To say it’s been an interesting weather transition from spring to summer this year is an understatement. Heat waves interrupted by hail, intense wind, and more hail is always challenging. A hot July and August are the norm in Colorado and so are tomatoes if yours made it through without injury.
Edibles
•Cool-season vegetables including lettuce, broccoli, radish and cilantro will bolt or send up flowers during hot weather (the process cannot be reversed by cutting off the flowers). Bolted veggies taste bitter because the plant sends its sugar resources up the plant where seeds are produced. Use the spent flowers in salads or let them re-seed. Plan to direct seed cool-season vegetables later in the summer for a fall harvest.
•Most warm-season vegetables (peppers, tomatoes, green beans, corn, tomatillos, eggplant) need about a quarter inch of water daily. It’s best for plants to be watered deeply and infrequently to a depth of 6-8 inches versus shallow, every day watering. As the season progresses and plants grow larger—they will need even deeper watering—to 10 inches deep. Check around plants, if the top two to four inches of soil is dry, then water is needed—deeply.
•Fertilize sweet corn when it grows to knee high.
•If soil in the vegetable bed is low in nitrogen (often the case with first year planted gardens or ones low in organic matter) tomatoes may be susceptible to Early Blight (a fungus) with yellow lower spotted brown leaves being an early indicator. Keep nitrogen levels up from mid to late summer to reduce chances of Early Blight. Fertilize lightly when tomatoes reach two inches in diameter using water soluble nitrogen or dry granular sprinkled in a circle around each plant (read package application information).
In the Landscape
•Container plantings may need to be watered twice daily with temperatures over 90 degrees. Every week to 10 days, apply fertilizer to annuals, hanging baskets, and flowering and vegetable container plants to compensate for nutrient losses from frequent watering.
•Lawn watering needs vary by turf type and summer weather conditions (sunny, cloudy, windy, hot or cool). Shady lawns will require less water than full-sun lawns. Cool-season lawns (Kentucky blue grass, ryegrass, fescue) may need up to 2 ½ inches of water a week in the hottest, driest days or weeks of the summer. Buffalo grass, Bermuda and blue grama warm-season grasses can often go weeks without watering or mowing.
•Pay attention to areas in the landscape or turf that seem or remain dry after watering. Check the irrigation system. Sprinkler head adjustments, replacement or cleaning may prevent replacing dead lawn or plants later in the summer.
•Many flowering annuals, herbs and perennials like deadheading (cutting off spent blooms), pinching, or pruning throughout the growing season to keep them looking tidy.
•The short list of plants that benefit from deadheading: daisies, candytuft, Jupiter’s beard, salvia, catmint, coreopsis, daisies, penstemon, roses and daylilies. Cut the dead or declining flower and stem down to the next bud or leaf and toss it in the compost pile.
•Trailing petunias, calibrachoas and lobelia often need a haircut mid-summer if they have become leggy. Cut back half the plant if needed, they will grow back quickly.
•When using culinary herbs like basil, mint, lemon balm, oregano and chives in the kitchen, pinch or cut the plants right above a set of leaves often to prevent blooms. Herbs that have flowered have less flavor. However, pollinators enjoy blooming herbs, so let some flower, keep others from blooming.
•Harvest herb leaves early in the morning—lightly bruise mint, basil and lemon balm leaves to release flavor before adding to your favorite dish, salad, pesto or beverage.
•Hail damaged plants usually mend unless the damage is very severe. Annuals and vegetables that have lost most of their leaves probably won’t recover. For perennials, trim off dead branches and leaves, but let the intact leaves remain. A very light nitrogen fertilizer may help the plant recover—water the plant first, then apply the fertilizer and water it in well.
Garlic Harvest
•Fall planted garlic is ready now, or very soon, as the plant foliage dies down. Harvest when about five to six green leaves remain.
•Refrain from watering the plants a few days prior to harvest, wet bulbs will not cure properly or store well.
•Avoid pulling the upper foliage—use a spading fork or trowel and dig carefully under and around each plant bulb to lift. If a bulb gets pierced, eat it within a week, it will not cure properly.
•Gently brush off any dirt with your hands, don’t wash or scrub.
•Do not expose harvested bulbs to the sun.
•To cure, dry away from the sun for four to six weeks in a well-ventilated space (basement w/fan works). Lay on mesh screens or bundle (tie) in 6s to 12s, then hang.
•When dry, cut off the stalks and roots and any excess dirt (a soft brush works).
•Hang in mesh bags. Garlic stores best at 50 – 68 degrees with 45 to 50 percent humidity and good air circulation, not in closed containers or paper bags.
•For everyday use store bulbs in glass bowls in the kitchen. Use hard neck varieties first—they have the shortest shelf life.
•See garlic harvest in action— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB5rSAfcHYs
Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in Colorado. Visit her at http://gardenpunchlist .blogspot.com/ for more gardening tips.
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