Sun Exposure

Sun exposure or the amount of light that a plant needs depends on the plant and where you live. If you are in Texas, the sun is strong and can burn plants up.

Sun Exposure - 6/3-6/9/2024

Monday, June 3, 2024

It was already hot and humid at 6:30am in the backyard.

Good Monday morning. I was up early and went out to water my plants. Some had blown over and some of the automatic water spouts were clogged up. I finally got everything going right.

Then I turned on the water for the pool. It is down quite a bit. It looks much better than yesterday but there is still some algae that the shock did not remove. I ordered a soft pool brush and cleaner which should be here tomorrow. I turned on the vacuum so it is sucking up all of the algae dirt that appeared overnight.

Two new teens started this morning. I sure hope they work out for the summer because we desperately need help.

David just got an email asking for free seeds to be used as party favors for a diaper party for men. Get this. The men will go golfing which is not cheap. Then they will come back to the house and go swimming in their pool, which, again, is not cheap. They want us to provide free seeds because why shouldn't we mail them free seeds when they can afford to go golfing and swimming. Folks, we are in business to make money. This is our very slow time of year. Orders are down which means our intake of money is down and come payday, we still have to pay our employees and whatever is left is what we get. Wow, just wow.

It was a very long day with many orders. We had one customer today. I finished working at 7pm and went for a quick swim. It is now 8:40pm. David just got a call. The new outdoor teen quit. His parents said we are too far from where he lives. So we are back to square one with no help for outdoors. How does this happen? You would think there would be so many teens in the area who need a good paying summer job.

Anyway, I have been so busy today that I have not even put up today's blog so I will try to get this up tonight.

Sun Exposure

The chickens are loving the sun exposure in their new play area but they can run in the shaded pen anytime they want. Plants can't run away from too much sun exposure.

Hey there, fellow green thumb! If you’re just dipping your toes—or should I say, your trowel—into the world of gardening, you’ve probably wondered about the role of sunlight in the health and happiness of your plants. Getting sun exposure just right with your garden can be a bit of a balancing act, especially when considering the varying intensity of sunlight across the United States. Let's dive into how you can master this crucial element of gardening!

First and foremost, let's establish why sunlight is so important for plants. Sunlight is essential because it triggers photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert light into energy. Without sufficient light, a plant can't produce the energy it needs to grow, bloom, and thrive. This is why it is difficult to get seeds started indoors without the use of a grow light.

Now, not all plants are alike in their sun needs. Some thrive in full sun, while others prefer the gentler rays of partial shade or even full shade. This is where understanding the specifics of sun exposure on plants comes into play.

But what exactly is "full sun," and what do we mean by "shade"? Full sun generally means at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day, typically found in open, unobstructed areas. Partial sun or partial shade describes areas that receive about three to six hours of sun each day, while full shade areas receive less than three hours of direct sun, or perhaps just filtered sunlight.

Now full sun exposure in upstate New York or Michigan is completely different than full sun exposure in South Texas. In South Texas, if you expose a plant to eight hours in the strong sun, the plant will burn up, unless it is okra. Okra loves the sun and heat. So if you live in the southern United States, you had better give your garden plants some cover by using shade cloth. That is what we use on most of our garden.

Our hoop houses are covered in shade cloth to protect our plants from too much sun.

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Most of our planting is now done under shade cloth which makes a huge difference in the way plants grow here in South Central Texas.

Good morning. I had to get up early because we leave the farm at 8am for a doctor's appointment in San Antonio. It is now 6:30am and already 81° Fahrenheit. The high should be 99°. It got up to 102° yesterday--totally insane. Fortunately the sun exposure wasn't too bad for most of the day as it was very overcast, just like it is this morning.

Our doctor visits went well. Whatever the doctor did to my toe eight weeks ago solved the problem!

After that, we picked up some groceries at the Walmart in Devine and guess what? They are moving things around and they have closed their bathrooms. If you have to go, you can graciously go outside and use the lovely port-a-potties!

I worked on adding new products to the website and filled orders.

