10 Summer Garden Survival Tips For Hot Climate Gardeners - Strategies For A Successful Summer Garden

hello Gardner welcome to my Channel today I want to share with you my top 10 tips to make summer gardening as easy as possible or ways to combat the issues you're going to face like Pest and diseases I'm an expert at gardening in the heat so I have lots of advice if you're new here hello and welcome my name is Jara I've been gardening all of my life and I'm a professional seed and plant nursery I love to share my knowledge and teach others how to garden and grow food so you've come to the right place if you want to improve your gardening skills all right let's get started with my summer garden survival tips right off the bat tip number one I want to start with Pest Management people ask me all the time how do I not have pest in my garden and that simply is not true I get all the pest just like the rest of you I just know how to manage them organically the first thing you need to do is identify what kind of pest you have so you can choose the correct treatment if it's a chewing insect like worms or caterpillars that e leaves use BT which is an organic spray BT is a bacteria that is sprayed on the surface of the leaves when the worms or caterpillars eat the leaves coated with this bacteria it disrupts their digestive system and basic Al kills them so BT is only effective against pests that will eat it or chew the leaves some worms are a little tougher than most like the corn ear worm so you spin a sad for those instead if you're dealing with a sucking insect like aphids spidermites and soft bodied insects like white flies then use spin aad neem or organic insect toetal so these are sucking insects not chewing insects like the caterpillars so treatments that kill soft bodied insects on contact are effective here if you're dealing with a sucking insect that has a hard shell like stink bugs squash bugs or Leaf footed bugs you're going to have to manually remove them off your plants their hard shells protect them from sprays wear some gloves and drop them into a bucket of soapy water or vacuum them up with a hand vacuum spinosad will kill their nymphs on contact which are gray or red and black and color because they don't have their hard shells yet you can also squish their egg clusters which look like this if you find them on the underside of the leaves I also recommend for everyone to install a few bird feeders and water fountains to attract birds because Birds along with spiders frogs and lizards eat Leaf footed bugs I had a really bad Leaf footed bug infestation and then all of a sudden they were gone I'm pretty sure the birds ate them tip number two is all about managing plant diseases you need to look at plant diseases just like you do the human ones it's caused by some sort of a pathogen most of the time it can be like a mold like white mold stem rot or a fungus like powdery Milo and blight a bacteria like the kind that caused tomato bacterial Wilt or a virus like the one that causes the Cucumber mosaic virus for the most part diseases are caused by wet conditions or not enough air flow so space plants appropriately and vertical garden as much as possible to keep the leaves as dry as possible also pruning out heavily diseased leaves helps to slow down the spread here in Florida I get all the diseases so I don't waste my time fussing over trying to identify which one because the majority of them are pathogens that survive and spread on the surface of the leaves I like to spray with one cup of hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water when I noticed them hydrogen peroxide kills a lot of different kinds of pathogens right so it works great on plants too I spray every 5 days or so until I see the progression of the disease has stopped if it's raining a lot I might increase to every 3 days if that doesn't improve the situation then I start putting more effort into trying to identify what it is some diseases are in the soil and get inside of the plant stems through their Roots an example is the bacteria or sometimes viruses that cause tomato Wilt there is no treatment or cure for these types of systemic diseases it is best to remove the plant and throw it in the trash it will not heal and come back it is now a host for this pathogen and will cause it to continue to spread pour boiling hot water in the planting hole after taking the plant out I used to have a pretty bad tomato Wilt that would always take out a couple of my tomato plants last summer I solarized a significant portion of my garden which heats up the soil and kills a lot of pathogens I didn't lose one single tomato that I planted in the fall all the way up until now to Tomato Wilt so it definitely works tip number three I mentioned earlier is to vertical garden as much as possible summer is when diseases and pests are at their Max I mentioned vertical gardening to help keep plant leaves as dry as possible but it also helps pick plants up from the ground making it harder for pest to get on them there are so many ways you can vertical garden I build a trellis using toost and electrical conduit pipes I bend 4ft wide metal fencing that I buy in a roll and I tie it to toost to make some arches I can't