Heat Tolerant Vegetable Garden

Selecting Heat-Tolerant Vegetables

• Choose vegetable varieties known for heat tolerance. Find this information on seed packets or catalogs. Some vegetables known for their heat tolerance include Swiss chard, carrots, beans, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Saving seed from plants in your garden that thrive during periods of extreme heat is another way of ensuring the plants you grow in the future can handle the kind of temperatures that occur where you live.

Mulch

• Mulch beats the heat and keeping your vegetable plants’ roots cool. Spread a 3-inch layer over the plants' roots, while not directly touching the plants' stems. Compost is best because it is free and provides nutrients to the soil’s top making them readily available to the plants' roots. Bark chips, shredded newspaper and straw choke out weeds and keep the plants' roots cool. These materials break down in time, enriching the soil.

Create Artificial Shade

• Create artificial shade. An area that a few degrees cooler makes a big difference when it comes to keeping plants thriving during periods of extreme heat. Wood or plastic lattice strategically placed above or on one side casts some shade onto the plants. Once the soil below stops getting full sun, it cools down. Make sure the plant receives enough natural sunlight to thrive, but not so much that it burns up.

Irrigation

• Water cools the soil. The cooler the soil, the better the plants perform. Automatic irrigation such as soaker hoses set up on a timer to turn on and off two to three times a day is ideal. Run the soaker hoses for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Keep the soil’s top layer of the soil where the roots are moist. Water early in the day, so that the soil’s top and the plants' foliage are dry before the cool evening temperatures set in. This prevents disease problems. If you have no other choice but to water in the early evening, keep the water off the plants foliage.