Seems like you are doing a lot of good things, mitigation-wise, already. Perhaps some of this is just getting used to the hotter conditions. I don't live like that any more but grew up in the central valley in CA, where things get pretty hot during the summer. I don't know what your definition of "serious wilting" might be, but unless the plants are literally getting crispy, the wilting gets better after the sun goes down. My folks tended to water at night when it was really hot, to give the veggies time to make the most of it. And on the days we watered, we watered DEEP.

The other thing of course, is that we all may adjust what we grow, in addition to how we grow it. everyone's zone is going to change a little, and you will figure out what works for your current environment.

That's fair, that some measure of late afternoon wilting is tolerable. But if you let it get too bad, you're going to lose the plant entirely. Crispiness happens long after plant death.

I missed wtering a tomato plant when I left for several days. It wilted really really bad. I am 100% sure it was dead but watered anyway. It came back a lot. I wish I had a pic, 12" tall plant, in a 5" tall pot, on the ground, no sign of life.

Point is I think they might have done a lot better then you think. In high heat and lots of sun I have had many mature plants that got a LOT of rain for days before, wilt. I know they had enough water but they still wilted.

IMO I would be surprised that any plants need water even every other day under any circumstance.

Dan you had an exceptionally Very Long Hot spell this year compared to me and if those conditions of constant 100+ days occurred here I'd pretty much give up on most of the garden. Not only due to the heat stress on the garden being overwhelming but working out there would plant me in the ground too. My only struggle here in recent years has been with the early Spring and late Summer transplants getting cooked without being shaded during the heat of those periods.

Growing both broccoli and cabbage is getting more challenging each year and I have to cover them with shading materials to get them through both planting seasons. I didn't plant any broccoli this summer but did plant cabbages (late Aug) which are just now getting a good foothold and should not require further shading, thankfully it has finally turned cooler now.

That's an interesting story about recovery of a badly wilted tomato plant. But there is a line in the sand beyond which the plant won't survive, and wilting is the plant telling you loudly that you're close to it. I'd rather not risk crossing it. In that heat, watering every other day would have left most of my crops entirely dead. Yes, watering every day is annoying, but you'd never be out there watering in the hottest parts of the day, both for comfort and mnimization of evaporation.

Totally agreed, I was POSITIVE the plant was dead or I would have gotten a pic. If your plants recover in the evening when the sun is not on them and it cools down, even just a little, then they have enough water IMO.

Until you have seen it it is hard to believe how much a plant can wilt and not need water, and be ok. I would never have believed it. I learned in mostly from indoor plants when I made a mistake of left town and a trusted watering person failed. I then learned some wilting is good for the plant - makes it hardy. Plants in the garden always seemed to wilt in hot sun no matter when they have been watered.

It is surprising. I also wonder that it might mean a lot less growth. If we are going to have 2-3 really hot sunny days I try to get a deep watering in the day before it starts. I figure the plant can grow a lot on those days, but without enough water they cannot grow as much. I could be wrong about this.

I am sure you know wilting leaves in sun is the plants way to conserve water.

A half inch of water per day is essentially a shallow watering. According to an article from Texas A&M (linked below), in sandy soil a half inch of water will only wet the soil down to 6 inches. And that is without any runoff happening. It takes almost twice that amount to water loam and nearly 3 times as much to water a clay soil down to a depth of 6 inches. So depending on your soil type it would take anywhere from 1 to 3 inches to water your soil to a depth of 1 foot.

They also give "days to depletion" of said water but I am not sure I would use it as a guide since many things factor into that (amount of wind, amount of shade, if any mulch is used, air temperature, plants using the water, etc.).

Rodney

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/drought/drought-management-for-commercial-horticulture/so-what-constitutes-an-effective-rain-event

Fair point about a half-inch of water per day. But if I dig down, the soil is moist at depth, which makes me wonder even more about the wilting. I have to assume that in ultra-fierce heat, the plant simply can't pump water fast enough. As I said, I think part of the watering job is just cooling the plant and soil surface.

Sure wilting is a way to conserve water. It's also a way to tell the gardener that it's going to die if it doesn't get some. BTW, when it's 105F here in the daytime, it doesn't get much below 80F at night. Also, we're not talking about a few ultra-fiercely hot days. We're talking about a few ultra-fiercely hot months.

I just wanted to add that yes, tomato plants can look horribly wilted and still recover with watering! I had a friend who was new to gardening and he planted tomatoes and found them wilted. Pulled them all out and bought new ones. I'll bet they would have sprung right back with water! I think wilted tomatoes would have to be wilted for a number of days to really be totally goners.

Interesting stories about tomato plants. I happen to have a lot of experience with things seriously wilting, and although they might survive, the plants are often damaged as a result. The lesson here is not "hey, let 'em wilt!", but rather "you got away with it this time." It would be nice to hear thoughts from people in less arctic parts of the country, though, who actually endure these ferocious temperatures.

Yes Dan, I wouldn't let them be wilted for more than a day. And a lot depends on location location location. I've given up on my tomatoes now here in central Indiana. The red ones never did soften up........very strange. But now I'm turning to the green ones. I have a recipe for green tomato casserole and we really like it.

