Great video with invaluable information. I'm in south Florida, now Zone 11A and I learned the hard way that it isn't just temperature but intensity of the sun that can damage trees. A couple of my avocado trees in 25-gallon containers (3-4 year old/grafted) were dropping all its leaves, same as every year. This February, I picked off all the brown and yellowing leaves, thinking it would help with blooming. They bloomed as usual and set fruit but even in low 80's temperature, the small branches started burning and drying up. I painted with IV Organics 3-in-1 but to no avail. The brown and yellowing leaves, even if dead were providing shade for the rest of the tree. Now, instead of trying to save the fruitlets, all of which dropped, I'm trying to save the trees. Water thoroughly every day. One of the trees has grown a new canopy and is doing well. The other two are trying to put out new leaves but the smaller branches continue to dry up and drop off. It's a race.
Garden looks great! I like the shade structures - thanks for providing all the details and the links... I may need to try this type of structure for a temporary winter greenhouse later this year.
Thanks! I recommend 1" for a winter greenhouse so the structure can take the load of the frost cloth and the wind. The mango house shown towards the end of the video was completely wrapped in 2.5 ounce frost cloth this past winter and held up great with the clamps
You’ve been busy but really well thought out. I had given my RP a big trim this winter and after seeing the sunburn damage on your RP I actually used some IV Organics on my tree’s limbs. Following your advice, my one in ground mango tree is also under 60% shade cloth and doing well. Put my shade cloth up early, too. Can’t wait to see how your Boswell Sacra tree grows. Thanks for the updates. Beautiful garden!
I see you are well-prepared for the hot growing season! Already tomatoes too. I will have to put up my canopy again, unfold it and stake it down and drape it with shade cloth here in northern ca. You know how that goes being a former ca Gal. !00's won't be long till they are here. Great video, Natasha. Must have had a lot of feelings cutting down that royal poinciana--another life as woodchips, though. Great tour of your food forest. Figs are quietly making, I'll bet. 🌳
Hi! Yes; it was a hard decision to cut down the RP and a ton of work. I took solace in that I have another RP thriving in its location. My oldest tree was not happy and struggling in its location and too large to move. I'm excited for the change, however. April is a little early for shade but it was a lot more pleasant assembling the structure and covering them in mild temps than 100s so I decided to get it done before the heat comes. Fig season should be great this year!
That's awesome I made the same mistake last year also and put it up too late. But this year I put up my shade cloth about a week ago to protect the mangoes, 1st year bananas etc. Hoping for an easy summer to help get some of these younger trees established!
I have found Don/Shamus of GreenLife to be rational. Based on logic, one would agree that one size does not fit all on shade densities. Even here, I am going with certain densities given my sun exposure during the day. What I use is not a prescription for others. Many factors go into the ideal density. Everyone should experiment and figure out the best solution for their yard. The point of this video is summer is coming and putting up some shade now will help young plants as we get into extreme temps.
Hi Natasha - I lost 3 of my young potted avocado trees last summer due to not putting up my shade cloth soon enough. This year is different, I"ve got them covered already. Keep us posted. Thanks!
I like the conduit frame. We bought a carport on amazon and replaced the canopy with shade cloth. It worked pretty well so we bought a second one but we're using 40% blocking cloth and will probably have to do darker. We also have made panels with landscape fabric and wire frames to reduce the heat radiating off of the block walls around the perimeter of the yard. So I guess we're trying to create an artificial microclimate. Buckeye, AZ
I too had a carport structure a few years back and agree it works great for a shade frame. The main advantage of the conduit (shape in a rectangle or square) over a carport is that it's portable. You can easily take it down and re-assemble as needed and it does not require setting footers or posts in the ground. For the walls, look into planting vetiver grass around your perimeter. Vetiver is a clumping grass that can handle the radiant heat all summer and is a good chop and drop among many other benefits.
@@EnlightenmentGarden Oh yeah, I like your intentional design better and had I seen it I def would have done that to start. For now we have the frame weighed down with sandbag collars and agree that it's important to keep the frame from being lifted off the ground by wind. Especially since we have tomatoes, passion fruit, squash and some other stuff strung up and trellised along the upper frame... I would be super sad to see them all broken and uprooted by a gust 😟
You are ahead of the curve! Yes, I assemble them. 10' EMT can be delivered for a charge by the big box stores if you don't have a truck like me. A pipe cutter, measuring tape, and a ladder are all you need beyond the actual parts. The pipe slips into the corners and you tighten the eye bolts to secure it. The beauty is the structure is portable so you can easily disassemble and store the parts after the season is over.
