Tips for growing summer vegetables
Every gardener dreams of having a thriving garden - one so full of fresh, homegrown vegetables that you can hardly keep up with the harvest. But when the summer heat kicks in, it can start to feel like you’re just trying to keep your plants alive, let alone thriving.
The truth is, growing summer vegetables successfully takes more than just putting seeds in the ground and hoping for the best. Some plants struggle in the heat, some stop producing altogether, and some seem to attract every pest in the neighborhood.
But here’s the good news: with a few simple adjustments, you can grow the kind of thriving garden you’ve been working toward. In this post, I’ll share the tips that can help you not only keep your garden alive in the summer—but help it grow strong, healthy, and abundant.
Whether you’re just getting started or looking to improve your results this year, these are the same steps I use to keep my growing summer vegetables producing - even when the weather isn’t on my side.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure here.
1. Grow the Right Plants for Summer
One of the biggest secrets to a thriving garden is choosing the right plants for a summer vegetable garden.
Not every vegetable can handle the heat. Cool-season crops like lettuce, spinach, radishes, and even broccoli tend to bolt when the temperatures climb.
When a plant bolts, it sends up a flower stalk and goes to seed. Once that happens, the flavor often turns bitter, and your harvest is pretty much done.
Instead of fighting nature, let those cool-season plants go and plan to replant them when cooler weather returns in fall.
Summer is the time for heat-loving plants, such as:
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Cucumbers
- Squash
- Beans
- Okra
- Melons
- Sweet potatoes
- Corn
You can learn more about these heat-loving summer vegetables here.
You'll still need to choose varieties that match your growing season, even when you’re planting heat-loving crops.
Check your first fall frost date and make sure you have enough time to bring your crops to harvest before cold weather rolls back in. If you’re in a short-season area, look for varieties with fewer “days to maturity.”
When you grow plants that belong in a summer vegetable garden, you’re setting yourself and your garden up for success right from the start.
2. Give Your Plants Some Shade
Even heat-loving vegetables can get stressed when the temperatures soar. Tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers can all suffer during heatwaves.
When summer feels relentless, a little afternoon shade can make a big difference. Shade cover is your best friend when the heat rages.
A lightweight shade cover for your garden (around 30–40% shade) can:
- Keep your plants from overheating
- Prevent sunscald on fruits like tomatoes and peppers
- Help those cool-season crops last a little longer
If a heat wave takes you by surprise and you don't have any shade cloth on hand, you can get creative and use an old sheet to block the sun temporarily.
Locate your taller crops on the west side to give shorter plants some natural afternoon shade.
Move container plants to spots that get morning sun and afternoon shade.
Giving your plants a break from the hottest part of the day can help keep them healthy, productive, and less stressed when summer temperatures rise.
3. Mulch to save moisture
If I could give just one summer gardening tip, it's this: use mulch. The saying: "Mulch like your garden depends on it - because it does" is very true.
Mulch is a game-changer:
- Keeps your soil cooler during the hottest part of the day
- Holds in moisture so your plants don’t dry out as quickly
- Helps prevent weeds from taking over
- Slowly breaks down and improves your soil
You can use straw, grass clippings, dried leaves, wood chips, or even a layer of compost. Just remember to keep the mulch a few inches away from your plant stems to prevent rot and pests.
Mulching is one of the easiest things you can do to help your garden survive the summer - and it’ll save you time watering and weeding, too.
4. Water the Right Way
Watering seems like a simple task, but knowing how often to water your vegetable garden in the summer and the best time to water your garden can make or break your garden.
When to Water
The best time to water a vegetable garden in summer is early in the morning.
This gives your plants a good drink before the heat of the day and helps prevent moisture from sitting on the leaves overnight, which can lead to disease.
If you can’t water in the morning, late afternoon or early evening is your next best option. Try to keep water off the leaves if you’re watering in the evening.
How Much to Water
Most vegetables need about one inch of water per week, but in summer’s heat, they usually need more.
The key is to water deeply and less often. Shallow, frequent watering leads to weak roots that dry out quickly. Watering less often signals your plants to send their roots deep into the ground in search of water, giving you stronger plants with better root systems.
How Often to Water
How often to water your vegetable garden in the summer will depend on your soil and your weather, but consistency is the most important part.
