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Every lettuce gardener eventually faces the same disappointment. One day your lettuce is crisp, tender, and ready for salads. A few days later, the center of the plant begins stretching upward, leaves become bitter, and a flower stalk suddenly appears. Your lettuce has bolted. Bolting is one of the most common challenges of growing lettuce…
When the forecast predicts several days above 100°F, many vegetable gardeners worry their pepper plants won’t survive. The good news is that peppers are among the most heat-tolerant vegetables you can grow. The challenge isn’t keeping pepper plants alive—it’s keeping them productive. I’ve grown sweet and hot peppers for decades in California, Florida, Iowa, and…
One week your bean plants are covered with blossoms. The next week, after several days of hot weather, the flowers disappear. New blooms fail to appear, and harvests come to an abrupt halt. If you’ve experienced this, you’re not alone. Beans are among the easiest vegetables to grow, but they are surprisingly sensitive to extreme…
Few vegetables capture the taste of summer like a fresh cucumber picked straight from the vine. But when temperatures climb into the 90s—or stay there for days—many gardeners notice their cucumber plants slowing down. Flowers appear but don’t produce fruit. Tiny cucumbers yellow and shrivel. Leaves wilt in the afternoon, and harvests become smaller. The…
Every tomato gardener eventually asks the same question during summer: “Is it simply too hot for my tomatoes?” The answer is yes—but probably not in the way you think. I’ve grown tomatoes for more than 40 years in California, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Florida. During that time, I’ve seen tomatoes survive weeks of temperatures above 100°F….
How to Protect, Maintain, and Restore Your Vegetable Garden During Heat Waves Extreme summer heat is becoming one of the greatest challenges for vegetable gardeners. Days above 90°F are no longer unusual, and many regions now experience multiple stretches of 95°F to 105°F weather each growing season. Add warm nights, low humidity—or sometimes oppressive humidity—and…
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