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Santa Cruz, CA

Can leaves get heat burn in 77 degree weather? Our humidity is 60 percent, the sun is out and our weather is in the 70s to 80's generally. It seems to me that our leaves are getting damaged by the intensity of the sun. On sunny days, the south facing leaves wrinkle but don't flag and the next day those wrinkly areas start to turn brown. Why is this and will a misting system take this problem away? What should we do?

6/7/2008 12:48:26 AM

Rhode Island

many times its the heat rising up off the soil that burns the leaf tips. especially those newer leaves at the tip of the vines.
misting would help. mulching the soil under the vine tips will also help, but its a lot of work and time.

sometimes newer plants just recently removed from a greenhouse will wilt and the younger leaves will burn on hot days because they are not accustomed to the hot full sun yet.

also never fertalize or spray anything (other than soil soup) on the plant in the a.m. the heat later in the morning could burn the leaves. always apply sprays in late evening.

in any event creek your plants should survive and the few burned leaves will be a distant memory in a few weeks

pap

6/7/2008 6:18:14 AM

Clinton, Iowa

during a growing season we have experienced heat burn periodically thruout a season. When you look back an a mature plant you can see a ring of damage thruout the plant . then further out you can see another ring of damage. Yes it hurts a plant but it is not life or death. we have experienced burns on certain plants at 80 degrees...some plants are more tollerant then others to the temps.
As a test place a therm. at the ground level on bare black soil on one of those 77 or 80 degree days. you will be surprisedd at just how hot dark soil can get on a bright sunny day. temps at 120 degrees have been seen here . it's the tender young leaves that get cooked so easily in these conditions probably from the bottom up. Like Pap mention Mulch helps but is alot of extra effort. We mist but try and just ats little as possible. to much water can cause problems in other ways.

6/7/2008 6:33:40 AM

Joliet, IL

i have had some plants that are very sensitive to the sun, and some love it the hotter and the brighter with no effect. i think it is genetic like humans. you don't actually see it in the color like humans, but some plants have fair skin and some have a darker complection. a plant that's leaves turn that aweful leathery dark green in the sun and heat and get stunted and mis-shapen after they got burn needs to be babied all season with misting, or otherwise you will get burnt leaf after burnt leaf all season long. some plants hate the clear bright 75 degree day with a dry humid northeast wind the most, especially after a couple consecutive cloudy days. the plant will tell you one way or another what it needs and some need to be coddled more than others.

6/7/2008 12:21:27 PM