Skipping days and then soaking plants can cause cracked tomatoes and split melons, bitter cucumbers, and vegetables that drop off the plant before they're ripe.
How to Water
Water the soil around the plants, not the leaves themselves.
Watering the leaves can increase the risk of fungal diseases, splash soilborne pathogens onto the plant, and raise the chance of leaf burn. Plus, it wastes water; plants take up moisture best through their roots.
Water deeply, mulch well, and if you can, use soaker hoses or drip irrigation to keep water right where it belongs: at the roots.
Special Note for Containers and Raised Beds
Containers dry out fast - you might need to water once or even twice a day during heatwaves.
Soaker hoses don’t work well in small spaces. Water by hand or use a watering can or wand to get water right to the base of each plant.
Mulch your containers; it's not just for an in-ground garden or raised beds. Mulch slows down evaporation and keeps the roots cooler.
For more tips on watering your garden, check out these articles:
How to make watering your garden easier
~~ Keep reading for more tips ~~
Want to take the guesswork out of planning your summer garden?
My Plan a Successful Garden Workbook will help you map out your growing season, choose the best plants for your summer vegetable garden, track your watering schedule, and stay on top of key tasks like fertilizing and pest checks. It’s the perfect tool to help you build a thriving garden with confidence.
Grab your copy here - 53 pages of information and worksheets for just $7.99 in my Etsy shop.
5. Airflow is really important
When we think about what plants need, we usually think about sunlight, water, and good soil. It might surprise you to know that airflow is just as important.
Dense, overgrown foliage can trap moisture and create the perfect environment for fungal diseases and garden pests. Once these problems show up, they can spread like wildfire.
Here's how to improve airflow:
Give your plants space. I know it’s tempting to squeeze in a few extras (those tomato transplants are so tiny!), but good spacing is key.
Prune when needed. Crops like tomatoes and squash can grow thick canopies that block airflow. Removing a few lower leaves can help.
Support climbing plants. Get cucumbers, beans, and tomatoes and other vining or climbing plants off the ground with cages, stakes, or trellises. Read more about growing vegetables vertically (on trellises) here.
Good airflow keeps your plants cooler, drier, and less likely to develop summer diseases or attract garden pests.
6. Stay Ahead of Pests
Summer heat doesn’t just grow vegetables - it brings out the garden pests, too. And if you’re not paying attention, some pests can wipe out a plant overnight.
The secret is to catch problems early.
Check your plants daily. Look under the leaves, along the stems, and near the soil. Hand-pick pests like squash bugs, hornworms, and cucumber beetles when you see them.
Use row covers early in the season to block flying garden pests like squash vine borers and cabbage moths. However, if your plants produce “fruit” - like tomatoes, peppers and beans - you’ll need to remove the row covers when blossoms begin to appear so pollinators can reach them.
RELATED POST: How to Fight Blister Beetles Organically
Invite beneficial insects into your garden, such as ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic wasps.
Rotating your crops each year will help prevent pests and diseases from building up in the soil.
A little prevention now saves a lot of heartache later.
7. Fertilize Heavy Feeders
Some vegetables need regular feeding. Crops like tomatoes, corn, squash, cucumbers, and peppers need to be fertilized regularly to keep thriving and producing all summer.
If they don’t get enough nutrients, you’ll see:
- Slow growth
- Fewer flowers
- Smaller fruit
- Yellowing leaves
Plan to fertilize every 2–3 weeks with organic options like compost tea, fish emulsion, comfrey tea (it's easy to make at home!) or a balanced organic fertilizer.
Not every plant needs to be fertilized: beans and peas actually make their own nitrogen and usually need less fertilizer.
Fertilize the heavy feeders regularly and watch your plants for signs that they might need a little extra boost.
8. Harvest Often to Keep Plants Producing
One of the easiest ways to keep your summer vegetables thriving is to harvest often.
Crops like beans, cucumbers, zucchini, okra, and summer squash will keep producing for as long as you keep picking.
If you let fruit get too big, or remain on the plant, it’ll be tough, oversized, or bitter. Plus the plant will think its job is done and stop making more fruit.
Because let’s face it, the purpose of a plant is to produce seeds for the next generation. If you let the fruit ripen and drop seeds, its work is done.
Check your garden every day during the peak of summer. You’ll get fresher, better-tasting produce and a much longer harvest season.
