Time to Pull…

We’ve officially hit summertime in Houston, and the heat is ramping up. Thankfully, we haven’t had many 100-degree days—but it’s still hot, and that means some of your garden plants may be starting to slow down or go dormant.

While many summer vegetables enjoy warm weather, there’s a limit. Once temperatures climb too high, even heat-loving plants can stall out and stop producing.

This is a good time to consider pulling out green beans, summer squash, and cucumbers. Most varieties of these don’t do well in prolonged extreme heat.

• Green beans tend to stop producing in high temperatures, especially above 90°F. The flowers can drop, pods won’t form properly, and the plants may become stressed or diseased.

• Squash and cucumbers are also sensitive to intense heat and humidity. They’re prone to pests like squash bugs and cucumber beetles, and diseases like powdery mildew and downy mildew, which thrive in summer conditions. Once these issues take hold and production slows down, it’s usually better to remove the plants and prep for fall crops.

• Tomatoes you planted in the Spring probably need removed as well. They will stop producing by July and often get overcomb by pest and disease.

Clearing these out now helps conserve water and opens space for heat-tolerant or late-summer crops. The good news is that your herbs are probably going strong, especially the basil. And, hopefully, you have zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, and gomphrena to enjoy as cut flowers.

If you’re looking to plant during this stretch of summer, okra and eggplant are both excellent vegetable choices. They thrive in high heat and will continue to produce well into late summer and early fall. Also, for easy maintenance, consider heat-tolerant flowers like zinnia and vinca. In August, you can plant another round of tomatoes and cucumbers while starting to plan your fall garden. Fall gardens are incredible as they are filled with crops like greens, root vegetables, and brassicas.

-Lindsey