Helping your Tomatoes Survive A Brutal Summer

Baby it's HOT outside!  When I shot my most recent video it was 107 degrees at the end of production.  That makes for bad plant AND gardener stress. ;-)

Click for new video: Tomato Heat Wave Survival & Shade Cloth

 

 

In this video, I cover a few easy tips for helping your tomatoes make it through summer heat waves.

 

We install shade cloth on the greenhouse frame:

 

I talk about the importance of mulching your root zones:

 

 

 Proper watering through the heat wave:

 

And getting ripe and nearly ripe fruit off the vine, so the plant can have energy needed to survive:

 

 

 

I also discuss pruning and when to do it.  You might be surprised at when you should and shouldn't prune dead leaves.  

 

I also offer the following links for the shade cloth and clips to hold it to 1/2" Electrical Metal Conduit:

 

This is the shade cloth I'm using (I found it at Amazon.com)...

24x250 Fabric Frost Blanket/shade cloth ($124.25)

 They also offer a cheaper, but narrower version here...

6’x250 Fabric Frost Blanket/shade cloth ($34.25)

 

Clips for ½” Electrical Metal Conduit (EMT):

These are available via Johhny's Select Seeds.  Click the pic to check 'em out.

 

 

Following these simple tips can help your plants come out of the heat wave ready to produce at their full potential and minimize setbacks.