patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jul 1, 2023 15:49:44 GMT -5
I finally found out why, with all my efforts, I couldn’t grow toms in the desert heat. Always had beautiful plants and blossoms but no fruit. It turns out that consistent daytime temps over 90 and nighttime temps over 75 render the pollen produced by tomatoes sterile! Nothing to do about that, but I found a few heat tolerant tomatoes that will set fruit in the heat. I’ve started “Heat Master” in my bounty and plan on transplanting to a new Earthbox as soon as this horrible heat wave is over. There should be enough time left to grow and produce. There are a few other varieties available.. just do a google search… but lots are already sold out. I got my seeds from Burrell Seeds and they are doing great.
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airscapes
AGA Bounty
Lettuce eat Cake!
Posts: 642
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Post by airscapes on Jul 1, 2023 16:37:29 GMT -5
The other issue is they need high humidity .. 65% -85%.. Also night time temps need to drop into the 70s and upper 60s..
Good luck with your new find!
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846 
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Post by slw on Jul 1, 2023 17:50:00 GMT -5
I hope you have success with them, @patlab. I had to scrap most of my outdoor garden because of the excessive heat. I did get a bumper crop of pickling cucumbers and tomatoes from the spring planting, though. So we have pickles and salsa that I canned. The only things left out there now are some chives and a couple of pepper plants. I'd love to still have tomatoes but I'm going to wait till the fall.
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jul 1, 2023 18:31:20 GMT -5
I hope you have success with them, @patlab. I had to scrap most of my outdoor garden because of the excessive heat. I did get a bumper crop of pickling cucumbers and tomatoes from the spring planting, though. So we have pickles and salsa that I canned. The only things left out there now are some chives and a couple of pepper plants. I'd love to still have tomatoes but I'm going to wait till the fall. I am seriously surprised by the success I’m having with both summer and winter squash! I even have 3 mini spaghetti squash growing nicely! It’s also my 1st year for sweet potatoes which seem to be doing well. I guess the extreme heat is good for something! |
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jul 3, 2023 20:36:35 GMT -5
Well my EBs have arrived but with 115 daytime temps and 90 night temps I can’t even put the heat tolerant toms outside yet. They were getting pretty big in the bounty so I transplanted to pots and put them under a grow light. This heat wave should last about another week, then they will go outside.
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Post by lynnee on Jul 3, 2023 22:21:50 GMT -5
Sounds like a plan, patlab! Is a sustained 115-degree heat wave a new experience for you desert-dwellers? Wow, that's hot! I guess we'll be seeing more of it--I just read that the axis of the Earth has shifted, because of all the groundwater that's been pumped out of Western aquifers.  |
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jul 4, 2023 12:48:33 GMT -5
Sounds like a plan, patlab ! Is a sustained 115-degree heat wave a new experience for you desert-dwellers? Wow, that's hot! I guess we'll be seeing more of it--I just read that the axis of the Earth has shifted, because of all the groundwater that's been pumped out of Western aquifers. Well, it’s not uncommon to see 110 this time of year, but this is extreme and lasting forever it seems! Last nights low was 90 degrees! |
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Post by lynnee on Jul 4, 2023 13:00:24 GMT -5
How awful, patlab! My AZ and NM relatives would always say, "But it's dry heat." Still.  |
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jul 4, 2023 14:12:08 GMT -5
How awful, patlab ! My AZ and NM relatives would always say, "But it's dry heat." Still. So is an oven! |
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 4, 2023 16:45:22 GMT -5
Houston is a sauna. We do NOT have "dry heat" by any stretch of the imagination... high humidity is really a drag when it's 103 outside. Just miserable. |
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 25, 2023 19:26:38 GMT -5
@patlab -- any updates on the tomatoes? I'm curious about how they held up if you moved them outside.
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Post by lynnee on Jul 25, 2023 23:15:40 GMT -5
slw, I grew up in Omaha, right by the Missouri River, so I know all about 106 degrees with 100% daytime humidity! Fortunately we had only a couple of 105-106 degree days each summer. Keeping fingers crossed that the current extreme heat across the U.S. won't be a regular thing. And that it will ease up soon! 
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patlab
AGA Sprout
Gardening is cheaper than therapy…. And you get tomatoes!
Posts: 80
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Post by patlab on Jul 26, 2023 8:23:35 GMT -5
@patlab -- any updates on the tomatoes? I'm curious about how they held up if you moved them outside. I was trying to wait to see if the heat would get any better LOL! Anyway they are outside now because they were getting too big for the house. So far so good. |
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 846
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Post by slw on Jul 26, 2023 11:59:36 GMT -5
patlab -- I hear ya on the heat. I moved a cucumber outside a couple of days ago and it has been very unhappy. I moved it into the shade and keep it watered; it appears to be perking up slightly today. Like you said earlier, the hot NIGHTS are probably the biggest problem--no relief from this heat. I hope your tomato makes it.
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