So I've started a few plants from seed this year. I was a little late, as they are only now germinating or producing their first sets of true leaves. The varieties I have are: - Tomatoes (Beefsteak, Sweet Million, Sparta) - Summer squash (Zucchini Dark Green) - Cucumber (Improved Long Green) - Broccoli (Green Sprouting) - Basil (Genovese Comune) - Coriander (Cilantro For Leaf) - Parsley (Champion Moss Curled) - Aster flowers (Dwarf Queen) - bonus question: will this flower help attract helpful insects? I have a space problem: I live in an apartment with two balconies, one facing north/northeast and one facing south/southwest. I have found information about using trellis for tomatoes and summer squash and cucumbers and was hoping to vine mine through my outdoor staircase ramp. The problem is I don't get so many hours of sunlight - there is a huge tree in front of my south balcony which blocks out a lot of daylight. So last year I tried putting my pots on top of the garage which gets light pretty much all day, but my plants died or bolted because of the heat. I live in the city and in July it can get as hot as 38 Celsius. Plus, the garage top is gravel and I suspect tar under it, so I think the heat just hits the roof and radiates through the pots and boils the roots. - What do you suggest? - Is it necessary for me to try the garage top again? - What to do about this awful heat I am putting my plants through? Would elevating the containers a few inches off the roof and putting them on some sort of particle board help? - How would I trellis my plants if I have no structural support like a ramp? Thanks a lot!
this will be an interesting project! it sounds like your tomatoes may not produce much this year because they are so late, although it depends on the particular variety, your growing season and how well they are cared for. But general rule of thumb is to start the seeds 6-8 weeks before the last frost date. Everything else will do fine timeframe wise. To combat the heat, you can try building a shade screen, any major home store or nursery should carry different degrees of shade netting, i don't know where you live or how intense the sun actually is so you might go with a milder, 40% grade. The other big thing would be not use black or dark colored pots (white would be best). and then lift the pots up off the floor so air can circulate undeath them. If they are large containers, lift them up with 2-3 small pieces of 2x4 or bricks. And i have found that if it is a sturdy clay or terracotta pot, you can build your own trellise by burying some stakes all the way to the bottom and then stringing up the stakes. Or form the stakes into a teepee shape. -Luke
Hello Luke, The stick and string trellis sounds very promising! I hadn't thought of that. Brilliant idea. Yes, I know, I started a bit late. They say in Montreal the last frost is usually May 10, but it's been very mild lately and I don't see things frosting over again any time soon. I started my seeds around mid-April so only 3 weeks in advance. Oh well, I'll have a late crop. I'm hoping to save the herbs by bringing them indoors when it gets too hot, especially the coriander. Do you think keeping it inside might prevent it from bolting? The problem with the heat isn't really that it comes from above, but that it radiates up from the garage top, I think. Wouldn't a screen just block out sunlight without really solving that problem? Or do you think the great amounts of direct sunlight are what is causing my plants' demise? Hopefully raising them would help solve this.
Hard to tell, i don't know your particular microclimate. Some areas of heavy sun can use sunshades to help with this, if your particular area doesn't have a strong sun it may not help all that much. -Luke
I haven't tried this because we never get excess heat in Vancouver, but I think that placing some styrofoam sheets under the pots would block most of the heat from the roof. The UV resistant kind would work best.
Another thought would be to find some old end tables or something from a junkyard or that are being tossed out by a neighbor and put all your containers up on tables. Get them up off the ground so the radiating heat doesn't get to them as much. Also, bigger containers with more dirt, as well as clay or terra cotta pots will help insulate the roots better then thin plastic or smaller containers could. -Luke
In hot climates like Arizona it's common practice to place a smaller pot inside a larger one with bark chunks or Styrofoam peanuts between the two containers to insulate the inner soil from the sun.