fit cattle panels in my car otherwise I would make the Arches with those instead my favorite vertical garden setup is my greenstock Garden Towers I got some for the first time last fall and I'm obsessed you can grow practically anything in these the fourth tip has to do with watering plants the best time to water plants is in the morning before 9:00 a.m. if possible that way the leaves dry fast if you water at night the leaves stay wet longer and most pathogens that cause diseases spread when things are wet or humid plus watering in the morning ensures there is water available to help plants get through the afternoon which is the hottest part of the day plants that constantly Wilt due to lack of water get stressed out which attracts Pest and lowers their immune system which decreases their ability to fight off diseases if you can't be out there handw Watering your plants all the time then maybe it would be a good idea to install a drip irrigation system I was able to quickly install my drip irrigation system using a kit from drip depot.com I'll put a link to that tutorial Below in the description if you want to see step by step how I installed it I then hooked it up to a raino automatic water timer this comes with a free app on my phone no subscription where I program my watering schedule I know my plants are watered even if I go on vacation I also have an automatic fertilizer mixer attachment that shoots water soluble fertilizer through the drip tape lines and fertilizes all of my plants too I can't tell you how much time this has saved me but it also has kept my plants looking Lush the biggest mistake when it comes to watering is overwatering so how do you know if your plants need water a lot of the time they have water but are wilting because of the heat if they don't bounce back by evening when things have cooled down then they actually need water if you hand water in the evening try your best not to wet the leaves my fifth tip is to use some shade to keep plants a few degrees cooler it is very advantageous to plant greens which is anything that you grow to just eat its leaves and a spot that gets Morning Sun but afternoon shade they don't need 8 hours of full sun and will Thrive much better given some shade during the summer plants that shut down in growth and production when exposed to high heat like Peppers eggplants and tomatoes also benefit from being planted in a spot that gets Bright Morning Sun with some afternoon shade during the summer or you could install 40% shade cloth over the area to create more shade plants get more sunlight being under shade cloth than being moved into a spot that is constantly Shady shade cloth can make an area up to 10° cooler which really does make a difference tip number six is to plan on having your summer garden all planted and set up by the end of May try to get all your summer crops direct zone or transplanted before the end of May so all the plants have adjusted finished going through transplant shock if that happens and are more mature to handle the extreme conditions of Summer planting seedlings right now is very risky they will struggle to adjust dust a lot more than if they were planted a little bit earlier the goal is to have plants that are a decent size or mature with larger root systems to better handle the environmental stress of Summer ideally you should not be starting seeds for things right now unless it's tropical stuff like loofah yardlong beans sweet potatoes or MinGa the garden should be set and ready tip number seven is to mulch everything mulch crops planted in the ground and raise beds and even in containers or grow bags during the summer mulch is key to regulate soil moisture you might notice that a lot of your crops start to get blossom end rot during the summer or the leaves start curling because the root system is too hot this happens a lot with tomato plants blossom end rot is caused when plants struggle to uptake calcium from the soil into their Roots inconsistent soil moisture makes this difficult it is not a Calcium deficiency as most soils have plenty of calcium swings in soil moisture from too dry to too wet easily cause this adding a nice thick layer of mulch or wood chips will help keep the soil moisture more consistent and prevent Blossom and rot if a veggie gets Blossom and rot it won't heal so just pull it off the plant and throw it away if the soil and therefore Roots get too hot a lot of plant leaves will start to curl up mulch helps to keep the temperatures a little bit cooler lastly mulch creates a barrier between all the pathogens that live in the soil so they can't Splash up onto your plants reducing the incidents of disease my eighth tip is if a section of your garden has been a constant issue with diseases and even some pests like year after year you might want to consider shutting it down for the summer and solarizing I mentioned earlier that I solarized last summer which helped produce tomato diseases I also believe it kills a lot of the eggs and larvae of some pests as well solarization should be a last resort though not something you do every year it also kills the good stuff like the micro risal Network in the soil that helps bring nutrients to your plants and beneficial nematodes