Hello,
I have been experimenting with 2 raised beds in full sun. The soil quality is on the clay side, however, we have amended it with some good organic compost around our plants. I noticed that some vegetables were not able to handle the full sun exposure in their early weeks and never made it passed a couple inches. We watered twice daily.
Would you recommend setting up some kind of shade or sun filtering cloth when the plants are still young?
Thank you for any advice you may be able to provide.
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jgessentials
- Newly Registered
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- Location: Oak View Southern California - Zone 9b
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ElizabethB
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2105
- Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:53 am
- Location: Lafayette, LA
Most vegetables require full sun - 6+ hours. Your issue may be soil rather than sun. Clay is not at all conducive to plant growth. I have practiced SFG for years in ground level boxes and now in table height boxes. An excellent raised bed mix is 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat and 1/3 horticultural vermiculite. It is a little pricy to start but it is once and done. Yu will have wonderful soil for years to come.
Oh - welcome to the forum
Good luck
Oh - welcome to the forum
Good luck
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Agree, there are hardly any garden questions that can be discussed without regard to location and climate/weather. Full sun in Texas is very different from full sun in Minnesota (not to mention Norway and New Zealand, we do have folks writing in here from all over the world). You also didn't tell us what vegetables you are talking about. Different veggies have very different requirements.
But not getting past two inches high sounds like something serious wrong and not most likely too much sun. Too much sun would lead to symptoms of drying out, wilting, getting sunburned, etc.
Twice a day sounds like a lot of water, but again that depends on whether you are pouring water on them or lightly sprinkling, in which case it could possibly be not enough water. Do they show any other symptoms? Yellowing? Wilting?
Pictures always help, both of your plants and your soil.
Best Wishes! If you give us enough information to go on, we will be glad to try and help!
But not getting past two inches high sounds like something serious wrong and not most likely too much sun. Too much sun would lead to symptoms of drying out, wilting, getting sunburned, etc.
Twice a day sounds like a lot of water, but again that depends on whether you are pouring water on them or lightly sprinkling, in which case it could possibly be not enough water. Do they show any other symptoms? Yellowing? Wilting?
Pictures always help, both of your plants and your soil.
Best Wishes! If you give us enough information to go on, we will be glad to try and help!
Location does matter. Season matters as well. If you are growing lettuce in summer in 90+ degree temperatures, it is going to tipburn and bolt very quickly. Cool season crops like lettuce, cilantro, kale, peas, broccoli and other leaf crops need cooler temperatures to produce well. Warm season crops like temps between 70-80 degrees. Warm season crops are corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, cucumbers, and beans. Some crops like onion and garlic have planting times and varieties that are dependent on your day length so need to be planted at the right time of the year.
In most area July and August are not the best times to be planting. It is a good time to do other chores like prepping for a fall garden and solarizing.
Shading does help some plants that are marginal in high temperatures that are over 90 degrees. However, shading will provide only about a 10 degree abatement. It will be more humid under shade cloth, and the heavier shade cloth will block more light and that will make plants grow taller but not as full.
If you your temperatures are higher than 100 degrees. Even shading will not help the more heat sensitive plants. You can help cool plants down in summer by misting at mid day.
In summer grow warm season vegetables, but mulch and provide adequate water: Corn, heat resistant tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, cucumber, melons, squash, zucchini, long beans, eggplant, peppers, green onions, okra, kale and collards (partial shade), beets (partial shade), swiss chard, perpetual spinach, herbs: rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, bush beans, winter melons and squash, potatoes, sweet potato, vegetable amaranth, spinach substitutes NZ hot weather spinach or malabar spinach, sunflowers, ginger(in pots in partial shade). Asian vegetables are more adapted to growing in warmer conditions.
I can grow some of the more heat tolerant greens in partial shade in summer. My temps rarely get above 91 degrees, because humidity is high. I grow leafy greens under trees or in the shade of taller plants. I am growing heat tolerant lettuce and spinach substitutes. Asian vegetables are more adapted to my hot and humid conditions than temperate vegetables. However, kale does remarkably well, although it does taste better in cooler weather.
If you are trying to grow anything in 90+ temperatures, they need to be heat tolerant. Most tomatoes will stop producing in temps over 90 degrees although there are some varieties that tolerate higher temps and cherries do better in the heat than larger tomatoes. You need to mulch and water more in the heat so you need to plant at the right time and water deeply so the plants can survive in the heat. In very hot areas, shading does help, but results will be better if you plant what is locally adapted to your area or your microclimate and at the right time of the year.
https://www.grangettos.com/assets/produc ... gGuide.pdf
https://www.sunset.com/garden/garden-bas ... checklists
https://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/tro ... ables.html
In most area July and August are not the best times to be planting. It is a good time to do other chores like prepping for a fall garden and solarizing.
Shading does help some plants that are marginal in high temperatures that are over 90 degrees. However, shading will provide only about a 10 degree abatement. It will be more humid under shade cloth, and the heavier shade cloth will block more light and that will make plants grow taller but not as full.
If you your temperatures are higher than 100 degrees. Even shading will not help the more heat sensitive plants. You can help cool plants down in summer by misting at mid day.
In summer grow warm season vegetables, but mulch and provide adequate water: Corn, heat resistant tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, cucumber, melons, squash, zucchini, long beans, eggplant, peppers, green onions, okra, kale and collards (partial shade), beets (partial shade), swiss chard, perpetual spinach, herbs: rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, bush beans, winter melons and squash, potatoes, sweet potato, vegetable amaranth, spinach substitutes NZ hot weather spinach or malabar spinach, sunflowers, ginger(in pots in partial shade). Asian vegetables are more adapted to growing in warmer conditions.
I can grow some of the more heat tolerant greens in partial shade in summer. My temps rarely get above 91 degrees, because humidity is high. I grow leafy greens under trees or in the shade of taller plants. I am growing heat tolerant lettuce and spinach substitutes. Asian vegetables are more adapted to my hot and humid conditions than temperate vegetables. However, kale does remarkably well, although it does taste better in cooler weather.
If you are trying to grow anything in 90+ temperatures, they need to be heat tolerant. Most tomatoes will stop producing in temps over 90 degrees although there are some varieties that tolerate higher temps and cherries do better in the heat than larger tomatoes. You need to mulch and water more in the heat so you need to plant at the right time and water deeply so the plants can survive in the heat. In very hot areas, shading does help, but results will be better if you plant what is locally adapted to your area or your microclimate and at the right time of the year.
https://www.grangettos.com/assets/produc ... gGuide.pdf
https://www.sunset.com/garden/garden-bas ... checklists
https://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/tro ... ables.html