It was so hot today. It got up to 102° and the heat index was 117°. Late this afternoon, we discovered that the air conditioner in the rabbit hutch stopped working and we lost most of the rabbits--such a tragedy. We all feel so bad. Why does it have to be so hot?

Sun Exposure

I planted the same flower in both pots on the Farm Store deck. One side got a lot of sun exposure and died (this one). The other side did not.

I planted the same flower in both pots on the Farm Store deck. One side got a lot of sun exposure and died. The other side did not (this side).

As a beginner gardener, you need to know that too much sunlight can lead to scorched leaves, wilted flowers, and even the death of your plants. On the flip side, too little sunlight can result in stunted growth, pale leaves, and very few, if any, blooms.

The strength and intensity of the sun can vary greatly depending on where you are in the U.S. For instance, the "southern sun" refers to the typically stronger, more persistent sunlight experienced in Southern states. This can be fantastic for sun-loving plants but may be too intense for others.

Conversely, the "southwest sun" can be even more intense with high UV levels and longer daylight hours, especially during the summer. Plants in these regions need to be particularly resilient to sun exposure and might require more sophisticated protection strategies.

If you’re dealing with too much sun, particularly during relentless summer days, consider installing some form of shade. This could be anything from shade cloth to strategically planted trees or tall shrubs that provide afternoon shade. Shade cloth can be purchased online from various gardening companies. We do not sell shade cloth.

This is a close up of some shade cloth. It comes in a number of percentages that block sun exposure. This is 70%.

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Soon the tomatoes will be pulled up as the sun is getting too hot for anymore production. We have to enjoy them while we can!

Good morning. It's another miserable, hot day. David left early to go pick up the kid who quit the other day because his parents refuse to bring him to work. I have been adding a bunch of new seeds to the website. For now, I am finished.

I watered my plants out back and then opened the store. I cleaned out the pond and refilled the fish tank. It is now 1pm. The wind picked up and it actually got slightly cool and overcast. Alexa said we would get rain in 20 minutes. Ha! That was over an hour ago. The sun popped back out. It is another ugly summer day of excessive heat and humidity.

I have a dozen eggs in the Farm Store fridge and no one has come to buy them. I constantly see online messages about people in the area wanting farm fresh eggs but they don't come by and get them...I find this very strange. We have good eggs in a variety of pretty colors for $4 a dozen. I see others nearby getting $6 and $7 a dozen with no problem.

As I stated earlier, we have been getting new seeds in, open pollinated, heirlooms, and some hybrids. If you have not looked at our seeds in a while, check them out here at David's Garden Seeds. You will get your best garden in the fall if you live anywhere near where we live including the San Antonio area. You should be looking now for seeds to grow in the fall.

It is now 5:30pm and we never got any rain or customers. The animals are fine today. Gordon Ramsay is on tonight so we will be enjoying a little much needed entertainment. It is currently 92°, about ten degrees cooler than yesterday.

We are looking into doing some serious pick your own fruits and vegetables. I just got a book on the subject that was written last year by a woman who owns a farm with her father up in McKinney, Texas near Dallas. They grew vegetables for farmers markets for five years and never made a profit. Then they switched it over to a you pick farm and started making money.

They do no harvesting at all. They plant and take care of the plants, allowing so many people in each hour on days that produce is ready. You have to buy entry tickets online. Then you come in and pick at your appropriate time, pay for what you picked and leave so the next hour's customers can come in and pick. Picking is done by noon three or four days a week from May through July. Of course, the growing season is different here. We would have picking from March through June as it gets too hot for anything to grow here in July. It is really too hot now for things to grow. We have already begun pulling up our plants.

I cleaned some of the pool with the pool brush I got today. It works pretty good.

At 7pm, we watched two hours of Gordon Ramsay, so much fun!

Sun Exposure

Below is an illustration of several varieties of plants, including succulent plants, ferns, and flowering plants, that display signs of sun damage. After too much sun exposure, the leaves of succulents should display white discoloration and crisped edges. Ferns have brown, drying, and curling fronds, flowering plants have withered, discolored flowers and curled, dried, and yellowing leaves.

