I live in Arizona and my entire yard gets full sun all day, every day. The temperatures in the summer can reach 110 degrees and higher, on a regular basis. I would like to start a vegetable garden. I plan on having several 4'x8' raised beds. My question is, should I erect some kind of shade structure to put over my plants during the hottest months of the year? I was thinking of using some kind of mesh or screen material - not enough to block the light, but enough to filter it so that my plants don't fry in the intense heat. Would this work? Is it even necessary? If so, what kind of material should I use?
curtis2010-03-25T11:59:28Z
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The full sun should be fine for your veggies. Be sure to water at the base of the plant. Soak it as the day will dry it up. The water on the plant, in the sun, can damage the plant.
As long as your plants are established in the ground and get sufficient water they should be all right. If you have a container garden they will probably fry without protection. You should be able to buy what is called shade cloth at your local nursery. You can make hoops from plastic pipe to run it over. They should be all right in the raised beds if rooted well before the hottest months come along.
Depending on what you plant you most likely do not want to shade the veggies. Tomatoes for example require sun. During the hottest days make sure you water extra. Do not water real early in the morning or at night after the sun has gone down. The water will have a tendency to sit and allow bacteria to grow and damage the plants because it doesn't evaporate. It is not true that watering in the middle of the day will "burn" the plants. Water in the morning but after it's already started to get light out. This will allow the water to soak in and any water that is sitting on the leaves of stems will evaporate.
If you are growing something that needs shade than yes, shade it. However for most veggies, they need sun. When it gets really hot, water them more.
Many vegetables require full sunlight, so shading all of them might be a bad idea. One of the good things about where you live is that you have a very long growing season and can grow vegetables almost all year round. When we lived there people would grow cool weather vegetables like peas, broccoli, cabbage etc. in the cooler months and things like tomatoes, peppers, melons etc. in the really hot months. It's all about timing. I suggest that you research growing vegetables in Arizona and learn a little more about it.
There are huge produce farms in Yuma, so I can't imagine that you would need to shade your garden. Just make sure that it stays irrigated, and plant varieties of vegetables that will do well in your climate (peppers, tomatoes, beans, corn, etc.). Good luck!