{"id":89124,"date":"2021-08-06T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?p=89124"},"modified":"2021-08-04T10:52:12","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T14:52:12","slug":"how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although the heat of summer is when many vegetables thrive, too much heat won\u2019t do your plants any favors. Even heat-loving plants like tomatoes can easily overheat on especially hot days. So with heat waves becoming <\/span>more and more frequent<\/span><\/a>, it’s important to have plans in place to keep your crops from overheating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some tips for keeping your crops cool, as well as some longer-term ideas for creating microclimates on your farm.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shade Cloth<\/b><\/h2>\n

Shade cloth is exactly what it sounds like: a cloth-like material that blocks a certain percentage of sunlight. Depending on the tightness of the weave, shade cloth can filter out up to 95 percent of incoming light.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

In some cases, growers install shade cloth semi-permanently to grow under for an entire season. In other cases, growers may keep shade cloth on hand to cover a hoophouse or <\/span>low tunnel<\/span><\/a> on an especially hot day.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>website<\/span><\/a> for Johnny’s Selected Seeds provides a good overview of how to use various percentages of shade cloth. No matter how you use it, shade cloth is an effective tool for taking the edge off the summer heat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Irrigation<\/b><\/h2>\n

Many people have strong (sometimes differing) opinions about irrigating vegetables in the summer heat. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell you what works for me. If I know a real scorcher is coming, I\u2019ll check the soil early in the morning and run drip-tape lines as needed. Give the plants a good watering but don\u2019t go crazy.\u00a0 Just because it’s hot doesn\u2019t mean that it’s impossible to overwater.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most importantly, watering early in the day helps to minimize losses from evaporation. It also sets me up to monitor moisture levels for the rest of the day and run the drip tape again here and there as needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Temporary Fencing<\/b><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re noticing that a section of your garden is baking, setting up a temporary fence can provide a short-term solution. Make sure to orient the fence so that it\u2019s blocking sunlight for whatever portion of the day you want it to.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used snow fence and burlap before, but anything that provides shade will work. Just make sure that your fence is strong enough not to blow away in the wind, but not so permanent that you can\u2019t easily take it down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Long-Term Solution<\/b><\/h2>\n

Although temporary fixes can be helpful, there are also longer-term strategies you can use to help keep your growing area from overheating. For starters, you can use <\/span>more mulch<\/span><\/a>. Although the mulch won\u2019t cool your crops\u2019 foliage, it will help to keep your soil from overheating and improve water retention.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Plus, mulching helps to improve your soil health in other ways, including adding organic matter and preventing erosion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Permanent windbreaks interspersed throughout your growing area can also create cool microclimates. Beyond providing wind protection and shade, windbreaks can also create habitat for beneficial wildlife and pollinators. <\/span>Singing Frogs Farm<\/span><\/a> in Sebastopol, CA is notorious for incorporating windbreaks into their fields.<\/span><\/p>\n

With more and more heat waves coming, it will pay to plan in advance for how to keep your crops cool.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter where you live, it’s important to have several tools in your kit for keeping your vegetables cool on the hottest days. Here are some ideas for keeping your crops from overheating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":89140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,10458],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crops-gardening","category-farm-garden"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat - Hobby Farms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"No matter where you live, it's important to have several tools in your kit for keeping your vegetable crops cool during the hot summer heat.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No matter where you live, it's important to have several tools in your kit for keeping your vegetable crops cool during the hot summer heat.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hobby Farms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-06T11:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-04T14:52:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"462\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robin Hackett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hobbyfarms\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hobbyfarms\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robin Hackett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Robin Hackett\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/96875b48dceca56823362dbce15e1857\"},\"headline\":\"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-06T11:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-04T14:52:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/\"},\"wordCount\":534,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Crops & Gardening\",\"Farm & Garden\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/\",\"name\":\"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat - Hobby Farms\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-06T11:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-04T14:52:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"No matter where you live, it's important to have several tools in your kit for keeping your vegetable crops cool during the hot summer heat.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":462,\"caption\":\"\u041d\u0430\u0434\u0435\u0436\u0434\u0430 \u041c\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0430\/Pixabay\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/\",\"name\":\"Hobby Farms\",\"description\":\"Rural Living for Pleasure and Profit\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hobby Farms\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png\",\"width\":586,\"height\":68,\"caption\":\"Hobby Farms\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/hobbyfarms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/96875b48dceca56823362dbce15e1857\",\"name\":\"Robin Hackett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/21141335\/robin-hackett-mug-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/21141335\/robin-hackett-mug-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Robin Hackett\"},\"description\":\"Robin Hackett is a young farmer from Massachusetts with an interest in no-till market gardening and a background in environmental policy. Find him on Instagram at www.instagram.com\/robinhackett.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/author\/robin-hackett\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat - Hobby Farms","description":"No matter where you live, it's important to have several tools in your kit for keeping your vegetable crops cool during the hot summer heat.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat","og_description":"No matter where you live, it's important to have several tools in your kit for keeping your vegetable crops cool during the hot summer heat.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/","og_site_name":"Hobby Farms","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms","article_published_time":"2021-08-06T11:00:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-04T14:52:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":462,"url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Robin Hackett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hobbyfarms","twitter_site":"@hobbyfarms","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Robin Hackett","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/"},"author":{"name":"Robin Hackett","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/96875b48dceca56823362dbce15e1857"},"headline":"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat","datePublished":"2021-08-06T11:00:19+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-04T14:52:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/"},"wordCount":534,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg","articleSection":["Crops & Gardening","Farm & Garden"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/","name":"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat - Hobby Farms","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg","datePublished":"2021-08-06T11:00:19+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-04T14:52:12+00:00","description":"No matter where you live, it's important to have several tools in your kit for keeping your vegetable crops cool during the hot summer heat.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/field-potatoes.jpg","width":800,"height":462,"caption":"\u041d\u0430\u0434\u0435\u0436\u0434\u0430 \u041c\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0430\/Pixabay"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-cool-down-your-crops-in-the-summer-heat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Cool Down Your Crops In The Summer Heat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/","name":"Hobby Farms","description":"Rural Living for Pleasure and Profit","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#organization","name":"Hobby Farms","url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/00GPSuRp-logo.png","width":586,"height":68,"caption":"Hobby Farms"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hobbyfarms","https:\/\/x.com\/hobbyfarms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/96875b48dceca56823362dbce15e1857","name":"Robin Hackett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/21141335\/robin-hackett-mug-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/img.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/21141335\/robin-hackett-mug-150x150.jpg","caption":"Robin Hackett"},"description":"Robin Hackett is a young farmer from Massachusetts with an interest in no-till market gardening and a background in environmental policy. Find him on Instagram at www.instagram.com\/robinhackett.","url":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/author\/robin-hackett\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89124"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89141,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89124\/revisions\/89141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}