.My students all brought home a bunch of their own plant starts, and they got to grow whatever they wanted throughout the year in the greenhouse. I do also have a few plans in the works:-the food/nutrition teacher and I want to do a joint project where we grow ingredients (say for salsa) and the food kids prepare meals. I think it would be awesome!-I want to take over the courtyard at school and plant a bunch of bulbs, corms, tubers, etc. in the fall when we talk about plant structure, and then all the kids will be able to see them come up in the spring.I developed this program over the past 4 years, but I must say that this involves a ton of work for the teachers, which I'm sure is part of why many schools are resistant. I spends so much time at the garden center, lugging soil up to the 3rd floor where my classroom and greenhouse are located, and then trying to clean out the place each year. We accept donations of people's plastic pots and half-used seed packs, so we try to be environmentally friendly that way. My big concern is that my botany program has grown from 9 kids my first year to about 75 next year, and space in the greenhouse becomes an issue. I'm looking into getting many more hanging pots and stackable shelving to make it work.It is so rewarding! So many of my students have reconnected with their parents and grandparents by helping them in the garden. They brag about how many peas they got, how big their tomato plants are. Some kids from last year even came in to show me pictures of how the plants did over the summer. I love this class!We also take a trip to my family's farm in the fall, have speakers come in to address the local foods movement (farmers, chefs, scientists, etc.).Sorry my comment was so long :)