watering setback; advice? hope? help?

We were at my mom's house for 3 days helping them put in a brick patio. While gone, my MIL came over and was supposed to turn the water on for an hour a day & care for our guinea pigs. It has been HOT lately - 95-100 degreee heat & relatively high humidity. And as you know, my garden is on a deck in full-sun... planted in pots full of everyday moisture-holding potting soil.

We got back late last night, and this morning I got my first good look at the plants. I don't know if she didn't turn the water high enough or what, but the mint, my cilantro & the top of one tomato plant are all shrivelly & wilted. I turned the water on for an hour while there was still a bit of shade there, and will be turning it on again this evening when the sun travels to the other side of the house.

Is there anything else I can do for my plants? I feel just sick. They were doing SO well, and now... disaster in 3 short days! I see no sign of insect damage or any other stress factors and MOST of the garden is still doing well... but these 3 plants just look awful. And it's 105 in the shade today, and supposed to stay just as hot for the next several days with no chance of rain or cloud-cover in the forecast.
love,
mom

 

i know what you mean, it sucks see your plants like that :-(, i dont really know what you can do apart from watering but gl anyways

 

Mom: when in doubt a little miracle-grow, seems like all plants like a sugar boost when they get stressed. Good luck.....Dennis

 

You knoW that this time of year its best to put them in the shade.Come August they can be moved back to full sunlight

Peace & blessings

 

Oooh miracle-grow, thanks! Think I'll see if I can find any while we're out this evening. We had a freak thunderstorm last night, and this morning everything seems ALMOST as healthy as it was a week ago so I'm hoping that the extra watering I've been doing has been helping.

Piney - I don't think I could move these pots if I wanted to. One of them is a 2'x3' feeding trough, and the others are all full of 3-4' tall spindly plants.

The good news is that our pumpkins (the early set) are finally tall enough to thread through the bars of the squirrel barriers & about ready to start training up the arch! And our October pumpkins are just starting to surface now too & I've got two rather impatient kiddies running to see if we have blossoms each morning. They both love their pumpkins & we're all hopelessly addicted to pumpkin custard & pumpkin-veggie stew
love,
mom

 

They will probably recover. Don't push the miracle grow to hard, or you will be watering 3 times a day. During the winter and high heat periods of summer, it's better to let growth rates slow to compensate for the stress.

Your mom in law probably saw that the soil was damp, never considering that the amount of water she supplied would have to last until she returned the next day. It doesn't always. Nurseries around here usually water twice a day and sometimes 3 times a day when the temps are high and the wind blows. Wind can be more of a factor than anything else.

Trim the dieback off, and consider yourself lucky.