Signs of sun damaged leaves and flowers.

If you’re gardening in the northern states, the sunlight you receive will be less intense compared to the southern and southwestern regions. This means you can choose plants with slightly different sunlight necessities, generally favoring those that might require more protection in harsher sun climates.

Timing also plays a crucial role. The sun is at its most intense during the midday to early afternoon. How your garden is positioned in relation to the sun at these times can affect plant performance significantly.

When choosing a site for your garden, observe how the sun moves across your space throughout the day. This will give you a good idea of how much sun exposure different parts of your garden will get and help you plan what to plant where.

Thursday, June 6, 2024

The girls are loving being out in the grass but they still spend most of the day in the shade of their castle.

Well, it will get up to 101° again today. One of the new workers called in today. He has worked here just two days. "Something suddenly came up." Don't we know that line from an episode of The Brady Bunch? Hello!

The sun is shining bright, bringing way too much sun exposure on our plants all over the farm. David spent an hour on the phone this morning waiting to speak to an IRS agent to get a document from them with our new address on it. For the love of somebody, we moved back in 2019 and the business moved in 2020. We have filed our taxes each and every year with the new address and we paid plenty. You would think they would have changed our address to update their records, right?

We actually had a customer this morning, for the first time in days.

I filled orders and worked on future pages on this website. Then I went to jump in the pool at 6pm only to find it half emptied. Turns out one of the fittings had popped out. Matt saw it in the afternoon and fixed it but did not refill it. I had the water refilling it until 9pm but it wasn't even close to being full at that point.

Agritourism

David and I are planning to have a You Pick set up starting this fall. If it goes well, we will continue in the spring. From my research, one needs to set up a system where customers come pick from a certain time to a certain time on certain days for a fee per person that is paid in advance to reserve their spot. Then, after they pick, they pay so much per pound, depending on what they picked.

I think paid reservations are key. Last year, we had pick your own and two women showed up one time and that was it. There was no fee or reservation, just $2 a pound for some carrots and squash. This year, we offered a you pick with no reservations on our peaches. No one showed up for that so we picked them all. Then they sat for several days and turned moldy. At that point, folks showed up to buy them but they were moldy, wasted. It was very upsetting.

I have since ordered a book from the owner of a You Pick farm up in McKinney, Texas who has successfully been doing this for several years, making a profit each year, allowing picking for three months a year. We will try to have an early spring and a fall picking, and possibly a winter root crop in February with carrots, onions, and beets. We are planning and coordinating now while I read through the book. Our guys are already clearing our raised beds as our plants turn brown due to too much sun exposure.

This tomato plant is turning yellow and brown due to the sun exposure and heat.

Once the temperature here hits 100°, it is pretty much over for tomato plants. The strong sun exposure is just too much. Even with shade cloth, they turn brown.

Sun Exposure

These black containers are old molasses tubs used to feed horses. They make great planters as long as they have holes drilled in them for drainage.

Container gardening can be a great option if flexibility is needed. Pots can be moved around throughout the day or season to either catch the sun or escape it, depending on the plant’s needs. If you do container gardening, make sure you check the plant to see if it needs water daily during the hot summer. Overnight, our plants in pots can go from healthy to dead because it is just too hot. Plants have to have water to survive. Sometimes, we forget to give them the water and they die of excessive sun exposure.

Another part of protecting your plants from too much sun involves mulching. Applying a layer of mulch around your plants not only helps retain moisture in the soil but also helps to keep the soil temperature stable. Weed barrier fabric on the ground before planting is also a great way to keep moisture in your garden. Then you just burn holes into it where you are going to plant with a torch.

Holes are being burned through the weed barrier in our garden. Plant your seeds or plants and it turns out well.

Friday, June 7, 2024

Good Friday morning! I have the pool filling the rest of the way. David left to go pick up the on again off again employee and he says another new kid is starting today. This is getting ridiculous.

It is cool and 72° right now. It feels so good compared to yesterday evening.

Seed Sale!

Stock up for fall gardening now during our sale!

