Hot summer. How do you mist?

[just.wing.it]

I don't have to do that regularly. I shade pots on trees in direct sun. I also tend to move trees in direct sun into shade when the temps get above 96 or so. I do occasionally run cool water on extremely hot days, but its once in the afternoon, when the plant needs watering...

Shade the pots you say??
Old T-shirt??

 

[rockm]

Shade the pots you say??
Old T-shirt??

Yep. I use reuseable pee pads I have on hand for the dog. They're light colored and thicker than T-shirts. I put them on in the morning before the sun comes up before work and leave them on until I get home. That keeps the temp down pretty good.

 

[amatbrewer]

Yep. I use reuseable pee pads I have on hand for the dog. They're light colored and thicker than T-shirts. I put them on in the morning before the sun comes up before work and leave them on until I get home. That keeps the temp down pretty good.

This summer I wrapped the pot of one of my wisteria's in a chunk I cut off of an old white cloth shower curtain. I then measured soil temperatures on a +100F day. The wrapped pot did stay cooler (as much as 10-20F) than some other pots in full sun.
I would note that this delta was largest near the outer edges of the pots. The closer I got to the center of the pot, the delta got smaller and smaller, in some cases too small to measure.

 

[rockm]

This summer I wrapped the pot of one of my wisteria's in a chunk I cut off of an old white cloth shower curtain. I then measured soil temperatures on a +100F day. The wrapped pot did stay cooler (as much as 10-20F) than some other pots in full sun.
I would note that this delta was largest near the outer edges of the pots. The closer I got to the center of the pot, the delta got smaller and smaller, in some cases too small to measure.

I have tend to have the opposite. I have large to extra large trees. The soil volume and mass tend to keep temperatures from reaching extremes. I also cover the pot completely on all sides and cover the soil surface to halfway up the trunk. I've had temps in excess of 105 this summer--with 10-15 day stretches of 90-95. Pot on my largest tree was mostly -10-20 degrees cooler than air temp.