Garden maintenance: how to preserve crops in heat and drought

Recommendation points

• The first is watering, watering and watering again
• The second is mulching
• Third – loosening
• Fourth – cover the plants from the sun
• Fifth – feeding

Unfortunately, we cannot influence the weather. Otherwise, at the request of numerous summer residents, a quiet rain would fall every other day, and the temperature would remain at a comfortable plus 25 ° C. And if the heat is above 30 ° C and there is no rain for weeks? How to preserve crops in such really extreme conditions?

The first is watering, watering and watering again

Moisture is needed for all plants, without exception, and without rain, only regular watering can ensure its availability. We wrote how you can get rid of additional troubles by equipping the drip irrigation of the beds. This is the best option if you do not want to carry buckets and a watering can or stand for hours with a hose in hand in the middle of the garden.

In a hot dry summer, you will have to water the plants almost every other day. Check whether moisture is needed simply – touch the soil directly under the tomato or eggplant bush. If it is soft and wet, you can do without watering for another day. Otherwise – urgently fight the drought! By the way, it is the lack of water that often causes curling of leaves in tomatoes, so pay attention to this factor.

It is best to water the beds in the evening, if this is done at noon or late in the morning, before sunset, almost all the moisture will have time to evaporate and irrigation will be ineffective. It is better to water directly under the root, especially flowering cucumbers and tomatoes.

The second is mulching

Mulching the beds can be called a universal way. In wet summers, it helps to avoid plant diseases and active growth of weeds, and in drought it retains moisture under a layer of straw, dry grass, wood chips and other mulch. In addition, the soil under the mulch will not crack and will remain loose, so you get rid of many worries. Mulching is useful even for young fruit trees and grapes, do not forget about them.

Third – loosening

If you did not work out with mulching all the beds, the soil will have to be loosened regularly. When dry, a hard layer forms on the surface, the plants will begin to suffer. It is advisable to carry out loosening even after watering so that moisture remains in the soil for a longer time. This is due to the fact that during irrigation capillaries are formed in the soil, through which moisture rises back, evaporating. By breaking these capillaries by loosening, you will avoid the soil drying out too quickly..

In addition, at night, loose soil absorbs well the condensate that forms during temperature changes, that is, it receives additional moisture.

Fourth – cover the plants from the sun

First of all, it is advisable to hide from direct sunlight cucumbers, which “burn out” very quickly in hot summer. An ordinary, very simple canopy made of lightweight fabric or special covering material, which is inexpensive in construction hypermarkets, will do. Relatively low supports will be required, and some gardeners simply cover the beds during the hottest time of the day, removing the fabric when the sun begins to set so that the fruits ripen.

Fifth – feeding

In addition to watering, plants in heat and drought can be helped by timely feeding with organic and mineral fertilizers. For example, cabbage can be fed with a mullein diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 8, adding 10 grams of potassium fertilizers and superphosphate to 10 liters of liquid.

In addition, in the heat, one should refuse to pinch tomatoes so as not to expose the fruits to the hot rays of the sun. If in your region a sultry summer without rain is more likely the norm than an amazing phenomenon, you should choose varieties of vegetables suitable for such a climate that better tolerate such weather conditions..