Awesome space! Have you ever thought about trying a Cherimoya? I've seen anecdotal evidence they can survive here, however require hand pollination to fruit.
Thanks! In my first year, I went all in and planted just about every tropical fruit tree available. I did have a cherimoya (from the big box store) growing the first year in the ground but made mistakes with it and threw in the towel too soon. I've seen FB posts of locals getting fruitset on cherimoya so it's possible like you say. I am growing the African Pride atemoya currently and have heard good reports of fruitset with hand pollination.
🦋 Hi Natasha, Great video. I think you recommended the seabreeze bamboo to me last year. I was wondering if you ever sell any starters? Great video on the shading issue. I have a few avocado in containers I need to get in ground urgently but pulled them in for awning shade just before mid day due to sun stress. Also curious, why did the shangri-la need to go? I have a second I propogated and need to plant. Wondering if theres another consideration I should factor. Thanks. 🦋
Hi--thanks! I tried propagating bamboo but did not have success rooting them. If you are local to Phoneix, Green Life usually carries Seabreeze. At year 7 in the ground, all my mulberry trees were too aggressive on the root system and choking out nearby plants. In the past 2 years, I cut down a White Persian, IL Ever-bearing, and the Shangri La. I planted Ice Cream Bean trees for shade instead because Ice Cream Bean is more compatible with sensitive plants/no aggressive roots, is nitrogen fixing, and is evergreen. I enjoy mulberries but opt to container grow at this point. If you have the space for in-ground mulberry, they are great, but in my case, I don't.
Brand new at full retail price, a 3/4" 10' x 10' costs around $260 all told ($70 for 8 corners, $120 for 12 x 10' pipe, $30 for a dozen clamps, $30 for quality shade cloth, and $15 for 6 J-rebar stakes) if you pick up the pipe at the big box store. It is about $360 if you do 1". It will last for years unlike a cheap PVC structure
I try to give any container plant afternoon shade because the roots are cooked in black plastic in direct afternoon summer sun. That said, they are not under shade cloth but rather under the cover of an established guava tree that will keep them well-shaded during the afternoon.
It's suncast plastic edger (5" high) that I loop and wire to create a ring shape. I place these around the trunks to discourage my hens from digging at the roots and to prevent wood chips from covering the root crown.
I’ve played with the ratios a bit but this prior video is a good reference point on materials: “Best Long-Term Soil Media for Container Plants”. I use this on volume: peat moss - 55%, decomposed granite or sand 25%, and pumice or perlite 20%. The only exception is the dragon fruit where I drop to 10% sand and make the perlite 35% due to the fine roots.
@@epigeneticnerd4244 Good deal. No fruit yet. Last year I royally messed up the DF by not shading them and they turned to sludge by August. I restarted with DF in the fall so they are babies still but doing well. This year my plan is not to murder them and eventually get fruit :)
Hi Natasha, I'm wondering if you can help me . I rooted a bunch of fig cuttings from Harvey. I waited until I saw some good root development before moving them outside. They are under shade cloth but some of them are wilting and seem to be struggling. Any ideas
Hi Sam. Some of your cuttings may be having a hard time adjusting to the dry air outside and winds. If you are home, I would suggest misting them a few times throughout the day. If you can, I would put them in a location where they are in complete shade in the afternoon. I'm sure you are closely monitoring the moisture but make sure the soil stays moist as going dry will shock/kill them. If they are already in shock and not perking up with mist, you may want to try creating a temporary humidity dome with plastic to help them recover.
@@samb2463 I water my container plants daily or every other day at this time to ensure the soil is always moist. The only containers I would skip are ones that are fully saturated based on the weight. I never let the soil go dry on a container plant when it's actively growing.
Asian pears ripen in fall. In full afternoon sun, the fruit sunburns in summer so I would plant in afternoon shade if possible to allow the fruit to reach its best potential for ripening and harvest
Yes, I have a seedling Big Jim and a grafted Honeyquat loquat (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rdwkyW1t_Fc.html) that were planted last fall. The grafted plant gets a natural shade canopy and the seedling has more sun exposure currently but will be shaded as support plants nearby grow in
. @EnlightenmentGarden I have 2 seedlings. a Big Jim and gold nugget that were planted in November. I am going to set up 70% shade for them later this week here in the Arrowhead area.
