this is my first year doing mass rooting. i have good number of 1 gal pots. they get sun from 7:30 till 12:00 or so. they have been doing well last couple of months.

now the temp is going up to upper 90 to lower 100. i noticed that leaves are wilting on the 1 gal pots. checking the water.. they are about a day or two off from getting the water. so i watered it anyway. they were dry, but they weren't exactly too far off from getting more water.

at this point.. do i keep watering, or do i move them to shaded area? i'm not sure which will be the better option. since they have been in this spot for couple of months, i would imagine the leaves will be ok, but i guess with wind, sun and high temp, they just need more water more often.

any suggestions?

pete

I go by weight of pot not schedule when they need water. Naturally when hot out they need water more often especially in such small pots. If in pot to long one can water and it quickly runs out the drain holes without really getting into the roots very well.
If everything checks out ok and they do not need water give them even more shade and check for response.

Pete pictures are always helpful.  ; )

Did you check the root balls? About half of my cuttings from this year are already out of 1 gallon pots. The roots against the sides of the nursery pots really get baked in the summer heat. If there are lots of roots exposed to the inside of the pot consider an up pot. 

What sort of surface area are they on? Concrete or soil or wood or? Even if you keep them on a hard surface, can you mulch between them to keep the pots cooler? I don't think clean straw would stain any hard surface they might be on, and that would help keep temps down.

My rooted cuttings in gallons (mulched between and on soil) get sun from early morning till about 3-4 pm. I also have them planted in a relatively dense, water-holding mix. Our temps have only been in the low-mid 80s however. But I only have to water every other day. I do it by look and feel since I can't lift the pots and the plants have not appeared stressed at all.

i usually check the water by lifting up the pots. i normally wait till the pot is rather light before watering. today, the pot wasn't as light as i want it to before the watering.

after watering, the leaves perked up right away. so i guess that helped. i'll see what happens tomorrow. they are all under the shade already since this spot only gets sun till noon or so..

pete

I'd water more often and get them into more sun.  As long as there's no sun scalding the more sun the more fruit.  Almost certainly they need bigger containers.  As long as you have a good soil without perched water I'd go for *much* bigger.

Talking about perched water... Looking at my 16 oz clear cups, I don't get perched water with 50/50 seeding soil and perlite. I don't pack the soils since I assume they will get compacted during watering. I just push down lightly to hold the roots.

I guess I can use the same mix for larger pots... great!!!

Pete

Are the pots (and therefore the roots) exposed to direct sun?   When temps are in the 60's and 70's, direct sun on your pots is no big deal.   With temps in the 90's and above, even the late morning sun can heat up those pots.  I lean pavers up against the sides of the pots that get direct sun to shade them.   And am now also watering more often.

Mine are under a covered porch, and get sun till around ten am, and then again from about 5 pm till sundown.  When one or two start to wilt (I only have 7 left in pots), they all get watered.

Pete, you are correct!  It's going to reach 100 in our area both Friday and Saturday.  I got some already under the big oaks and under some fig trees.  I also got some on a flat bed trailer.  Those on the trailer will be rolled into the garage.  Those under the oaks will be watered 3 times a day till the heat wave is over.  It's going to be hot!

grouping them closely helps somewhat to keep roots cooler. If you leave them in the sun, you will have to water more frequently, but they should grow a bit faster than in shade

It is simple: you have invested al,ot of time, effort and probably $. So, baby them if they need it. They are still essentially infants, so behave accordingly. You can't put them on a schedule, unless you can schedule the weather. Add water as necessary, give them ore shade. If you keep them alive, they will grow, in time. If it takes an extra year, so what? Don't blow all your hard work.

Jon is right. I am in my garden every day and therefore am able to water easily and regularly. if you are scheduling your watering I'm guessing you are not as readly available for watering, so moving them to the shade would be safer and easier for you. You don't want to risk losing them after all the efort to get them to this stage 

i check the plants everyday.. well.. 1 gal pots anyway. 10 gal are on drip system, and 3 gal i pick it up once every other day or so to see if they needed water.

i guess with temp raising, the 1 gal pots are getting stressed. i'll have to monitor them more closely. don't want to over-water them.. at the same time, i don't want them to dry up.

i'm finally getting to a point where i can tell when the trees need water by lifting them up. but when the leaves are wilting and they can still go for a day or two without the water, i guess shade is better option.

pete