Why small pots/containers kill in the desert summer heat.

Dear Folks,

Why am I posting a video of an annual valley tradition of frying an egg on the road?  Because the thermometer shows the temperature of 162.5. [Picture is a still from the video.]

Regularly and constantly I try to help folks understand just how HOT pots and containers can get in our summer afternoon heat.  This applies to the top 3 inches of exposed soil.

I was wondering when the annual fried egg picture / video would show up this year and went searching and found one from last year and "Bingo" I thought - this is perfect for showing just how REALLY HOT surfaces are in our summer afternoons.

WHY Small pots kill plants.

This is THE TEMPERATURE range (actually up to 180) for any exposed surface in the summer afternoon here.  Sidewalks, asphalt, sides of containers, block walls etc.

https://youtu.be/0MPNgCo9auk
 

I hope this helps you understand why your cute pot or very small and shallow container garden is going to cook your food plants before you get them harvested. 

You put a plant in a 1 gallon black pot in the middle of your garden, and you quickly learn just how making adobe bricks works.

When choosing a pot make sure it is at least 20" across.  When building raised beds, make sure the depth is at least 18 inches and a minimum of 2 feet wide x 2 feet across.

And ALWAYS plant at least 6 inches in from the sides to allow the soil to insulate the roots.

Use mulch even in containers, but keep 2 inches away from the base of the plants to keep snails, slugs and sow bugs from the tender plants.

You can purchase my books and planting calendars through the sidebar here on the blog.

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-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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If You MUST Transplant in Hot Temperatures, Use a Wicking Bottle!!!

Dear Folks,

Just a short post here to illustrate using a wicking bottle (poor man's version of those pretty but useless glass blue bulbs) to stabilize and get good growth on a transplant.

The point is to water the gardens regularly BUT to also add several of these bottles of water for the first couple of weeks to ensure the plant's roots start to settle in.  Then gradually expand out the days between adding a bottle.  Choose a day when the garden is watered to add the next bottle as you increase the number of days between adding the next bottle.

What I did not show in the video is I added more mulch around the plant and placed the "chicken wire hat" (see other videos on my channel on using chicken wire hats) around the plant to protect.

If you are wondering how the papaya did, unfortunately I took the "hat" off to soon and later on a critter broke the main trunk and the plant never recovered.

My Youtube Wicking Bottle Video

If you are not familiar with how this works, the wet soil and full bottle of water creates a vacuum.  When the soil begins to dry it "wicks" the moisture out of the bottle to re-wet the soil.

The plastic bottle may actually collapse if the vacuum is really strong.

You can use any bottle, wine bottles make good options and can be re-used.  The plastic bottles can also be re-used if the vacuum does not crack the plastic.

Sometimes you can always plan ahead for when you get a much coveted plant, so give the wicking bottles a try to give your treasured plant a better opportunity for success.

My books and gardening calendars (48 herbs and also the month-by-month calendar) are available for purchase in the sidebar.

Have great day, keep cool and enjoy your garden bounty!

One more helpful tool for your bees and butterflies and other pollinators in this hot weather.  A dish filled with beads or pebbles to let them get a drink without drowning.  They may leave your pool alone.

Place the dish in the shade to keep from heating or evaporating too fast.  There even some better ideas pictured on the internet.  Pet watering dishes with bottles to auto-refill (like the wicking bottle principle) with the base filled with pebbles. Cool creativity to help our pollinators!



-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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