When I first started gardening here I remember googling ” how to keep plants alive in a heatwave?” 😅 Welcome to Perth summer gardening! I have always struggled with how hot it gets here in Perth in summer. After 7 years here, the 40degree days don’t get any easier! We have a large amount of thermal mass at our house with concrete and paved areas so it can get so hot in my garden! One of the main reasons I decided to make pallet planters on wheels was to be able to grow more food during the hot summer months by being able to have them undercover on hot days. Watch how we made them here.
How to keep plants alive in a heatwave
If you are experiencing a heatwave or have days of hot weather ahead of you, here are a few tips I use to try and get my plants through!
🌱 WATER | Give a good deep water early in the morning. This will allow time for the moisture to reach the roots before it evaporates.
🌱 SHADE | If your plants are in containers move them undercover or to a shady area of your garden. Otherwise, try and rig up some temporary shade using shade cloth or even umbrellas to keep the direct sun off your plants during the hottest part of the day.
🌱 PROTECT THE SOIL | Ensure you have a good layer of mulch or ground cover over your entire garden. This will protect the soil from being exposed to direct sun and reduce the amount of water loss through evaporation.
🌱 BUILD SOIL | This is something that should be continually worked on by composting and adding more fibre and leaf matter to your soil. Sandy soils like we have here in Perth allow all the water to drain away and can become severely water-resistant. But by consistently mulching, composting and adding green matter, you will not only grow strong, healthy plants but also protect your plants from future dry spells. Healthy soil is key!
🌱 REPLENISH | As the sun goes down and the temperatures start to drop again, give your plants another well-earnt drink. This should help their leaves perk back up again.
🌱 SAVE SEEDS | If you notice a certain plant seems to survive better than others in hot weather, make sure you save the seeds at the end of the season. That way you can futureproof your garden by growing strong plants that you know will grow well in your exact climate.
My favourite watering tools are:
Retractable Hose with 7 spray nozzle and water flow adjuster: Control exactly how much flow you want to each plant with an easy retractable hose system. CLICK HERE for more info.
Deep root waterer and soil breaker: Helps get water directly to the roots without any runoff or loss of water from evaporation. CLICK HERE for more info.
Weeper hose works great for drip-feeding water and allowing the plants to absorb more. CLICK HERE for more info.
Happy Gardening!
Holly 🌱
MY GARDENING ESSENTIALS // Fertiliser spray gun: https://bit.ly/366nL1t Retractable Hose: https://bit.ly/2TSC0Bo More gardening tools: https://bit.ly/32IQmbD
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
Are you growing Zucchini but the fruit seems to shrivel and die before being ready? If so, you may have a pollination issue. Hand-pollinating Zucchini is super easy to do once you know how. Today I will share 4 east steps with images so you can maximize your Zucchini harvests! This also works with Pumpkins, Melons, and Cucumbers.
Step 1: Identify a Male and Female Flower
Firstly, to hand pollinate Zucchini you need to know how to identify the male and female flowers. The best time to do this is early in the morning when the flowers are open.
Female Flower
The female zucchini flower has a small fruit at the base.The centre stigma of the female flower has multiple parts to form a circular shape.
Male Flower
The male flower has just a plain stem and flower with the centre stamen a single point covered in pollen.
Generally, the plant will produce a bunch of male flowers first which is nature’s way of attracting pollinators to the garden. Then it will alternate between male and female. I like to plant a few of the same variety as sometimes you can have female fruit but no male flowers open. Early mornings are best because the flowers will be open and then they will close up to capture the pollen.
You can either use a paintbrush to simply transfer the pollen from the male stamen to the female stigma but I find it easier to remove the male flower and use that to transfer the pollen.
Step 2: Pick a male flower
Pick the male flower and remove the petals.
Step 3: Dab pollen onto female Stigma
Then you are left with a pollen-covered stamen to transfer onto the female flowers.Transfer the pollen onto the female flowers to hand pollinate Zucchini.
This will make sure your zucchini are getting pollinated so you can enjoy the abundant crop!
This method can be used for other fruiting vegetables such as pumpkins, melons, cucumbers. I tend to use a small paintbrush for the melons and cucumbers though as the flowers are much smaller and delicate.
It is also important to try and attract wildlife to your garden for natural pollination, to find out what flowers to plant, click below.
Do you hand pollinate in your garden? Leave me a comment below.
Holly 🌱
MY GARDENING ESSENTIALS // Fertiliser spray gun: https://bit.ly/366nL1t Retractable Hose: https://bit.ly/2TSC0Bo More gardening tools: https://bit.ly/32IQmbD
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!
