“DIG IT” July

 We said in May that we could do with a drop of rain and on cue, we got it.  Perfect timing really all the fruit and veg should be at that stage of swelling up and only needs us to feed it for some super crops.

I generally give my garden a weekly spray of liquid feed, only the heavy feeders, like potatoes, beans, tomatoes and strawberries getting pellet fed once a month. Most veg like a general feed for leaves and roots so anything like “Growmore” or chicken manure pellets will do the job.  Avoid feeding onions and shallots as this can encourage bolting especially if it turns warm again.

Right, back to our “where should we be” section.  Potatoes, especially earlies are getting ready to lift.  If you cut the tops off about 6” above the soil a few days before lifting, this helps to draw the moisture back into the tubers and the skins slightly harden but this is not vital.  If you see the flowers finishing then they should be ready to lift.  They will keep for weeks underground so no hurry to lift them if you just want to lift enough to use.

Keep an eye on tomato plants, take out any side shoots on standard (cordon) types and pinch out the growing tip when you have 4 – 5 trusses.  Keep the plants tied in to canes or string to avoid damage in the wind.  Most other types, like trailing and minibush can be left alone to get on with themselves, just water and feed.

Cabbages and most brassicas should be showing nice hearts or heads on broccoli.  A granular feed once a month will keep them healthy.  Watch out for dreaded butterflies, the caterpillars will burrow right into the heart and ruin them.  Ideally some fine netting over them will keep the butterfly from laying eggs or there are a few sprays such as vegetable “Bug gun” are very good without harming anything with strong chemicals.  Runner beans should have woken up and be well away up the canes – keep well watered and fed and a light mist spray on the flowers in the evening will help set them.  This goes for all types of beans and peas as well.  French beans again will be getting vigorous, try sowing some more in a tub if the plot is full up to keep a follow up crop going.  

blackfly infested broad bean stems!

Broad beans should have nice pods and probably black fly as well, just spray or drench with soapy water to discourage them..  They can really kill off any fresh flowers. 


Flat peas like “mange tout” should be ready to pick by now.  I sow a tub once a month with a final sowing in July.  Pod peas should have lots of pods and flowers so keep these watered to avoid the peas turning yellow and hard.

Salad crops have been excellent and this is where little and often really works.  Sow successive batches of lettuce, radish, wild rocket and spinach about every two weeks to keep a constant supply of fresh tender leaves and roots.  An area 18” x 18” is big enough to give a couple of weeks worth of salad leaves as will a 4’ row of beetroot and carrots.  This also stops the glut of vegetables that you cannot keep up with and they end up going to seed.  Try pak choi as well, sow into cells and pot up and out when big enough, they grow really fast and are brilliant in salads or stir fries.

marrow

Marrow, courgettes, pumpkins and squash are very thirsty and hungry now they are growing away.  Keep well watered and a dressing of manure or granules will keep them fruiting.  If you are struggling to get fruit to form, pinch off the male flowers as soon as they have been on for a day, this should encourage female flowers to form.  Male flowers come on straight stalks; the female flowers have hardly any stem and have a slightly swollen base, right under the flower.  This goes for cucumbers as well; you should definitely pinch off the male flowers as soon as they appear to avoid pollination that causes the fruits to be very bitter.  Better to buy all female seeds or plants to avoid this.

To do in July

salad grown in trough

As I mentioned, keep sowings going especially of salad crops.

Plant out some cabbage seedlings to give winter and spring crops – short of room; put 4 plants in a bucket size tub.

Leeks can also be planted now for winter; they may not get as big but will be ready for Christmas.  On that note, start off 4 or 5 of your freshly dug potatoes to chit and when ready, plant in tubs or sacks for a Christmas dinner crop.

Soft fruit and cane fruit is very nearly ready to pick. Cut back the stems on raspberries, once the crop has been picked to allow the plant to rest ready for new growth. Do not let them dry out as the fruit will shrivel and fall off.

It looks like it is going to be a bumper apple and pear crop this year, the strong winds we have been getting has battered a lot of the little fruits off though. This may actually give a crop of bigger fruit as the trees will put more energy to less fruit.

Potato blight

Tomato blight

Keep an eye out for Potato blight, these damp, cool conditions are perfect for the mould to start. The signs are leaves suddenly turning brown and may have white mould on the underside. If you see these signs, cut the top growth off and clear up any leaves from the ground, do not put on the compost these should be burnt. If the tubers are lifted straight away and washed they should be fine, if infected they will very soon start to rot and are useless. If you really want to protect Potatoes and Tomatoes give the plants a spray of specific fungicide making sure the underside of the leaves get a good dose, check the instructions as to how long you have to leave the crops before eating.

The wet always brings out our best friends the slugs and snails. If you are growing in containers just surround them with anything gritty or coarse bark chippings does the job and looks nice. You can also stand the containers on bricks, this has the advantage of not creating a permanent damp area under them which slugs love and snails have problems climbing up the bricks. The vegetable plots can be spotted with jam jars with beer in them, the old fashioned “slug pub” and it really works. Please avoid slug pellets outside as birds and hedgehogs will eat the affected slugs and ingest the poison (Copper Sulphate).

Plum being devoured by a wasp!

As fruit, especially Plums and Greengages ripen the wasps appear and holes in them, hang a couple of jam jars with a small amount of watery jam in the bottom, very cheap, effective and helps, apparently Bees are too clever to fall for this trick so no harm done to them.

Well I can safely say for myself (and Jan) that we had a brilliant day at The Blackwater Show. Met lots of interesting people and hopefully passed on some advice as well as receiving some good tips from some experienced gardeners. Nearly sold out on the plant stall, one lady wanted to buy the complete display!. Keep digging.

Terry