I just started a sale this morning that is good through Monday, June 10 at midnight. Save 20% off of everything except coffee and eggs. Our prices on everything have already been marked way down with our seeds starting at $2.75 instead of $4.25 and up. The coffee price has been slashed as well but is not a part of the 20% off sale. So if you want to come by or order online, the prices are the best they will be this year right now. Stock up on all of your fall seeds now while we have a good selection!

Well, it is now 8:15am. I have to finish getting ready and open the Farm Store. Come by and take advantage of our wonderful sale. Pick up some pecan flavored coffee and some beautiful chicken eggs today. We will be open from 10am until 2pm tomorrow.

At 6:30am, it was clear. By 8:15am, the fog has moved in.

Here is my garden area and the field that we bought with fog.

The fog has moved in at 8:15am. Who gets fog in the middle of summer? We do. I know that technically it is still spring but it has been summer here for a month.

The fog was gone by 9:15am. The sun came out and it has been out ever since. It is 94°, hot and humid. The temperature is 94°. My pool is still filling and it is now 1:13pm. The mailman showed up but did not bring anything good. I have been filling orders. We bought pizza and wings for the whole crew today. It was good. Right now, we have eight people, including the four new folks who started this week. I cannot keep up.

Above Ground Pool Ladder For Sale $25

Our double sided above ground pool ladder. We don't need it as we built a deck to get into the pool. You can buy this for $25 cash and pick it up at David's Garden Seeds.

We have a pool ladder that is almost brand new. When we got the new pool, we built a deck so we don't need a ladder. It has been sitting in the backyard. It is for sale for $25, double, no rust, no cracks, great ladder. We moved it up to our parking lot two days ago when a woman from around here said she wanted it. I guess she changed her mind because it is still here. I would like to get it out of the parking lot. If you would like it, bring $25 in cash and come pick it up at 5029 FM 2504 in Rossville, Texas at David's Garden Seeds.

Well, so far, we have had no customers today. I fully expected someone to come buy eggs and the pool ladder at least. Now that we are having a 20% off sale with no minimum, I thought folks would come get some seeds as well.

It quickly got hot and miserable. I worked on orders most of the day.

Sun Exposure

This dried tomato plant has suffered extensive damage due to far too much sun exposure in the hot Texas summer.

Watering your plants regularly and deeply promotes healthy growth, which equips them better to deal with sun exposure stress. Early morning is the best time to water, reducing evaporation and preparing plants for the heat of the day.

It's also important to mention that some plants may need a period of adjustment, or "hardening off," especially young plants and seed/transplants. Gradually introduce them to full sun environments to avoid shock.

Let's not overlook the nutritional aspect. Ensuring your plants have the right nutrients not only supports their overall health but also their ability to withstand sun stress. Regularly check if they need supplementing, especially if they display signs of stress. We fertilize our plants once every two weeks to ensure they are getting what they need. David likes to use Medina products as well as liquid seaweed and fish fertilizers.

Saturday, June 8, 2024

The sunrise was beautiful over our lovely first home/shack that we lived in before our home was ready. Now it is a storage shed but 5 years ago was home sweet hot home.

Good morning. It is finally Saturday. Based on the heat and last Saturday, I do not expect we will have any customers. Why on earth we don't just close for the summer is beyond me. I have some transplanting that I need to do while it is still cool out. The sun is already coming up and the heat will build up soon.

Two of the teens came in to work this morning. I was actually watering the plants in my area in my backyard this morning and the gate opened. It was one of the boys to weed eat the lawn. I transplanted several plants but I think I am too late...

It is now 12:40pm and one of the kids came in to tell me he saw two snakes today, including one that was just on the steps outside of this building. I am terrified. He just left. I passionately hate snakes. He says he does too and he jumped off the steps. I may stay in this building for the rest of the day now...

I had one customer around 11:30am. She said she lives just down the road and she bought a dozen eggs. She did ask for gardening advice on some tiny hot pepper plants she started. She did not get the seeds from us. I helped her anyway.

The sky is bright blue and it is 94° right now. The flags on the gate are blowing quite a bit. David just came back from taking the one kid home. For some reason, his parents won't take him to work or pick him up. How is that our problem?

