I see this thread and just want to cry! I live in Texas and my garden is dead. DEAD, I tell you!!!
How's it doing other than that? Put down the gun...I was just kidding...
Same here. If it doesn't rain soon, some reservoirs and small lakes will be dry too.
If it is any consolation, most of us if not all, feel badly about the drought in Texas. A few years ago here in Nebraska we had severe to extreme drought for seven years, and that was bad. But we did not have the extreme heat through all the summers. We can have, and sometimes do have but not like Texas this year.
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e!
Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y!
If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all!
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e!"
Two attempts to translant cucumbers for the Fall gave me 18 dead seedlings almost overnight! And, I transplanted them into wet, well-prepared ground behind the struggling bell pepper plants to protect them against the afternoon sun. My Fall celebrity and bhn-444 tomatoes outgrew their 1-gallon pots. Four of the six had flowers. I put them in 15-gallon containers. The flowers shriveled up and two have caught some kind of leaf mold. The only things doing well are my three pineapple plants. If they ever produce a pineapple, that won't be for another year or so. I'm afraid to plant my pole beans, Georgia collards, and Ichiban eggplants.
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e!
Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y!
If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all!
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e!"
But, hope springs eternal in drought sticken, heat scorched San Antonio.
Stopped by Shultz Nursery on Broadway this afternoon. Picked up a Diva and three General Lee cucumber plants, each with vines stretching out nearly two feet. Let's see if old Mr. Sun can kill those!
Meanwhile, have Katana, Virginia Sweets, Jetsetter and 4th of July tomatoes trying to survive in their 1-gallon pots. Plus, a tray of bell and jalapeno pepers and a tray of baby cucino, Shoyu Long, and MCI hybrid cucumbers.
If I don't run out of seeds, maybe when this heat spell finally breaks I'll get the chance to sing, "Oh, happy day!"
Sorry, I live in TX too. My okra, squash and cucumbers are doing great, but I row water them and have to do it every other day. I dry planted the seeds in the top of the bed and flooded the furrows to get them up. That made weed control easier and the water never touched the plants, only the roots. On the squash I make a modified row water furrow, I dig a ring around the squash plant about 3 ft. in diameter and flood that as I row water them. that gives more area that is flooded around the squash. took somewhat the same approach on the cucumbers.
My tomatoes and jalapenos are blooming but not setting fruit, too hot. Hoping for change in the fall, or when the extreme high temps eventually stop. My bell pepper plants are producing a few, but most of them are small.
My blackeyed peas are really producing now.
It has not been easy keeping the plants alive. We have had some 114 deg. days. And 2 solid months over 100 degrees every day. Since last October we had a 1 inch rain and a 1-1/2 inch rain. That is 10% of our average rainfall here in Haskell County. No one living has ever seen such a drought. My great grandfather experienced the drought of 1894-1895 and left the county for 3 years before he came back, it might have been as bad.
I planted 29 fruit trees in February and have about 65% survival rate, in spite of watering them 2 times per week and finally resorting to a drip irrigation system. Also planted 24 strawberry plants which absolutely took the bed, I use a soaker hose to regulate the moisture. My blackberry bushes are doing great, but I have to water them daily to keep the fresh growth from wilting. Only 1 of the 4 blueberry plants that I put out has survived, they are not that suited to my area but I will try again next year, I like blueberries.
Conclusion: I think it is the sunlight intensity more than it is the heat. Trees and plants that were somewhat shaded have done much better, and those that I mulched seemed to do better too.