Green Thumb: Looking ahead to the Summer vegetable garden
Tom Glasgow
In last week’s discussion of cold weather protection for the winter vegetable garden, I mentioned that hot weather brings challenges as well. We naturally associate summer heat with increased disease, insect and weed pressure. But heat also represents a physiological stress, with high temperatures impacting both fruit set and fruit quality.
In a July 2016 article, Area Extension Agent Lisa Rayburn notes that as daytime temperatures rise over 90ºF to 95ºF and nighttime temperatures above 70º to 75º, fruit set in many vegetables declines and in some cases stops. This is partially due to poor pollen or sterile pollen production warm nights. As Lisa observes, this is a very common issue in coastal areas where the evenings do tend to stay warm.