that eat the bad nematodes as far as I've been able to research it doesn't kill earthworms because they sense the soil is heating up and move to get out of the way my soil is full of earthworms and I did not notice a decrease it appears they just came back after I removed the solarization plastic I was using if you're going to solarize use black or white plastic that is not clear if it is clear weeds and stuff will continue to grow under it solarize during the summer months for this to be as effective as possible and don't feel bad if you're just shutting down a section of the garden because it's too much to handle it's okay to take a break people up north are forced to take a break when the cold of winter comes people down south like me who guarden year round are not forced to stop so it is nice to take a break sometimes during the worst part of the year for us which is summer I'm going to be gutting out this whole section because it's primarily all tomato plants that are done for the season I'm going to then shut those areas down and do some kind of a cover crop I still have half of my garden to tend to and grow things during the summer but the reduction in Garden size really helps me spend less time out here in the heat trying to take care of everything next is tip number nine which is to be on the lookout for root knot Nema toes last year was the first time I started noticing some in my garden and I blame it on the world record-breaking heat that we got last summer nemoses thrive in hot and moist Sandy soils which is exactly what it was like last year so far I found root knot nematodes on some squash and tomato plants which I was in the process of pulling them out anyways now I have started adding crab meal into the planting hole of just about everything because it is made out of kiten which is a food source for beneficial nemoses that eat the bad nemat but if you already have them the best thing to do is to remove anything growing in that area container or raised garden bed to starve them out root not nematodes eat all sorts of roots from Veggie crops to Grass to weeds throw affected plants in the trash don't compost with them plant a nyal cover crop for a few months like Shor gum sunden grass marigolds and sunem like fill the bed up with them you're basically going to starve them out also applying beneficial nematodes to the soil helps because again they eat the bad kind of nematodes that kill your plants arbo Organics sells a lot of different kinds of beneficial nematodes that you water into the soil so I will link them in the description and the last tip tip number 10 explore crops from other countries like Asia Africa South America and the Caribbean that thrive in the Heat and produce something edible without much effort here are some ideas for you these crops naturally grow in the heat you won't have to put so much effort and Care into these types of crops which is going to ensure you're pretty successful and will harvest something during the summer luckily my family is from the Dominican Republic so I am very familiar with a lot of these crops I'm trying my best to make more videos to educate others about them since they are lesser known in American culture and cuisine so more to come if you would like more crop ideas on what to plant during the summer I invite you to check my June or July Garden guides that list out a bunch of them I will link those Below in the description and I have one more bonus tip for you all and that's to take care of yourself when you're out there in the heat dehydration can happen quickly it takes me a long time to film my YouTube videos outside on top of my garden work and last summer I got dehydrated a lot like actually feeling dizzy and my heart was racing so be careful bring a water bottle with you drink things with extra electrolytes wear sunscreen even if it doesn't look very bright outside I start wearing a hat every time I go outside to block the Sun from damaging my skin and eyes wearing sweatbands underneath your hats really helps just to keep the sweat droplets out of your eyes while you're working I also wear these loose long sleeve UV blocking shirts I buy them a few sizes up so it's loose and Breezy try to Garden in the early morning or in the evening instead of in the middle of the day do a little bit at a time and take breaks stay safe in the garden my friends I hope these tips help you survive as we go into the summer months if you have any tips or tricks that have helped you endure the Heat and stay safe please comment and share with us thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video

Channel: Jerra's Garden

Views: 5,715

Keywords: gardening, garden, urban gardening, gardening tips, vegetable garden, gardening for beginners, garden tips, sowing seeds, urban farming, indoor seed sowing, sowing seeds outdoors, garden guide, summer garden planning, summer garden planting, jerras garden, florida gardening, Florida garden, summer garden, tropical garden, summer garden tips, gardening in heat, florida summer garden, hot climate gardening, gardening in the heat, summer garden pests, organic pest treatment

Id: mqrKq-SeypA

Length: 12min 58sec (778 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 07 2024