Heat can be a real killer. The sun is one of those double-edged swords, "careful what you ask for" things. You have to have SOME of it, but too much of it and you're toast.
This summer, we had a long string of dry, 95+ degree days. It was murder, especially on our rooftop garden, and especially on the vegetables. The plants (flowers and herbs) at street level seemed to survive OK, but the poor vegetables on the 4th floor, all in containers without the accumulated moisture of ground soil, didn't fare well at all.
We also had a few invasions of different kinds of bugs, even using hybrid (bug resistant) varieties. One day very recently, the young cucumber plant looked very promising, with three nice cukes growing on three healthy plants inside one container. The following morning, one of the plants had wilted, and the morning after that, the other two plants had likewise shriveled. It happened so fast, it had to be a bug infestation. The poor cukes couldn't survive....
Practically the same thing happened with the yellow longneck squash. We had four healthy plants in one container, but suddenly, within the span of a week, all four began to die off, shrivel, and just look horrid. Rustling the leaves produces a flurry of tiny white flying bugs, the likes of which I simply cannot find anywhere on the internet.
We had a really strong storm a few days ago which blew over the sole remaining tomato plant and its concrete anchors (we had pulled up the two Big Boys about a week earlier). Several limbs broke in the ordeal, and we may just pull it up soon.
The elderly eggplant is actually flowering and making fruit again. Very strange. It really does love the heat. We're having a hard time killing it. Eggplant has never been one of our favorites, though, and wouldn't you know, we have no trouble growing this one. The best way to eat it is the wifes eggplant parmigiana, by far....
We do seem to be at the end of the season. Time (or past time) to consider what to plant for the fall. We're having a hard time keeping up with all the feed requirements and soil needs of all the various plants. I'm trying to keep a notebook with records of everything we're doing, but the sheer spectrum of plants and their varying needs is rather daunting.
We seem to have better luck with cooler-season plants. Last fall we enjoyed several kinds of lettuce and bok choi, and we'll no doubt try that again soon.
One of the few plants still doing well is the sweet peppers, but we haven't harvested any yet, so anything could still happen!
...and the lime tree is growing very well (but no limes yet).
All in all, not a very successful garden in the sky, but we're still relative novices at it, so we're not going to give up. Yet. I've been in touch with one of the gardening experts at the Houston Chronicle, and she says she has yet to see a really successful high-rise garden. Usually it's the heat and the wind that is the problem, she says. If we can really pull it together, she'll do a story on us. But we are indeed having difficulty. The high winds, the extreme heat, the (current) lack of a drip irrigation system (I'm working on that), and now this insect festival have taken their toll.
We're considering adding a small greenhouse up there...could work.
We have no problem with flowers, however. The plumeria is still going wild...
and the red hibiscus is blooming again...
Hey, we're not ready for the breakdown of civilization yet! We need more practice!!
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