My SECRET WEAPON For Gardening In EXTREME Heat And Sun

In this video, I share my secret weapon for gardening in extreme heat and sun! Hot weather and a strong solar UV index can destroy your garden and damage your plants. This amazing tool makes sun damage and garden heat stress a thing of the past!

Climates with prolonged high heat and strong sun can devastate a garden by burning foliage and killing flowers. Even a heat wave can cause irreversible damage to your plants. The extreme evaporation caused by hot, sunny weather can dry out soil quickly, causing high water demand. Even thick mulching and drip irrigation may not be enough. Shade cloth is the answer! Available in various sizes and percentages, using shade cloths can protect your foliage and flowers from burn and dramatically reduce evaporation, leading to less watering. I recommend using a woven shade tarp with grommeted edges. These shade tarps are extremely strong, effective and will last many years. These are especially effective in areas where drought is common.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Gardening In Heat Waves
1:03 How Strong Sun Damages Plants
3:35 My SECRET WEAPON!
6:19 How I Built My Shade Tunnel
7:56 Installing Shade Cloth In My Garden
9:37 Other Uses Of Shade Tarps
10:48 Adventures With Dale

If you want to know more about how to use shade cloth in your garden, need tips for gardening in hot weather or gardening in a heat wave, have questions about growing fruit trees or want to know about the things I grow in my raised bed vegetable garden and edible landscaping food forest, are looking for more gardening tips and tricks and garden hacks, have questions about vegetable gardening and organic gardening in general, or want to share some DIY and "how to" garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please ask in the Comments below!

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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1°N Latitude
Zone 8A

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© The Millennial Gardener

#gardening #garden #gardeningtips #shadecloth #shadetarp

[TheMillennialGardener]

If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😀TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Gardening In Heat Waves
1:03 How Strong Sun Damages Plants
3:35 My SECRET WEAPON!
6:19 How I Built My Shade Tunnel
7:56 Installing Shade Cloth In My Garden
9:37 Other Uses Of Shade Tarps
10:48 Adventures With Dale

[jimjam]

I need this shade cloth to cover my entire house.

[DownsouthMan]

How do you let the good bugs in? Mainly bees

[francialechelt]

Lovely! First time gardening this year and my husband jokingly made a comment my plants are getting more care and attention than him, which is true" ! Appreciate all the infos fr m your channel, learned a lot and continue to do so!

[DawnaRo]

You can use PVC pipe which in my area is less expensive than conduit. I have 4 X 4 raised boxes and I have 18" rebar that I drove into the corners. Then I criss cross my boxes with 2 PVC pipes. I've used these for plastic to grow in colder weather. We have temps in the upper 90s to lower 100s with very little humidity in the west.

This is my first year using the shade cloth and I am amazed at how well it works! I shade my boxes by covering the western half so that the plants get morning sun, but afternoon shade. I'm using 70% shade cloth so figured the plans needed morning direct sun.

My pplants look fantastic! Shade cloth is a gardens salvation. I also had no squash bugs because I kept my zucchini totally covered until they started to bloom at which time I uncovered half of the box so bees could get in. Love this method and IT WORKS!

[yohanawu]

In Indonesia where I live, to deal with El Nina, I build a light metal structure that work as a frame above my raise beds. It serves a support when my plants gets too hot ( Paranet ), or attacks by pest ( pest netting) or too much heavy tropical rains ( UV plastic ). So I will put either a paranet or pest netting or UV plastic accordingly.

[fayprivate]

Fantastic video, and very helpful. I live in Arkansas. Our average temp has been around 115-117° F, even after 7 pm. The humidity has been unbearable! My seeds didn’t germinate. The plants I bought and planted didn’t grow or didn’t bear fruit except for 1 tomato plant. It gave us 1 plum tomato. It was too hot for me also. I had to stop going outside. It’s been a heartbreaking summer for many.

