Too Hot??

[AL]

I have my garden plot tilled and now I am wondering is it just too hot for tender young plants? I want to plant southern peas, okra, corn, pumpkins and MAYBE try tomatoes again (didn't have much luck with those 1st go 'round). I am in zone 8b and my "what to plant now" from mother earth news names these things. It just seems awfully hot

 

[Jaxom]

I'm no expert, just going by past experiences, but some plants actually love it hotter. The key is how much water they get while it's hot. Unless you're under a watering ban, I'd give it another try. Would help to ask local nurseries which strains can tollerate heat better then others.

 

[Wifezilla]

Tomatoes like the heat. Peas, not so much.

 

[big brown horse]

Okra for sure. You will have okra coming out of your wazoo in no time. Ever have crunchy/dehydrated, seasoned okra? YUM! Fried okra and pickled okra are good too.

Also, peppers and cilantro love the heat. You could make a nice salsa garden like I used to do when I lived in Houston.

Just keep on top of the watering when you are in between hurricanes and tropical storms.

 

[AL]

Thanks everyone

So I guess I will go ahead and finish prepping the lot - including getting some soaker hoses and straw bales. I really would like to "graduate" to gardening for food provision, but right now I think my family would starve

 

[big brown horse]

Don't feel bad. I hate the heat and rarely "gardened" in Houston in the summer. My summer salsa and herb gardens had to tough it out, surviving only on watering; no weeding or anything else that required more than about 3 minutes a day right before dark.

Look at it this way, you will have a nice bed etc ready for the fall season... I gardened more in the spring, winter and fall than I did all summer back in TX.

 

[big brown horse]

One more thing, you might want to water twice a day, morning and evening.

 

[AL]

...
Just keep on top of the watering when you are in between hurricanes and tropical storms.

ROFL somehow I missed this originally!! I have been thinking along those lines as well, because I sure would hate to spend $, time and effort just to watch my corn / etc blowing down the street.

I actually don't mind working in the heat - I am not one to go out in it for "fun" though. I love the feeling of accomplishment - spending the whole hot morning getting dirty in the garden / barn, then rinsing off jsut enough to enjoy a light lunch of tomato sandwich and maybe some melon.....

 

[ranchhand]

Go for it! We are constantly replanting here in coastal SC, with the alternating hot and muggy to pouring buckets of rain. It's a challenge. And the bugs...

Yellow squash does well, tomatoes, hot peppers, cucumbers, potatoes- all of are coming in well right now. Southern peas will be fine - we're getting a lot of purple hull peas!

 

[AL]

Go for it! We are constantly replanting here in coastal SC, with the alternating hot and muggy to pouring buckets of rain. It's a challenge. And the bugs...

Yellow squash does well, tomatoes, hot peppers, cucumbers, potatoes- all of are coming in well right now. Southern peas will be fine - we're getting a lot of purple hull peas!

I LOVED my purple hulls! they were going like crazy... and then they started drying on the plant faster than I could pick them.


I decided at the minimum I would plant okra now and then maybe wait until first of August for the rest... and can I find okra anywhere in this town??? that would be an all caps NO.