With the lack of normal rain fall and a return to high temperatures again in SE Wisconsin, you may have noticed a few things happening to your tomato and squash plants.
First off, the lower leaves of your tomato plants may have started to yellow. If you see this on your plants remove the yellowed leaves. This is a sign of stress to the plants. Next, you may have noticed that most, if not all of your tomato plants, (minus the cherry, pear and grape that can produce in almost any kind of weather) are not setting fruit very well. This is also a combination of the two problems listed above. If we can return to normal temps, they will again start setting fruit and producing flowers. Just hold out for normal weather to return. I have started misting the plants during the early morning to assist in cooling them and placing them in shade to remove them from the heat of the day. The plants I can't move are now shaded with floating row covers, or covered with old sheets and sticks to keep them off the plants.
You can also follow along on our gardening journey this season by linking to my page on Facebook. Happy Gardening.