The heat index has been over 110F here in Texas. Obviously it gets hot in summer, but this is a bit earlier than usual.
Leave a comment if you know of any heat tolerant vegetables and cover crops that still grow and produce during excessive heat.
Vegetables:
- Okra (Crimson Spineless and Heavy Hitter)
- Eggplant
- Pepper
- Lettuce of unknown variety under a shade cloth.
- Tomatillo
- Watermelon (Black Diamond)
- Butternut Squash
- Recently planted Saturn Peach tree is doing ok if I water every other day.
Cover crops:
Sorghum-Sudangrass (I'm using this to cover the ground, produce biomass and to assist with compaction).
Miscellaneous notes:
Lettuce under shade cloth is somehow growing, I figured it would have died by now.
My tomatoes are producing albiet slower than before.
Cucumber seems to have stopped growing.
Jardelle Pumpkin transplants are doing ok with afternoon shade.
2nd planting of Corn tasselled way too early.
Covercrops- sorghum/Sudan is a really good choice. You can also look at species that need vernalization to set seed. Things like purple top turnips, seven top turnips, winter triticale, etc.
As for heat tolerance, look at specific varieties. For example beit alpha types of cucumbers (bred for the middle east heat). Indeterminate greenhouse tomatoes tend to produce better in heat than determinate ones, etc.