Weather this is accurate or not, its going to be hot for the next couple of weeks. What should you do to help your plants? (like my little play on words)
What to Do?
In our area the biggest concern while there is heat wave is the addition of wind. A Santa Ana event associated with a heat wave can be devastating to your food producing plants. The addition of wind makes using shade cloth more difficult. Further it dries out vegetation quicker than the plant can hydrate its leaves. A 12 mph wind in urban San Berdu should not be a concern.
Mulch! and mulch again!!
This time of year is why you mulch 5 inches. A natural wooden mulch will help the plant deal with the heat. When the container becomes warm the water in the soil medium will evaporate into the mulch. The extra edges of the mulch allows the water to cool and return to the soil. This is a breathing soil. It is good! Top your containers off with mulch. It is important that you do NOT soak your mulch. You want your mulch to be dry when this heat event starts so the aspiration occurs. A wet mulch will not allow the water in the soil to evaporate. Also in the heat it will heat up and now you have hot water surounding your plant. That would be bad.
Home as Shade
Using structural shade and wind protection is easy and efficient. Move your potted plants to the north side of the house or very close to a solid fence.
Daily Observation
Check your plants for wilt daily. If you do the things in this post and your plant still seems stressed, it might be worth it to bring it inside the garage or other structure. Since most insects are carried into the home by humans, I would discourage bringing your plants into the home. Even a diligent inspector may miss some bug and I would feel bad if you brought something into your home that is much worse than the plant having died.
Watering
Water before sun is on your plants or after it is off.
Since we don't over water already (right?) hydrating the growth medium with no fertilizer will provide the plant with the water it needs when it needs it. Ward against allowing soil medium heating up. One year the soil temperature was 106°. Obviously the plant did not survive. What I did wrongly then was soak the mulch. To water move the mulch to the side and apply water slowly and deeply to the surface of the soil.
Know When to say 'I learned Something'
If your plant completely wilts in the first day, its already too late. Try to save it, and learn from your efforts. When you finally resolve that its done, check the soil. Try to take the plant from the container by sliding out the soil and plant together. Then try to remove one side of the soil from top to bottom. You want to observe a cut-away of your soil and roots. Take note: is it too wet? Are the roots very short from the stem? What is living in the soil? Is the bottom dry or wet? Why? What is the temperature of the soil, does it feel warm/hot?
What to Buy?
Shade Cloth (burlap)
If you must buy something to provide shade, 3 ft. x 100 ft. Burlap at homedepot is $40.00. Also clothes pins are $3.00. Put the burlap on a fence secured by the clothespins will create a nice shade that was not there before. The burlap can also be draped between things to provide shade. the burlap is kind of cheap and can be re-used, we know it will be hot again.Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty
Although the internet says to use kitty litter mixed in with soil or soil medium in about the same ratio as perlite will serve as mystical little water holders. While this would work during a transplant, it does not do much for heat/wind.
If you apply this to the top of your container, the clay part of the litter will form a solid and then heat up. This would be bad.
This could be Significant
The temp going down to 70° degrees overnight and the humidity hanging around 30% will help. I am not predicting plant loss, however I hope your plants and mine survive this week. I am going to spend my saturday preparing my existing plants and planning for the future by starting new plants. The best that could happen would be ripened tomato and hotter chilis.
