Last Tuesday my balcony tomato plant got fried in one afternoon of 95 degree heat

I stepped outside at 5 PM to check on my cherry tomatoes and every single leaf was drooping like wet laundry. The poor things were literally cooked. I had watered them that morning but the black plastic pot just soaked up the sun and turned into an oven. I lost about 8 baby tomatoes that were almost ready to pick. Turns out dark colored pots in direct afternoon sun are a disaster for balcony gardening. A friend from my complex in Phoenix told me she wraps her pots in old towels during heat waves. Has anyone else lost a whole plant to a surprise hot day? What do you do when you can't move your pots out of the sun?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugog434d ago

Burlap wrapped around a hot pot in Phoenix humidity? That's madness.

riverknight4d ago

Oh man, that's rough! My neighbor in Houston tried growing basil on her south-facing balcony and the same thing happened during a random 103 degree spike. She came home from work to find the leaves literally crispy like potato chips (which is sad because it was supposed to become pesto). She swears by wrapping her pots in damp burlap now, but she also started putting a cheap patio umbrella over that corner during the worst hours. I guess sometimes you just have to get creative with shade because yeah, dark pots really do turn into little ovens.