Garden Plants | Take Care In Heat Of Summer | LARRY CAPLAN
The ferocious heat has been taking a toll on people and pets, as well as our garden plants. Please remember to keep yourself hydrated while working in the garden and to take frequent breaks.
Don’t leave pets or kids in cars, or even out in the yard without access to water and shade.
If an ozone alert is issued, people with sensitive lungs should limit their outdoor time, especially between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when ozone levels will be at their highest. Avoid filling your gas tank or using the drive-thru during these alerts. You also should try to delay mowing or the use of other lawn equipment until either the morning or evening.
Lots of strange things are happening in the garden because of the heat. Tomatoes, peppers and beans often will stop blooming or producing fruit when the daytime temperatures exceed 95 degrees, or when the nighttime temperatures are above 75.
Any tomatoes that are on the plant tend to go into a holding pattern and don’t ripen. There are no magic sprays or treatments that can cure this. We just have to wait for the temperatures to cool off.
Tomatoes, peppers and, occasionally, squash will sometimes develop blossom end rot at this time. This is not a disease, but a condition caused by a temporary lack of water in the plant. The bottom (blossom end) of the fruit will develop a brown or black sunken, leathery lesion.
Blossom end rot can be controlled by not allowing the soil to dry out between
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