crops that like 100F temperatures

Free for all about gardening techniques, tips and questions.
User avatar
bower
Reactions:
Posts: 7060
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:44 pm
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

crops that like 100F temperatures

#1

Post: # 153489Unread post bower
Thu Jun 05, 2025 2:32 pm

My greenhouse is too hot for tomatoes. It's a constant battle to cool it when the weather gets warm. Too sad watching the blossoms drop. They're better off outdoors.
So what are the crops I can grow in containers that will actually like it when it gets 100F?
Anything will likely have to be manually pollinated, although...

Just as a side note, I have three pretty little potter wasps living in the greenhouse since early spring. Efforts to remove them have failed and it seems they are living in the rotten sill under one of my windows in there. When I block their entrance they enlarge a hole and make a new one. I guess sill removal is the answer, but short of a carpenter to do the job I'm wondering about living with them in there. They can only prey on ants, my other big invader with the darn aphids. They are medium sized wasps with black and white stripes that only get bothersome when it's hot... but not 101F. They get real quiet in the heat as they are in the cool morning. Not especially savages. Maybe they could pollinate... beans? IDK. looking for the hot crop...
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

User avatar
bower
Reactions:
Posts: 7060
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:44 pm
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#2

Post: # 153490Unread post bower
Thu Jun 05, 2025 2:33 pm

I have seed for several kinds of dwarf corn, I am thinking could be planted in my fishtub containers. If they like the heat.
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3917
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#3

Post: # 153496Unread post pepperhead212
Thu Jun 05, 2025 3:20 pm

Asian long beans don't mind heat, like regular beans do. And many peppers also don't mind the heat - mostly hot peppers, grown in tropical areas. And okra is another that seems to grow best in heat.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

TerraCayda
Reactions:
Posts: 61
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2025 11:44 pm
Location: Arizona, 9b

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#4

Post: # 153499Unread post TerraCayda
Thu Jun 05, 2025 4:33 pm

Sweet potatoes! I cut 55-gal. barrel in half to grow sweet potatoes. They are under the 50% shade cloth, however. Temps here are now around 100F daily. I changed my conduit greenhouse roof from a clear tarp to a shade cloth on June 1st to maximize airflow. Tomatoes are still doing fine; they're probably done this month I think. Any crack of the shade cloth is immediate sun scalding tho.

User avatar
ddsack
Reactions:
Posts: 1861
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:26 pm
Location: Northern MN - USA

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#5

Post: # 153500Unread post ddsack
Thu Jun 05, 2025 4:50 pm

Eggplant?

eyegrotom
Reactions:
Posts: 621
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 6:14 pm
Location: So Cal

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#6

Post: # 153502Unread post eyegrotom
Thu Jun 05, 2025 5:04 pm

Here in Southern California were it is 100F + for days & weeks, Okra & sweet potatoes love it. I tired Corn a couple of times it didn't do very good in the constant heat. My tomatoes kind of survive for a little while with the help of 70% shade cloth.

User avatar
bower
Reactions:
Posts: 7060
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:44 pm
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#7

Post: # 153504Unread post bower
Thu Jun 05, 2025 5:21 pm

I guess there's some chance of making sweet potato slips from grocery store produce?
That's the only way I could get them.
Great idea.
I forgot about eggplant being a heat lover - we gave up trying to grow it here because it really can't take the cold.
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

TerraCayda
Reactions:
Posts: 61
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2025 11:44 pm
Location: Arizona, 9b

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#8

Post: # 153507Unread post TerraCayda
Thu Jun 05, 2025 5:54 pm

Absolutely. Keep in mind that store-bought sweet potatoes are hit & miss. Some are sprayed to prevent sprouting if not organic. Many start slips in a glass of water, but I bury a potato half way in moist soil.
bower wrote: Thu Jun 05, 2025 5:21 pm I guess there's some chance of making sweet potato slips from grocery store produce?
That's the only way I could get them.
Great idea.
I forgot about eggplant being a heat lover - we gave up trying to grow it here because it really can't take the cold.

User avatar
worth1
Reactions:
Posts: 18449
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 12:32 pm
Location: 25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#9

Post: # 153509Unread post worth1
Thu Jun 05, 2025 6:40 pm

Dwarf okra.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

User avatar
worth1
Reactions:
Posts: 18449
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 12:32 pm
Location: 25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#10

Post: # 153510Unread post worth1
Thu Jun 05, 2025 6:41 pm

Yes you can make slips from grocery store sweet potatoes.
I've done it anyone can.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

eyegrotom
Reactions:
Posts: 621
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 6:14 pm
Location: So Cal

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#11

Post: # 153512Unread post eyegrotom
Thu Jun 05, 2025 6:54 pm

The first year that I grew sweet potatoes, I used store bought organic ones which did ok in a glass of water. Now I start my slips from potatoes that I save from the year before. I also do the half bury in moist soil method. I plant them in the middle of May and harvest in the end of October.

