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I planted a patch on July 4th, seedlings sprouted a couple days later. Its been fungus/disease free (I spray a baking soda organic homemade spray every 10 days).

The past week we've been getting some serious heat during the days and the top leaves on my pumps seem to sag/wilter during the heat. They spring back up at night. I water every morning from a pitcher directly into the soil. Is this not enough, should i proceed to bidaily waterings?

Addendum: The starter leaves on the plants are starting to yellow; they are those two thick ones that are the first to sprout. Are they suppose to fall up and this is natural ---I remember reading somewhere this is suppose to be the case.

FYI: I use the classic blue-crystal miracle grow every 7 days to the patch.

TheIrishGuy
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Upping how frequently you water certainly won’t hurt in extreme heat though the plants may be wilting because of the heat and not from a lack of water. To help make watering more efficient you could cut the bottom off of a plastic bottle such as a soda bottle and partly burry that next to each plant. This will help direct the water to the roots which is much more beneficial than surface watering, especially in extreme heat.

If upping the water doesn't help then you could try a shade cloth. These you should be able to find at a garden center or any number of gardening supply websites. They will come in a number of densities that will allow anywhere from 50% - 80% of the light to pass through and can reduce the temperature under them by 10 °F or more.

The starter leaves are called the cotyledon, I wouldn't worry about those yellowing and/or falling off as that's typical.

Brian Surowiec
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