9. Watch for Signs of Stress
Plants can’t talk, but they will tell you when something’s wrong. Look for:
- Curling or wilting leaves (even if the soil is moist)
- Sunburned fruit (white or pale leathery spots)
- Yellowing leaves or stunted growth
- Brown or mushy spots on the bottom of the fruit (blossom end rot)
This silly face on the bottom of a bell pepper is actually a sign of blossom end rot.
Sometimes these are caused by heat stress or uneven watering. Sometimes pests are the culprit. Look for:
- Squash bugs hide under leaves and at the base of plants.
- Squash vine borers leave little sawdust-like piles (frass) on stems.
- Tomato hornworms leave a trail of chewed leaves and dark, cube-shaped poop (frass). When you spot it, look at the branches above for a big green caterpillar.
Checking your garden regularly means you can step in before small problems turn into big ones.
10. Use Companion Planting to Your Advantage
Companion planting is one of my favorite ways to help my garden thrive naturally. These plants help each other by repelling pests, attracting pollinators, and improving growth.
It helps your thriving garden work as a team, without using chemicals.
Some classic companions are:
- Planting tomatoes with basil, onions, carrots, lettuce, peppers, beans
- Planting onions between carrots, lettuce, beets, tomatoes, strawberries (avoid beans and peas)
- Surrounding cucumbers with beans, peas, radishes, nasturtiums, sunflowers
Learn more about companion planting in this article: Why you should grow flowers in your vegetable garden.
Bonus tip: Daily garden walks will help your garden thrive
Checking your garden daily is the easiest way to boost your harvest - and your mood! You can pull a weed here, pick a red tomato there, and spot any issues right away.
Plus, taking a walk through your garden is like visiting a friend. It can reduce your blood pressure and give you something to smile about.
Some crops, like cucumbers, can go from almost-ripe to giant “baseball bats” faster than you can imagine. In my garden, cucumbers grow way faster than zucchini does.
This daily attention isn’t just for your vegetables. Herbs and companion flowers need watching, too. Basil and oregano, for example, often start flowering and setting seed earlier than you might think. Once they do, they’ll slow down or stop producing new leaves, and the leaves can turn bitter.
Pinching off flower buds or harvesting herbs before they go to seed keeps them growing fresh and flavorful all season long.
Making a quick daily stroll through your garden part of your routine can help you catch these little changes before they turn into bigger problems - and it means a bigger, delicious harvest.
You’ll also be able to spot pests moving in before they become an infestation. It’s easier to manage a few pests than a swarm of them!
Ready to Grow Your Best Summer Garden?
A thriving garden doesn’t happen by accident; it happens when you show up, pay attention, and put the right pieces in place.
The tips I’ve shared today will help you build a strong, productive garden this summer - and I hope they'll give you the courage to keep going, even when the heat, bugs, or weeds try to slow you down.
Just remember: gardening isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress. Every season teaches you something, and every little step you take adds up.
Gathered Goods
Hand-picked tools, books, and everyday helpers we love!
(These are affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my disclosure here.)
- Shade cloth to protect your plants from the sun in super-hot and sunny gardens.
- Fish emulsion fertilizer for heavy feeding vegetables like tomatoes and peppers.
- I love this weed puller tool (yes, that's what it's called) - the tines can pull weeds out by the roots, but it's also sharpened between the tines. The longer handle makes it easier to reach across a flowerbed or raised bed to reach those pesky weeds.
- Row cover to keep pests off of your plants early in the season.
For more self-sufficient posts like this, subscribe to my newsletter The Acorn, and join me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Kathi Rodgers is the gardener and writer behind Oak Hill Homestead (est. 2009) and the host of HOMEGROWN: Your Backyard Garden Podcast. With over 30 years of gardening experience in a variety of climates and soils, she helps new and aspiring gardeners grow healthy, organic food right in their own backyards.
A passionate advocate for simple, self-reliant living, Kathi is the author of multiple ebooks, a published magazine contributor, and shares practical advice with readers who want real-life solutions they can trust. She was also the publisher and editor of a long-running subscription newsletter (on an entirely different topic: cats).
Kathi lives in Oklahoma, where she grows more cherry tomatoes than she can count and keeps a watchful eye on tornado season. A proud grandma and great-grandma, she believes that wisdom - like a bountiful garden harvest - should be shared.
.jpg)
