Seasons of Jason
Hi #gardening community, I'm grateful in advance for any advice you can offer. I have about 6 "baby" cantaloupes that have looked like this for days with no visible growth. Like they're just kind of stuck in this phase. The plants seem healthy, green, spreading like crazy.
Any idea what's going on?
Seasons of Jason
@aburtch Different area, same weather. Zone 9b in California central valley. It has been between 106 and 115 for the last 8 days or so.
Brutal heat, but the garden is surviving it. Hope yours is too. Maybe it IS just the excessive heat that has stalled them?
aburtch
@killyourfm Where are you? We are having similar issues, researched it, and it’s definitely from the prolonged extreme heat with little to no rain. (We're in Durham, NC)
Seasons of Jason
@aburtch This makes sense. I just realized a few of my bellpeppers haven't been growing either, no new tomato blossoms, etc.
Curiously, I do have ONE cantaloupe on that same plant that is growing like crazy...
aburtch
@killyourfm Ah! If everything else is the same (no bugs, or soil changes) I definitely think it's the extreme heat. We've been watering to keep everything alive, BUT most growth has stalled. And it's not just the butternut squash. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are all experiencing the same thing.
The only thing that's growing fine in the heat is the okra.
Seasons of Jason
@raptor85 Thanks Raptor! Up until a week ago, I was using my drip emitters to water, but once this heat wave struck I started deep watering the melons, beans, and tomatoes instead. And everything is mulched, so it's not drying TOO fast -- but perhaps I haven't been watering deeply long enough to notice a positive result.
Appreciate your response!
Raptor :gamedev:
@killyourfm how much water are you giving it? especially in extreme heat where the soil drys fast melons need a TON of water, like...absolutely soak the soil (better to water a lot a few times than a little constantly). If it's really hot the soil could be drying too fast before it can really soak it up, or the water might not be penetrating deep enough onto it's roots.
they also do grow VERY slowly, but you should be seeing "something" each week.
Seasons of Jason
@raptor85 Yea, good call.
I think I've been WAY too timid with my watering up until now -- especially as a first-time gardener -- because everyone's been beating the "DON'T OVERWATER!" mantra into my head.
Raptor :gamedev:
@killyourfm np, if i'm home during a heatwave i generally toss this thing out in my garden and just leave it on until the heatwave ends, might not be as great of an idea if you have longer heatwaves but it's what normally works for me.
Seasons of Jason
@raptor85 That's great advice. And damn it's a difficult balance! Fortunately I have raised beds so the soil drains fairly well. But it's all manual watering over here. I don't think it has rained for about 3 months.
Raptor :gamedev:
@killyourfm it really is a balance, especially with tomatoes they'll split if you water them too much too quickly, but when it's that hot out sometimes you really do just have to drench everything to keep them alive. Depending on how long the heat wave lasts and how much rain you get you could soak them in bursts a few times a day to make sure it's soaked enough to pull in the water, but don't keep the ground permanently saturated or you can also cause damage.
Daniel Melzak
@killyourfm Have you used any organic fertilizer on it for the second half of the summer?
Seasons of Jason
@TeamLinux01 I have. The current working theory from a few other gardeners is that it has simply been too hot and growth has stalled.
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