Comment by mythrwy

Comment by mythrwy 14 hours ago

You can, if you keep them cool with shade and water if it's not excessively humid.

I practice zone denial with a shade house and have things like rhubarb, cilantro and lettuce growing right now. It's been over 100F many days this summer and these would not make it outside. I also have many varieties of tomatoes and pretty sure I'm the only one the region who does because they would not set fruit outside in these temperatures.

If it's a dry climate and you have water and shade, you can turn it into a moderate or cool climate.

My tomatoes a week ago or so https://youtube.com/shorts/wRHiiCCICmc?feature=share

anon84873628 12 hours ago

Well ok, if you modify the environment to have a different climate then you can grow things that grow in that modified climate...

I don't know why the post title doesn't include the "Why" prefix from the source. Which is really a botany explanation rather than simple horticultural complaint.

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mythrwy 12 hours ago

Agreed. But I saw an opportunity to show off my awesome tomatoes! (which would not grow here without shade).

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foobarian 13 hours ago

I started a tomato patch in MA early on this season but they hardly grew and are just now delivering fruit. Are they negatively impacted by high temperatures? This is the first time I have a plot in full sun, and all instructions point to tomatos doing well in full sun, but I wonder if the sun was a bit too full this season :-D

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dgacmu 13 hours ago

1) did you start them indoors or buy seedlings? Getting a late start could delay things.
2) did you water them enough?
3) did you have good holes for them? Tomatoes do well if they can root deeply - giving them a 2-3' deep hole filled with good soil and compost helps.
4) cages: indeterminate tomatoes can grow huge, So give them a cage with plenty of space - the crap little cages you get at Home Depot do not suffice. If they were determinant, this does not apply.
Tomatoes do well in full sun but need quite a bit of water if it's dry. And possibly some calcium - we compost our egg shells as one source.

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- foobarian 12 hours ago
  
  Thanks for these insights!
  I did get seedlings this season, and even planted them mid May. I thought I did pretty well not being late this year.
  The only thing I can think of is not enough water; I had a thick layer (1-2 inch) of straw for mulch, and figured that would let me water less frequently. (Though I did do a finger check every few days).
  Interesting you mention the cherries; it's the only plant with fruit even this late in the season. The others are assorted regular size varieties like Cherokee or other heirloomy types.
  (edit: correction: it was mythrwy in the sibling comment that mentioned the cherry tomatoes! Thank you as well.)
  
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  dgacmu 12 hours ago
  
  Agreeing with you and mythrwy: in Pittsburgh, our cherry tomatoes have been gonzo the last few years and our heirlooms have been only middling productive.
  Which is annoying because they're so much more work to cook with. :)
  
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mythrwy 13 hours ago

It's kind of a fine line with tomatoes because they really really do not like cool nights nor cool soil.
But if it's too hot they will not set fruit. You get blooms but they just drop.
Some tomatoes are more adapted to cool and others to heat. I have found Roma and cherry tomatoes set in hotter temperatures (generally) than many others.

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bikelang 12 hours ago

Can you tell us a bit more about your greenhouse/hoop house? I’m in the CO front range - so very dry, cool nights, but quite hot in the sun. Our patio is getting re-done and I’m thinking about how I might rebuild our planters to better support growing tomatoes.

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mythrwy 11 hours ago

Sure. I intend to put it in a blog at some point.
I'm several hundred miles due south of you in SE New Mexico, also right along the rocky front range, so similar climate with intense sun and day/night temp swings, although we are much warmer obviously.
The frame of the shade house in the video is cattle panels and the cover is called "aluminet". The cattle panels are hooped and tied to a wooden frame with posts sunk in the ground. It started as a simple 10'x20' structure but I kept adding rooms and and other portions are not hoop type. Someone gave me a 10x10 frame that is very tall from an old "greenhouse" so I tacked that on. The doors are used screen doors also covered with aluminet. It's been an ongoing process over years. But it hasn't been expensive, I would say under $1000 for the entire structure including redoing the cover once. The cover is secured with a zillion zip ties and has nylon straps to keep it from flapping (we get extreme winds).
There is a lot more I could say on the subject but hopefully that gets you some things to look into.

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- bikelang 11 hours ago
  
  This is excellent - thank you. We have extreme wind as well - so that was a piece I’ve been trying to keep in mind.
  
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bix6 13 hours ago

Holy smokes those are massive!

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mythrwy 13 hours ago

Thanks!
I take the zone denial the other way as well and have tropical plants like banana, mango, dragon fruit, pineapple etc. that I protect in the winter from snow and freezing temperatures.

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- bix6 12 hours ago
  
  Don’t tempt me with mango! Where’d you learn the techniques?
  
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  mythrwy 10 hours ago
  
  Trial and error mostly although I have a degree in agronomy and worked in horticulture for a long time.
  
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  bix6 7 hours ago
  
  I’m on the right path then. I threw a bunch of seeds in this year and only the strong survived :p
  
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