[S.Kay.Steffy]

I live in arid HOT Southern California and I have had those same shade cloths up for almost two months now. If I didn’t have these I would have NO plants left…they just cook on the vine. I actually enjoy sitting under the shade cloth when I am resting when gardening…which I need to do a lot since I am in my 70’s and the heat just does me in! Love your videos.

[williamdyer]

I live in Arizona and I have built a shade house and so far it’s working great. I had to super reinforce everything as the one I bought off Amazon blew away with wind . I will get bigger pipe and bend my own hoop house next time . Great ideas and great information keep up the good work . Thanks for the video !

[jacklabrador]

Have this over my garden...its a huge sail in the wind. Presses up and down like you would not believe. Gets hooked onto everything. Without wind, works great

[susanravella]

Thank you for this video! This is my first year, and it has been nothing short of catastrophic in terms of protecting my plants from pests, diseases, and the dreaded uv spikes. I was so unprepared . Next year, I will have a plan, and hopefully better results. I have learned a lot from your channel! Thank you!

[finehowareyou]

we dont get hot here, but the sun is mighty at 8, 200ft in Colorado. good idea!

[nancy]

Thanks, so much, for this info. I am a brand new gardener in Houston, Texas and my plants are struggling, no matter what I do. I wanted to try container gardening to begin with and plan on doing raised beds next year. I have watered like the Dickens and it just seems like no matter what I do my poor plants are suffering. This is such helpful information and thank you for the link for the shade cloth. Even if I lose what I have planted so far, I will be ready come fall and next spring!

[AmericanPatriot-]

We finished building our greenhouse and we took your advice using the 40% shade cloth. We're in the high desert of Cali and we recently had a
106 degree day. I planted watermelon, lettuce and tomatoes and all are doing great. The whole thing is covered in the 1/2" steel mesh, even the floor,
with plastic over it on the wind sides. I left the east side open with no shade cloth or plastic just because the sun isn't too bad in the mornings and I
want the bees to get in and do their thing. I read that they can easily get through 1/2" so they can pollinate my tomatoes, watermelon, etc. I'm working
on my September crop of carrots and broccoli. I picked up a few really large plastic tubs that I'll use to plant them. Our gophers eat through plastic thus
the steel mesh on the floor. Also want to plant Cantaloupe. I'll let you know how it goes. You advice always helps me do the right thing.

[HoustonKeith]

Growing roses this year for the first time in Houston. We are already in the mid 90s. A few of my baby roses are getting scorched already. Agh!!! Found this very instructive. Thank you!

[gjmsjdv]

After 34yrs in 100⁰+ dry heat, I finally realized best time to plant is fall/winter/spring, & to plant in the shade during the summer. Plants here just seem to need no more than hr total sun. As for daily, continuous watering, found wicking buckets require "less watering" or maintenance. Still need check every day, but less work. Still learning, so... Been wanting shade cloth, but need convince kid to do.

[sydniemorley]

Great video! I’m glad someone finally admits even our heat loving plants CANT take full summer sun at this intensity and heat level!!! My tomatoes are burning up. I’ve lost 18/20. Will definitely be doing this from now on ☺️ thank you for linking everything also! This video was so helpful and encouraging.

[laurastewart]

Hi newbie gardener from hot, humid sw Florida. Shade cloth is the garden savior. I put mine up as soon as I got my containers planted. Now I'm learning how to battle pests of al kinds. Thanks for these videos. I'm saving everyone of them. 😊😊

[tinakoernermashood]

Nice, dude. Zone 9b here and we had the same problem - shade cloth to the rescue!!!

[livingfree]

I moved from an old sunscreen plastic covered system to a large open area on the side of my hill. I notice the sun is different now, like the sky has been altered. I also terraced about 100’x50’ of my hillside and have it planted. These are big areas to cover, but I see the need to do it. You do a good job. Luckily I live in CA in the mountains about 5 miles from the ocean so it’s generally not as hot as you consistently. It never ends the stuff to buy. Thanks