Even though it’s starting to feel like summer outside, it is still spring; we could see triple digit high temperatures as early as Thursday or Friday. That is probably not welcome news to many gardeners, who worry about their plants’ health in that kind of heat.
Melissa Kruse-Peeples, who manages the garden at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic Campus and helps with urban garden education and outreach, joined The Show to talk about how to handle the heat in the garden. She also owns a company called The Desert Smells Like Veggies.
Full conversation
MARK BRODIE: So how are you feeling about the triple digits today or tomorrow?
MELISSA KRUSE-PEEPLES: Yikes. I know. Well, we always know it gets hot, but usually we don't have 100 degrees until May, so it is a little early. Things are looking better next week, but you know, this is kind of our new normal.
BRODIE: Well, so for people who may be planted, you know, let's say sometime mid- to late winter thinking they would have until May potentially before it got super hot, like what do they do?
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Well, there's lots we can do. It's, it's, starting spring planting for us in Phoenix is actually, starts back in February. So hopefully everyone's got those spring plants in and, and they should produce it through May and early June. And so what we can do now is put some shade cloth out, using a 40%, 50%, shade coverage. Or hopefully you've designed your garden that maybe you have some trees or things that can provide some afternoon shade to just kind of cut that heat and create a microclimate to cool it off, so those crops keep, keep producing,
BRODIE: Even though it's triple-digit temperatures.
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Right. And then we need to check our irrigation and stuff, too, to make sure we're bumping up the water when it's a little hotter and ensure that it's functioning properly and that things are staying hydrated.
So those plants in theory should be producing for, you know, another maybe one month, 6 weeks or so, yeah, like the tomatoes and eggplants and peppers, and I've just got my first zucchini yesterday. Those should, if we planted those around by March 1, should be producing through May, and maybe we can carry those even into the late summer as well.
But there's still lots of new stuff we can plant now as well.
BRODIE: Yeah, so like what do we do? Like, obviously we all know, as you said, the summer is going to be just hot. It's going to be unpleasant to be outside, but there are certainly types of plants and flowers and fruits and vegetables that, that can do well in that, right?
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Yeah. And so I love to embrace the heat and go for the things that love the heat. That would be melons like cantaloupe or honeydew, watermelons, okra. Big one. I don't know if you've heard of Armenian cucumbers, Mark?
BRODIE: No, I've heard of Persian cucumbers. Are they similar?
KRUSE-PEEPLES: No, so Persian cucumbers are a true cucumber, and they don't love heat. So Armenian cucumbers are actually technically a melon, and so they love the heat. We call them a cucumber because that's how they taste and that's how we eat them, kind of immature, the seeds.
They will thrive in our Phoenix climate, and there's lots of flowers, sunflowers and zinnias, and there's a beautiful one called lisianthus that you can plant now and it's, it's sort of shocking how well some of these things do with 105, 110 degrees, in full sun as well.
BRODIE: So have you had to adjust how you sort of plot out your garden? I mean, the last few summers have progressively been getting a little warmer. Has that caused you to change anything?
KRUSE-PEEPLES: It has caused me to maybe invest a little more in the melons and watermelons and some of these things that I know will do just fine. And I kind of really try to push that early spring planting in mid- to late February to get stuff in earlier so that we can, because June is our, our worst month almost because hopefully July and August it's hot, but hopefully we also get some monsoon activity.
BRODIE: Yeah, what are you seeing as far as that goes?
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Yeah, so NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, came out with their summer predictions. And so good news is there's a slight chance of above normal monsoon.
BRODIE: Slight chance.
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Slight chance. So bad news is there's an even little tiny slighter chance it's going to be below normal. So it's kind of a wait and see approach on what actually happens. And again, our normal monsoon is only 2.7 inches of rain, so we're not talking about a lot, but hopefully it brings in some cloud cover and some just cooler and humidity and things that'll make stuff better.
And so I always have a wait and see approach, in July to see, OK, July can be our second spring where we can do a lot more tomatoes and squash and, and things that aren't like loving 110 degrees, but need some warm temperature.
BRODIE: I think you might get some pushback from humans saying July is the second spring.
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Exactly, yeah. So it's still hot, but we are past the summer solstice. The days are getting shorter, and then, we'll see what that monsoon relief is. If the monsoon seems nonexistent, then I just sort of put my sights on, on fall, which is like late September, kind of do more of the winter crops.
BRODIE: You guys kind of give up for the rest of the summer?
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Sometimes, I mean, it's kind of like desert vegetation when things are good, we go for it and put on lots of new growth. When things are dry, we kind of hone in and, and just sort of focus on what, what we can keep alive. But it's always important to make sure we don't totally abandon the garden because the soil is alive. And so you can do things like our native tepary beans or cowpeas or things that, that do love the heat, and they'll just cover the soil, keep some moisture going so that that soil stays alive. So when we're ready to really kind of go with lots more diversity, it's there for us.
BRODIE: In terms of humidity and cloud cover, like what, what does that do? I mean, we obviously know what it does for us as people. What does it do for the for the plants?
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Yeah, it allows them to kind of relax. When, when it's over 100 degrees and, and sunny, a lot of plants kind of close their pores, close their cells, and they put on no growth. So they're essentially alive but dormant, it's sort of a reverse kind of winter situation.
BRODIE: Like a hibernation kind of thing almost.
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Yeah, kind of hibernation. So they're not really thriving or growing or putting new growth on or putting new flowers to make new fruits. And so, when those clouds come and all that humidity in late afternoon evening, it allows plants to kind of open up and, and put on more growth.
BRODIE: So you are, as we talked about, could be hitting triple digits. I assume that means that you are adjusting water in advance of that as well.
KRUSE-PEEPLES: Yeah, so I, I think irrigation is a, is a great tool to use, and we don't want to be out there with the hose watering when it's that hot, but your plants, that's when they need it. And so I think now is a great time to invest in irrigation and and, and check if you have it, check that everything's functioning and not clogged and like any parts that need replaced, and then I bump up a few minutes, when it's predicted to be 100 or 100-plus.
And luckily, you know, there's a lot of smart timers and smart irrigation things out there that can tie into the weather, so they can do that automatically for you. So it's easy. And now a lot of timers you can control from your phone as well. And, and that sort of ensures the plants don't ever get too stressed or too behind, because, you know, we want to go on vacation sometimes, too. And so when we do that, the plants can kind of get a little sickly or too behind and so it's hard to recover.
