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Building a tall mound is one of the most important things you should look to do when you're growing crops like these. These are carrot plants and they're growing so beautifully. The reason mounds are necessary is because of the ample room it creates for deep rooted crops to send their roots downward. But there's also an issue it creates. A tall mound exposes the soil to additional heat from the sun. Because a high mound is exposed to sunlight from both the side and the top, the rate of moisture loss is accelerated in the upper layers of the soil during the hot days. The moment the soil moisture starts evaporating rapidly, tiny clay and the silt particles pack closely together, and they create a surface barrier that pretty much prevents oxygen from penetrating the soil. Oxygen is one of the important resource to the soil microbes and it's what's used to convert organic matter into usable nutrients for the plants. Low oxygen levels ends up in reduced root growth despite the adequate nutrient levels. Water running off the soil surface is another concern you'll have. The top crust formed by intense sun exposure from the mound can be so dense that rain does not penetrate it that easily. Water will mostly be running off into the path and does not enter the bed where the plant roots are. So the bed remains relatively dry, and the path becomes muddy. Covering the ridges with leaf shade is the wise thing to do in this situation to prevent overheating. Shade from the wide leaves meeting over the open spaces drops the ground temperature very nicely. Cooler soils are more moist and both air and water can easily pass through. [IPFS Video](https://gateway.pinata.cloud/ipfs/bafybeifwinfusgwpoiwk55k6odbh72vulfnjpbm4t3jsxamquakonowwqy)

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