We got lucky & are having some cloud cover coming/going - 97-98 with a heat index of 102. The breeze is starting up so that will help suck what moisture is left out of the plants (except the weeds -doing just great!).
Trying not to overwater the tomatoes, but they looked pretty parched today & hadn’t been watered in a couple of days, so I did a heavier watering. By the time I finished all the beds, the tomatoes actually looked a little better & the wilty cukes were perking up.
Tomatoes don’t set fruit when it’s in the 90’s. As soon as a tomato shows any ‘blush’ of color, I pick and bring them indoors. They ripen beautifully on the counter & I don’t have to worry about bugs, birds or anything else getting to them.
The two Home Depot jalapenos are doing great - blooming & growing some peppers. My Lowe’s pepper (had 2, one died) is actually starting to look pretty good after being resurrected from yellowing leaves & almost total wilted collapse with lots of water, some organic fertilizer & shade from the afternoon sun. I’ve been letting it get more sun gradually & finally took the shade off today .... I’ll see how it looks tonight to determine if I still need to shade it some. No blooms yet - no idea what variety ... Lowe’s plants weren’t marked other than ‘hot pepper jalapeno’. The variety I wanted to grow were Jalafuegos - got 4 nice seedlings & they died within a week of going in the garden - too small, despite being protected/shaded ... maybe better luck next year with them. The Lowe’s/Home Depot plants were a desperation buy since I didn’t have time to try again with seeds. I’m really craving a batch of jalapeno poppers, but not close to having enough yet.
Yeah, got a breeze here too and it's like standing in front of the oven as the heat rolls out. NWS actually says 103 with heat index of 101 right now. LOL
As soon as a tomato shows any ‘blush’ of color, I pick and bring them indoors.
I just topped off all the animals' water and looked at the maters and I swear, they lost color since yesterday and went back towards green. I may yank some in the morning and let them ripen indoors.
I've got some tiny Pumpkin Spice Jalapenos and hopefully they'll take off with cooler weather coming, if that cooler weather lasts. I'm fine with the heat level of jalapeno but have never liked the taste but I guess these pumpkin spice have a different flavor profile. "Fruity" according to rareseeds. I've got one Kalugarista pepper plant and I'm anxious to try them. Pretty rare so there's not much info out there on them.
I'll be getting some shade cloth to have on hand for future years. Summers have been pretty mild for the last ten years here so I didn't think about it.