We had one more customer who bought four packs of seeds. That was it. I got some older orders out that are waiting for seeds on back order. I did that by . It is now 100° at 3pm.

We had cold cuts for dinner and the Svengoolie movie was a replay so we rented the new King Kong movie. It is actually pretty good, at least the beginning. We were about 20 minutes in when we got a phone call. We turned the movie off and headed into Jourdanton to the hospital. We got home at 10pm. Everything is fine. Matt went on home and we did not continue with the movie at that point.

The sun was going down as we pealed out of our gate heading to the hospital. Everything is good!

Sun Exposure

Remember, every plant is different and will show you how it's doing. Keep an eye out for signs of too much sun exposure like leaf burn or fading flowers, as well as signs of too little sun like elongated stems and sparse leaves.

If you're still unsure about the specifics or if a plant looks unhappy, don't hesitate to ask more experienced gardeners in your community or seek advice from a local nursery. They can offer insights specific to your area, which is invaluable.

Engaging with gardening communities online can also be a great resource. Sharing experiences and solutions for dealing with sun exposure can give you a broader perspective on what might work best for your garden.

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Norton trying to climb up in the hay. Mom Alice just watches.

Trixie has climbed into the hay bin...teaching Norton bad tricks. Or did Norton teach her? Alice looks right at the camera...

Well, good Sunday morning. I have already fed and watered all of the animals. David made a nice omelette. I need goat feed and some chicken feed so we will be getting some of that today as well as a few groceries later on. It is still fairly cool out at 77° but I was sweating by the time I got inside. I found five eggs on the ground of the chicken coop this morning and brought them in. The hens are loving going outside in the grass each morning. Every time I go out back, they come pouring out of their castle, into the grass to greet me. They are so cute.

Norton, the baby goat, has one inch horns now and he loves it when I pet him on his head. He is so cute. Alice and Trixie are still afraid and will not let me touch them. Norton and Trixie keep climbing on top of their new hay holder. They are so silly.

The three rabbits we have left are doing well. The two males and one baby survived the awful heat. The air conditioner is working well. We don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl yet. It is scared to be alone... It loves carrots!

The meat chickens don't seem to be getting any bigger. I sure wish the farmer would have told us what kind they are. We have had them for three weeks now so we should probably be sending them to freezer camp soon.

We had a good morning. It is now 3pm. I have printed out a lot of orders. I need to go pull seeds for them because tomorrow, it will be like a madhouse in Fulfillment with several folks pulling Amazon orders. Then, I can just sit back and ship my orders and not worry about it. There are advantages to living where you work!

I pulled a lot of orders this afternoon. Matt came over this evening and we watched the King Kong x Godzilla movie. It was different, lots of color and good effects. It took place mostly in Hollow Earth, where King Kong resides. I thought it was great fun.

Agritourism

We already have the sign. Might as well have some Agritourism events...

David and I are getting our raised garden beds ready for a Pick Your Own Vegetable and Flower Garden for the fall. We will have limited items to see how people like it. Right now, we are planning on growing some tomatoes, green beans, carrots, onions, melons, squash, and some pretty fall flowers. There will be a reservation system, an entry fee, and you will have about an hour to pick what you want. Whatever you pick will be sold to you by the pound or vase.

No, they won't be cheaper than the store but you will be paying for an experience on the farm, picking fresh veggies that have not been sprayed with chemicals. We are a chemical free farm. We eat what we grow and we grow everything with our own seeds, which, by the way, are also for sale all year long. While you are here, you can also pick up a dozen farm fresh chicken eggs.

Sun Exposure

Too much sun exposure has already killed some of the leaves of this zinnia in June of 2024.

Finally, remember that gardening is a learning process. Each season teaches something new about how your garden interacts with its environment, especially sunlight. By keeping notes on what works and what doesn’t regarding sun exposure, your garden will continue to grow and so will your skills as a gardener.

Sun exposure, in all its abundance or scarcity, should not be feared but respected and managed wisely to create a thriving garden. Happy gardening!

Return from Sun Exposure to Year Five On The Farm

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