I just endured some of that long term heat , "The Heat Dome" just across the Red River from you. I managed to get all the tomatoes I wanted to tend to just before it started getting too hot for too long. I had to water them about every day. I had them up on a trellis running north to south. I hung a shade cloth on the afternoon side of the trellis and that helped a lot. Watering and shading (and mulch of course) is the key , that's all you can do. I managed to keep most of the plants alive , might get some fall production of green tomatoes when it cools on down.

For other vegetables , here's what I had to do for starting fall green beans and green peas in Aug

Ferocious watering under shade cloth hoops.

Okie HU

That sounds familiar. Of course, in this neck of the woods, you can forget about tomato pollination in the summer after May. Amusing that northerners look forward to their first tomato on the 4th of July! Our tomatoes are long gone by then. One thing I've learned about fall versus spring tomatoes here is that the fall tomato season is actually shorter than the spring tomato season. That is, down here, there is about one fewer month between pollination possibility and freeze possibility in the fall than in the spring. So fall tomatoes are harder.

June going into July is usually when tomato production peaks for me.

Couse I'm a little farther north than you (Dan).

My tomatoes are usually done by the 1st of August if not before.

This year I got overran with them anyway so I was ok with that.

Fall tomatoes are harder to do than spring tomatoes.

Fall gardening in general is harder to do , on account of having to start planting it right in the August heat and the bugs ( grass hoppers are particularly bad in my locale)

Now I've been trying to keep the old tomato vines alive ,getting them through the heat so I can get some green tomatoes in the fall. I hardly ever get vine ripe tomatoes in the fall with the declining daylight , but usually get a big load of green tomatoes just before the 1st frost. I just pick all the green ones right before frost and bring them in the house in paper bags , card board boxes,( throwing out the rotten ones) , etc. Some of them will ripen in the house but it takes a long time even into the holidays.

in the meantime I have plenty of green tomatoes to stir fry along with some onions.

You can also make mincemeat or relish with them too.

Okie HU

I was talking pollination. Pollination for me quits at the beginning of June, whereupon you can get ripe tomatoes in June and even maybe a holdover in July. But production for me peaks in April and May. My plants go out in February. Very true about fall crops being harder also because of seedlings having to endure the heat. Green tomatoes in the fall sound like a good plan.

Pollination for me quits around early/mid July.

Of course I'm a little farther north than you.

My tomato plants go out around early/mid April.

If you can get green tomatoes in the fall ,go for it.

They don't necessarily have to ripen to be useful.

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/fried-green-tomatoes

Okie HU

My plumbing doesn't allow drip watering. But as I said, at the hottest times, the effect of watering seems to be just to cool the soil. I'd get wilting when the soil at depth was moist. Drip watering doesn't do that. Wondering where you are, though. Weatherspark for Minneapolis this year shows one or two days were in the high 90s, and an average high temp of 90F. That's positively arctic compared to here. Get out the down coats and flannels!

I'm lost when you say your plumbing doesn't allow drip watering. 600 ft from my house I have 4 monster cannabis plants watered by gravity alone. An old 55 gallon Rubbermaid trash can raised 10" off the ground with 50 cents worth of 1/4" tube connected and hooked up to 4 adjustable drippers costing 38 cents each. Each dripper is set to about 1 drop every 3 seconds providing about 2 gallons over 24 hours. I transport water and fill the trash can every 4 or 5 days so you don't even need plumbing. Weed is legal here now (I jumped the gun by a few months) but I put them way in the back to keep artificial lights from messing up the dark time for flowering.

You're right about the temps here but it felt like 110 to me, but I did live in your area for 10 years so I can empathize with your heat issue. I also know old Texans are hard headed stubborn individuals so just buy a 50' roll of rainbird 1/4" tubing with emitters spacing of 6" or 12" apart for $14 and the hose connector for a buck and give it a try on a row or two. Just think of the water you'll save not watering the weeds between the rows so it's a win win method.

I have a driveway and a sidewalk between my bed and water supply. Major effort to plumb underneath them. My rows butt up against each other, so I'm never watering where I don't need to water. I plant rows 2 feet apart (mostly onions, garlic, and beets) in the fall, for over-winter gardening (which don't need much water at all), and then I interplant in early spring. By early summer, those winter plants are gone, and the interplantings can expand. I don't do weeds much. Spurge is my main weed, and that's easily pulled.

WOW Okie HU! Your stuff looks great! May I ask where you got that shelving unit for all your jars? that looks like a great thing to have.

Those were two separate cabinets with opposite opening doors butted together. As I recall they were on sale at Lowes a few years back. I don't know if that item is still available now . Extra shelving was added on.

Similar units can be found at Home Depot , Amazon...just search under pantry cabinets or storage cabinets ,.adjustable shelving would be most helpful.

Here's one from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/ClosetMaid-8967-Pantry-Cabinet-White/dp/B002IPG47I/ref=asc_df_B002IPG47I/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216574000717&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12206608617560341500&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026222&hvtargid=pla-376403955999&th=1

Okie HU

Thanks Okie HU!