The heat was getting to the papaws. This is the north side of my yard and this area only gets about half a day of direct sunlight. It wasn't enough shade. I was noticing some thinning of the leaves and some stress that was showing up as lighter colors.
Pawpaws before the heat set in.
Usually if your plant's chlorophyll production is under attack: it's time to start taking measures to correct whatever is stressing it. In this case it was our heat and direct sunlight. I can't stand out in the sunlight for any length of time either, so I had some empathy for these trees. Anyway, I got out a couple of old tomato cages. I zip tied some row cover to it and then cut slots all around it to keep it from containing any extra heat.
Why not use shade cloth? I thought I had some, but I looked at what I have and realized that I didn't have any extra shade cloth. Hopefully my pawpaws feel some relief from the midday sun. As long as I keep these covered cages on them and maintain good moisture they should be fine. Always check your new plants. Since they are babies: sometimes you have to treat them as such.
Sheltered pawpaws. They have plenty of room to grow upwards inside the cages. Although, I don't think they'll put on a whole lot of growth until fall. Most things take a siesta in this heat. I wanted to make actual cages from pvc, but I'm only venturing outside to water right now. Working in this heat is not smart. I'll wait for fall weather before I fix anything permanent for them.
I am still working on getting water, to different parts of my yard, and getting the dripline connectors/emiters put together.
See you out in the garden! We'll see which plants are calling out for attention and we'll tend to their needs.
Crazy Green Thumbs
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