Time to plant

By Jonathan van Wiltenburg

Priorities for July

Harvest, harvest, harvest! Pick vegetables young. If you slow down on the harvest, plants will set seed and useful growth will decline.
Water. Water deeply, in the morning, and try not to get foliage wet. Scuffle/scratch the soil to increase the probability of the water moving downward. In severe cases, get out the digging fork to loosen the soil.
Feed all container plantings every two weeks. If your soil is sub-par then give the garden a boost monthly. Use a general-purpose organic fertilizer if possible. Water-soluble is an excellent option as you can water and feed all at once.
Watch for pests and disease. Be on the alert for powdery mildew, tomato blight, aphids, carrot root fly, aphids, and cabbage white moth.
Tie up the tomatoes continuously; keep removing the suckers growing in the crotches.
Summer prune your fruit trees. Remove the water suckers (suckers are the new branches growing straight up) to slow down the suckering cycle and allow for air movement into the center of the tree. In the raspberry patch remove the weak new raspberry canes. Focus growth on new stronger canes.
Harvest the garlic. As the garlic begins to die back remove from the soil, cure, then store in cool, dry, dark place.
The first week of July is the critical time to sow many of your winter supply of cabbage-family crops. Get those cabbages, broccoli, kale, and brussels sprouts in soon.
If you have not already done so, prune back all your winter heathers and begin deadheading your annuals, perennials, and shrubs. This should encourage new flowers or advantageous growth.

Q. The leaves on my tomato plants are completely purple, and there are no flowers. What can I do to help them? Does this weather have anything to do with it?

A. A plant with purplish or reddish leaves is a classic sign of phosphorus deficiency. This is more likely to happen to plants in containers and especially when soilless growing mixes such as peat are used. Purpling will begin on the older leaves first and then move upward to the newer leaves. Phosphorus deficiency will also inhibit flower formation and consequently fruit production.

The good thing is this is easy to fix. All you need to do is add phosphorus. Bonemeal is an excellent source of organic phosphorus. Apply bone meal or well-balanced fertilizer.

Q. I just moved into a new house and acquired three fruit trees. I’m worried about the plum. It is mature size and seems to be struggling. Many of the leaves are curled and the tree looks stressed. I don’t want to lose the tree as it gives character and shade to the yard. What can I do?

The first thing to do is to go pull off a few of the curling leaves. More then likely you will find remnants of aphids (a small plant-sucking insect). Aphid damage can be tolerable, however when populations get out of control the damage can be quite staggering. New leaves will curl downward, become twisted, sticky, and sometimes crispy.

There are a few things you can do now to knock the populations down. Firstly, aphids are attracted to new fleshy growth, so it is important not to over feed your plants with nitrogen. Remember to use a well-balanced organic fertilizer.

Secondly, aphid populations are usually quite manageable if caught on time. Keep an eye out for them, and blast them off the plant with a strong stream of water. If the water is not working, you can use an insecticidal soap spray, but remember to treat insecticides (even organic ones) as a last resort. They will kill other beneficial insects as well.

You can also encourage beneficial insects by planting flowers such as dill, alyssum, and other nectar-producing flowers or by buying commercially available aphid predators. Beneficial insects such as lady beetles, aphideletes, or lacewings, can keep populations in check.

Lastly, and probably most importantly, commit to having a proper winter management schedule. Have your tree pruned by a qualified individual, and spray each tree with an application of dormant oil to smother over-wintering eggs. Next summer watch for the pests and catch them before they become a huge problem.

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