From Linda Gilkeson:
Yikes! Every time I check the weather, the forecast high temperatures for the next few days gets higher and lasts longer so here is a quick reminder to shade seedbeds, young plants, Brassica/cabbage family plants, peas—and be on top of irrigation. Plants, such as carrots, being grown under insect netting should also have shade material on top of the netting because insect netting or floating row covers holds in the heat. Floating row cover can be used as shade material if you fold a large piece over several times to make a cover with enough layers to block the light; lay it on top of plants, leaving the sides wide open for air circulation.
Ripening fruit is especially vulnerable to being cooked, with sunscald injury on the side of the fruit directly exposed to the sun. If possible, at least for the hottest part of the day, throw an old sheet, curtain material or shade cloth over the sun-side of trees with ripening soft fruit, such as plums, and over bushes of blueberries and raspberries. Even ripening peppers and tomato that are not well covered by leaves can be damaged if they are in full sun—temporarily shading the sunny side prevents that.
See my web site http://www.lindagilkeson.ca/ for hundreds of photos of pests, beneficial insects, diseases and disorders to help you identify problems. Also, under the Presentations menu, there are pdfs of talks on growing vegetable seedlings, saving seeds, climate resilient gardens, global loss of insects and how to identify coastal butterflies.
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Republished with permission from Linda Gilkeson’s Gardening Tips. See Linda’s website to sign up for her newsletter, purchase books, access free presentations and identify pests and diseases which may affect West Coast gardens.