Hot in the Garden: Too Much Sun Can Harm Vegetables

08 August 2011

Jerry Gough at the Ivy Farms booth at the Downtown Farmer's Market in Paducah, Kentucky last month. Crops have been straining under high temperatures in the area.

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Last week we discussed how to grow vegetables in partial sun. This week we learn how to protect vegetables from too much sun.

Curtis Swift is an extension agent at Colorado State University. He says shading plants from intense sunlight in hot weather can increase production. Plants can suffer damage when their temperature rises above thirty-two degrees Celsius.

CURTIS SWIFT: "Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and okra and other members of that family drop flower buds and young fruit when the plant temperatures exceed thirty-two degrees C."

Plants can get sunburn. Yellow spots may appear on their leaves and fruit. These areas can become thin and white as plant tissue is affected.

Curtis Swift says shade can help correct these problems.

CURTIS SWIFT: "What it does is, it actually allows the plant to give off adequate water, which cools the tissue."

He suggests shading plants with bed sheets, shade cloth or brush -- in other words, sticks and branches. Cut them about a meter long and stand them in the ground on the south and west sides of plants.

CURTIS SWIFT: "Anything you can put over the plant. A lot of people can cut brush at the edge of the field and stick that into the soil on the south and west side of the plant and provide some shade."