Quick question. This is my first time growing in pots. Everything is watered, garden and pots. The tomatoes in the garden are fine but the ones in the pots and wilting from the heat. I am guessing because the heat of the sun is really hot on the roots in the pots so the ones in the garden don't have hot roots. I know plants wilt in the heat, it doesn't kill them. it's only 26 today (about 78f) but it was 32 the past couple days and I watched them droop even worse. All my tomatoes and peppers get direct sun from am to pm so should I be putting the ones in buckets in the shade for the afternoon sun? I feel bad for them. I really don't want them aborting their fruit. Even my maple tree is dropping green leaves to cope with the heat.
Plants in pots too much heat from sun?
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It has been over 38C here everyday for weeks and everything will wilt in the afternoon sun whether in the ground or not. It is the next morning that you have to worry about. If they are still wilted you need to water. I do not believe high heat will cause a tomato or pepper plant to abort fruit. It will severely affect fruit set however.
I don't like to play guessing games so I have a soil moisture reader. I've had fruit abort from the heat. It's science.. proven true. I know you can't believe everything on Google but when you see it with your own eyes as well as research it is like saying the world is flat if you deny it lol. Anyways I decided to put them in the shade for a few hours during the afternoon sun on these hot days.
Daytime temperatures in the 90s or nighttime temperatures in the 70s can cause flower and small fruit abortion.
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I can say this. I have had small fruits abort in heat but on close examination of the aborted fruit I always found evidence of some injury, probably from an unknown insect.
That might be the case sometimes. But I have to listen to science. When I can google proven facts from university and college people who have professional degrees and do scientific studies on things I have to believe it as true. Horticulturalists say heat can make plants abort I believe it. Far, far, far too much false information online for me to believe everything without researching it myself.
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You may well be right. All I have is 60+ years of observing and not a bit of formal education have I ever had. What I can attest to is that heat will and does contribute to much smaller fruit but not its falling off of the plant.
I have about 40 years experience but I'm not afraid to admit there are 20 year olds in college learning more in a month then I'll learn in a lifetime. My dad is in his 90's and still refuses to accept cucumbers grow better climbing then on the ground because his daddy and his daddy's daddy never let them climb. If people didn't accept science and facts we would still be living in the 1900's and wouldn't be having this conversation because computers and all the technology that has become mindblowing wouldn't exist because in the past people refused to accept science... some still do. Fruit can and does abort with heat. It's a simple scientific fact proven. But I'm not going to argue about it, just like I'm not going to argue when you told me all flies are helpful and don't hurt plants even though that is also very untrue as I showed you.
@Chuck I want to apologize for getting a bit hot headed and arguing. It's been a stressful week and to top it off yesterday I discovered what I thought was an easy fix for my garden tiller is not. Anyway I really am sorry. Gardening is suppose to be fun and relaxing, sometimes I forget that is the reason I do it.
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Plants that are planted in indoor potting mixes are not good for outdoor growing. If your plants are in pots and they are outdoors you need to use shade cloth to keep the plants cooler. If the plants get really thirsty and too hot they will drop their fruit. Buffer the heat with a greenhouse black shade cloth from the local hardware store. You can wrap the pots individually or make a cover and cover them on the hot side of the plants. That is the only way to do it in TEXAS
I do start them indoors using a potting soil but when I transfered them to the buckets I used compost and some composted manure.. I think I also mixed a little garden soil in but don't remember. Since this post I have been moving them into partial shade for a few hours when the heat is at its peak and they are looking much, much happier. I am not going to be home every afternoon to be able to do that though so I will use the shade cloth, I'm pretty sure I have a roll of that in my garage. Thanks for the advice!