- Summer is the entertaining season and regular harvesting from the edible garden will keep your summer feasting fresh and tasty but will also keep the herbs, vegetables and fruiting plants productive; maximising the warm weather growth
Summer is a vibrant time in the kitchen garden with an abundant harvest of all the warm season fruits, vegetables and herbs. We are enjoying incredibly fresh, healthy, flavour filled goodness of homegrown produce as delightful rewards for our efforts.
It is certainly the time to enjoy the fruits of your labour but it is also time to begin preparing for the months ahead. Now is the time to sow Broccoli, Carrot, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, Celery, Leek, Radish, Turnip, Swede, Beetroot, Kale, Chinese cabbage, Celeriac, Spring onion, Lettuce, Parsnip, Spinach and Silverbeet. If sowing Spinach, add garden lime to the veggie patch. Spinach dislikes acidic soil and the application of lime will ensure strong healthy plants.
Continue to fertilise tomatoes, capsicum and eggplants with a high potassium enriched fertiliser to ensure more flavour and plenty of fruit. Also water these vegetables regularly to help avoid blossom end rot.
- Mulch, Mulch, Mulch! – great for saving precious water and making the most of any summer rains
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Water your plants early in the morning for optimal absorption before the heat kicks in. Boost moisture penetration in hydrophobic soils with a wetting agent like Saturaid. Stay water smart!
- Prune annual plants as they start to finish flowering and feed with Bloom booster to promote more flowers
- Remove any stone fruit which have signs of brown rot, and be sure to spray these trees in winter with Lime sulphur. Summer pruning may help and feel free to\ask one of our Horticulturists for extra advice
- To control insects and disease on tomatoes, treat with Yates tomato dust
- Spray cherry, pears, quinces and hawthorns with Yates Success to control pear and cherry slug. If you don't want to spray, dust with flour or wood ash, or remove by hand.
- Rose pests can be controlled with 'Rose shield’, with an all in one fungicide, miticide and insecticide
- Harvest beans, berries and other summer veggies regularly so they produce more crops.
- Watch out for powdery mildew on roses, treat with a fungicide or one part full cream milk with five parts water
Did you know?
The passionfruit hopper is a small sap-sucking insect which feasts on plants with thick bushy undergrowth growth e.g Raspberry canes, passionfruit, climbing plants and ornamentals. The larvae start as small white insects with a fluffy tail and quickly develop into the adults, which are triangular in shape with have transparent wings and move very (very) quickly.
Passionvine hoppers mostly attack the tips of the leaves and stems. They secrete a sugary honeydew substance, which attracts a fungus, known as sooty mould. If left untreated, it can cover the whole plant with ‘black soot’ and cause the plant to become stunted, reduce plant vigour and impact fruiting.
Control by removing excess plant growth, nearby weeds and treat at the earliest sign. Treat with a synthetic pyrethroid if spraying is required.