Yeah, they love the shade when it's hot !! (I think?) Any of mine get stressed............into partial shade they go. But it hasn't hit 100 F here in my own private IdahoIf you live in such a climate shade cloth is equally if not more important than any fancy fertilizer you can come up with. They don't call it weed for nothing. It doesn't necessarily need too too much to do well. However if you can't protect it from drought then you need to spend less on other aspects of the grow. Shade cloth isn't exactly the woven eyebrows of a piss ant. It's relatively cheap. Don't skimp. Shade is essential from noon till 3.
with the humidity....only 95-105 reallyI heard Minnesota had a temp of 124 a week or two ago. I've never seen that, here.
All the grass here is stressing and we're no where near 100. Plants are a little more resourceful with deeper root systems. When that sun beats down though and it doesn't rain you got to do exactly what you did, diffuse that light a bit. With things in the ground I forgot how important mulching is. It's like sun block for the soil. Lot of places like in central and southern California as well as the whole SW have poor soil(poor in organic matter, lots of nutrients locked up). All summer long one should be composting organic matter and side dressing their plants. Then let the worms do all the work. They'll bring that organic matter down into the soil and help it retain moisture, aerate it, and allow for easier root growth.Yeah, they love the shade when it's hot !! (I think?) Any of mine get stressed............into partial shade they go. But it hasn't hit 100 F here in my own private Idaho