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potager_newbie

What Beats the Heat?

potager_newbie
13 years ago

I live in the Dallas, TX area, and am about to loose a decent percent of producing veggie plants due to the heat, and was wondering: does anyone have suggestions for other annuals (veggies, flowers, herbs, anything...) that could replace my pole beans, spinach, and radishes that are ramping down & bolting due to the climbing temps? What could I plant in the empty spaces right now to bridge the gap between spring and fall planting? Will anything even establish itself if planted right now, when temps don't get much lower than 80 degrees at night and get past 95-100 during the day?

Comments (7)

  • ali-b
    13 years ago

    While I'm in zone 6, I did bush beans during the hottest part of summer last year. I planted about 3 weeks apart in alternate short rows. As one ended production, I had another set just coming in. Zinnias also grow pretty fast. Squash are heat lovers too.

    Have you tried some kind of shading method? In a magazine article, one gardener just set up a patio umbrella to offer shade during the hottest part of the day.

  • tracydr
    13 years ago

    Okra, eggplant, Armenian cukes, sweet potato. Hot peppers do well but may stop producing until it cools down.
    My eggplant slowed down last summer but we've been up tp 110 this summer and they are going strong. Probably keep producing unless you get highs above 110.
    Basil likes the heat and sun too.

  • natal
    13 years ago

    I pulled most of my tomato plants last week ... a few weeks earlier than normal. Bad stink bug infestation this year.

    I've since seeded burgundy okra ... we don't eat it, but I've heard the plants are pretty. And who knows maybe I'll try roasting it and learn to like it. I also seeded more lettuce leaf basil, zinnias, and cosmos. Stuck an obelisk in one of the beds and sowed moonflower vine seeds. Everything has already come up.

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    13 years ago

    You could also try New Zealand spinach, it does well in the heat.

  • Donna
    13 years ago

    I planted another bed of cowpeas this week. The hotter it gets the easier they are to grow. If you have only had the kind from the grocery, you're in for a treat. I crave them as much as I crave tomatoes! I also planted Armenian cucumbers on Saturday. As of today, I have the following growing well: tomatoes (Celebrity, Rutgers, Homestead, Costoluto Genovese, Yellow Pear), Eggplant, cucumbers, four kinds of squash (yellow, Romanesco, Tatume, Delicata), three kinds of cowpeas that were planted six weeks apart (Mississippi Cream, White Butterpeas, Pink Eye Purple Hull), two kinds of pole beans (Kentucky Wonder and Louisiana Purple), cantaloupe.

    Our summer growing season is very long. I have already harvested and pulled out bush beans, replanting with the third crop of cowpeas. You have plenty of time for anything on the list above to make, although some of the tomatoes may not produce as heavily in the heat. In particular, the following are high heat lovers: cowpeas, lima beans, butterpeas, okra, eggplant, peppers, squash, cucumbers. The trick is to keep them well watered (water and mulch!), well fertilized, pests controlled, and well picked. If you have a way to provide a bit of afternoon shade that doesn't hurt either.

    For your planning next year, lettuce, radishes, English Peas, greens, carrots, spinach, and the like, are cool season crops. I planted Sugar Snap Peas in mid February this year and got about 4 to 6 weeks of harvest in March and April before it started heating up. I harvested lettuce, greens, onions, carrots all winter long from a fall planting. I could have, and will next year, planted some more of them in early March for harvest through sometime in May.

    My daughter lives in Fort Worth. As best I can tell, our climates are virtually identical.

  • potager_newbie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you for all the tips! It is so discouraging to watch things wilt and die, but you all have given me new inspiration! ...and shading during the hottest part of the day is a great idea! Thanks!

  • potager_newbie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you for all the tips! It is so discouraging to watch things wilt and die, but you all have given me new inspiration! ...and shading during the hottest part of the day is a great idea! Thanks!

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