User avatar
karstopography
Reactions:
Posts: 9716
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2020 7:15 am
Location: Southeast Texas

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#12

Post: # 153514Unread post karstopography
Thu Jun 05, 2025 7:45 pm

“Coyote” tomato. Swear it will thrive and set abundant fruit at 100° +during the day and 78° at night.
Peanuts love the heat.
C.moschata love the heat.
Luffah
Bitter melon.
Amaranth

The leaves and flowers of okra are edible.
"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden."
Thomas Jefferson

User avatar
bower
Reactions:
Posts: 7060
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:44 pm
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#13

Post: # 153515Unread post bower
Thu Jun 05, 2025 8:03 pm

Peanuts I hadn't thought about! Annapolis seeds has one they grow outdoors in NS, but I bet it wouldn't mind the scattered 100F days.
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm

Homegrwoninillinois
Reactions:
Posts: 277
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2024 7:40 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#14

Post: # 153519Unread post Homegrwoninillinois
Thu Jun 05, 2025 8:46 pm

I can’t state for over 100 degrees but. Texwine has fab flavor and set blooms over 90 degrees for me.

~Sam
www.homegrowninillinois.com

Tomato and pepper collector :D Zone 6a, Northern Illinois.

Danny
Reactions:
Posts: 1155
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2021 2:57 pm

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#15

Post: # 153533Unread post Danny
Thu Jun 05, 2025 9:58 pm

Corn has done well for us as long as the watering is done in high heat times. Okras, sweet potatoes, same as corn varieties. Field peas love the heat. Many of the mediterrain herbs do well in poor soil and heat. Eggplants want the watering, and the heat. Have had good results with any florida type eggplant and the japanese types doing well in the heat. Summer squash does okay, lots of water though and some help with pollinating. Seems like current type tomatoes don't stop for much except a really hard freeze.

A tip on harvesting current tomatoes- cut the who;e little branch and pull them off to use right at the table as many will slightly tear at the teeny tops. I think current tomatoes see being cut back as meaning "you like me, you really like me, so I shall grow twice as big !!!".
Conflict of interests: When your body tries to cough and sneeze at the same moment.

User avatar
maxjohnson
Reactions:
Posts: 518
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:16 am
Location: OH zone 6

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#16

Post: # 153572Unread post maxjohnson
Fri Jun 06, 2025 1:50 pm

Molokhia is the best leafy green I can grow when in South Florida heat and poor soil, but not sure if it take too much room in greenhouse.

Other not mentioned are malabar spinach and winged beans, also taking up space.

User avatar
GoDawgs
Reactions:
Posts: 4731
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:38 am
Location: Zone 8a, Augusta GA

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#17

Post: # 153573Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Jun 06, 2025 2:20 pm

I second the motions for okra, Asian long beans and sweet potatoes.

Okras, Cajun Jewel - 53 days, dwarf type, plants 2.5-4' tall, pods `1" wide and up to 8" long

Asian beans - Red Noodle does well here in our heat. Very prolific.

Sweet potatoes - The mother of the first set of slips I grew six years ago came from a grocery store that sells organic produce as well as non-organic. I planted it completely in a window box of potting soil and have been growing sweets every year from the last of the previous crop.

Last year I planted four small sprouted sweets from the previous year on March 28:

24.03.28 Starting sweet potatoes for slips.JPG
24.04.09 Sweet potato vines coming up.JPG
Slips were harvested and planted on May 6 and finished sweets were dug on Sep 4, 119 days from planting slips.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

ricman101
Reactions:
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri May 30, 2025 10:12 pm

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#18

Post: # 153592Unread post ricman101
Fri Jun 06, 2025 7:00 pm

As others have mentioned Okra, sweet potatoes, long beans, I grow these all in my garden. I would also add cowpeas to the list or black-eyed peas as we always called them. July and August are brutally hot here in Oklahoma and I grow all of these.

Rick

User avatar
Shule
Reactions:
Posts: 3387
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:29 pm
Location: SW Idaho, USA

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#19

Post: # 153695Unread post Shule
Sun Jun 08, 2025 12:23 am

Whatever you grow, you might consider giving it southern shade (with sun from other angles), and fertilizing it well. I've never grown in a greenhouse except for seed-starting, though, but this advice seems to be good for sun-sensitive plants outside of a greenhouse, especially under Verticillium pressure.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

User avatar
Whwoz
Reactions:
Posts: 3410
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:08 am
Location: Trafalgar, Victoria, Australia

Re: crops that like 100F temperatures

#20

Post: # 153699Unread post Whwoz
Sun Jun 08, 2025 6:45 am

@bower, just one question about this, how often does your greenhouse hit 100F, is it on a constant basis in summer or more just the odd day here and there? Or is it better to talk about days over 90F as this seems to be the temperature that upsets tomato pollen.

Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”