[Marcella]

I know so little about plants and temperature/sun. I know my beans are dead with their vines on the hot trellis and with the sun beating down, but what is the susceptibility of plants in sun and extreme heat? Do they all die or what? My tomato plants are dead. I did get tomatoes for a few weeks before they died.

I’m asking a serious question here - are all the plants going to die in extreme heat/sun? If not, what plants can live through it? What do we do to keep plants alive if they can be kept alive? I DON’T KNOW AND I NEED TO KNOW.

I seems to me if I sprayed water on the plants in the heat/sun, they would boil to death. Mine, however, are already dead.

You experts need to educate beginners like me. Help. :o)

[JRandomFreeper]

It's not the heat so much as the sun. A 50% shadecloth can help keep plants alive.

And sometimes, like 2011, I just lost everything. My worst year ever.

/johnny

[tdscpa]

In my experience, the plants least adversely affected by heat are peppers, beets and cucumbers. Given enough water, I can get tomatoes, beans, corn, melons, carrots, and onions to survive, but I can't get them to produce well, or at all, when it is 100F everyday, month after month.

"seems to me if I sprayed water on the plants in the heat/sun, they would boil to death."

Absolutely true. You need to drip irrigate.

[greeneyes]

You need a shade cloth, water twice as often, misting the plant under shade should help cool it off too - from evaporation- just like if you sprayed your face while you were outside.

Nurseries mist their plants, but I usually just make sure to water well, and protect with shade cloth or a bed sheet from the mid day and afternoon sun.

Tomatoes will not set fruit well in the heat, but they are sorta tropical. Last year I got plenty of tomatoes after the terrible heat during the dog days was tempered somewhat.

You can kill a plant with too much water too. Also, the roots need to be able to breathe a little - will rot otherwise.