August on the Allotment- 2014

August on the Allotment- 2014

There is nothing more entrancing than a cool breeze  gently wafting over one’s face in a hot and airless day. As I sit at my computer with the window open in front of me and all other windows open in my house to catch the evening breezes, this is just blissful. The breeze is not constant which makes it all the more wonderful when it does drift past me. We have had a couple of days of torrential rain in late July which were certainly welcome on our crops and our allotments although, in spite of the deluge, there has been little improvement on the ground. The weather forecast was for further heavy thunderstorms at the end of July which haven’t materialised.

Maintenance around the plot and in greenhouses or poly-tunnels –

v  It has been very dry this summer and many plants which need water on a daily basis are struggling. I have a poly tunnel which is demanding but I have neither the time nor the stamina to water all the other crops which need it during this long dry summer. However, assuming that all indoor crops are watered regularly and appropriately, outdoor crops which would benefit from regular watering and feeding are courgettes, pumpkins, tomatoes, sweetcorn, globe artichokes, aubergines, cucumbers, peppers. At it is the flowers, leading to the fruits we are hoping to harvest, give the plants a good feed of an appropriate high potash fertiliser [ tomato foods are good] weekly;

v  Pick courgettes regularly [daily to every 2 days] to prevent them from becoming too large and to encourage the plants to produce more flowers – of course, you may prefer the large marrows;

v   Except for those varieties of pumpkins which produce small hand-sized pumpkins [Baby Bear, Buffy Ball, Wee B, Festival, etc which can put on viable fruits of 10 or more per plant] ‘stop’ the fruit production at 2 – 4, depending on the size;

v  Strawberries will now be sending out lots of new runners. Peg these into the ground near the ‘mother’ plants or into pots of compost, to create new plants. They will need to be watered regularly especially if in pots. Old spent beds, 3 years old and above can be cleared [they will have produced few runners although if this is your source of runners for the next bed, leave them until the new runners have established]. Once you have taken the runners you need and they are established, cut back the un-needed runners and old leaves from the established plants. Remove old straw and tidy for the winter;

v  Watch out for caterpillars – even netted crops can be attacked by cabbage white butterflies [I have observed the butterflies landing on the netting, folding their wings and creeping through]- environmesh is excellent but, is expensive, especially if you have lots of crops to cover. Slugs and snails are always a problem although this year they have not been so destructive, I have noticed they have caused a lot of damage on my small summer cabbage plot.

v  In greenhouses and poly-tunnels watch for red spider mite – they do love hot dry weather. I try to soak the whole area of my ploy-tunnel to discourage them but, of course this can lead to botrytis infection. Caterpillars on tomatoes can be a big problem, they will munch into the leaves and the fruits, the damage will, of course allow botrytis to attack the plants. Watch out for their droppings and pick them off as soon as you see them – daily if possible – and destroy.

v  On cordon tomato plants, continue to remove side shoots [they will regrow], try to keep the plants to one stem and allow the plants to set 5 – 6 trusses only[remove the growing tip at this point] or you may have lots of small green tomatoes at the end of the season [However, lots of growers are looking for these green tomatoes, there are many recipes for green tomato chutney and green tomato jam]. For me the harvest I want is of red tomatoes for freezing pulp, tomato ketchup and tomato chutneys and relishes;

v  If you have not already done so, prune plum trees and blackcurrant bushes – avoid pruning plum trees in winter time as this can lead to disease infiltration. Remember that blackcurrants fruit on new wood. If you fail to prune on the new shoots on the old branches and this will probably give you a good harvest next year. However, if you are dealing with old bushes which have not been pruned for some years, try to cut out half of the old growth which will encourage new growth for next year but will still leave new shoots on old branches to produce for next year. In the following year, remove the rest of the old branches. When pruning redcurrants and white-currants, remember that they produce fruit on old branches so careful pruning is required to ensure there will still be a crop in the following year.

v  Keep the plot tidy - cut grass on paths regularly to prevent weeds and grass from encroaching on your plot and to reduce slugs and snails.

- Weeding – keep seed beds, particularly, free from weeds. Hoeing is useful but take care to not damage young plants [hoeing is not very effective in wet weather as the hoed weeds will often re-root].

v   Clear away old leaves and debris from harvested crops and of winter brassicas – the leaf debris will give pests a home over the autumn and winter.

v  On Asparagus plots, keep a watch for asparagus beetle – they were very active early in the season but have not been too damaging later. As soon as the old ferns[mine are now six feet high plus [2 metres], turn yellow and brown, cut them back to the ground. Mulch the asparagus well with compost or well rotted manure and ensure all weeds have been removed [don’t hoe as you could damage the roots]

Preparation and planning - re-dig beds as soon as crops are harvested, to create a good workable tilth - ready for planting out.

v  Although it is early for ‘autumn’ digging, I will start to dig ground where crops have been harvested which will give me a chance to do the necessary digging [I have a large area to cover and opportunities for digging can easily be missed]. Areas such as pea beds and those for early brassicas can now be turned over.

v  Don’t forget that strawberry beds which are three years plus old should now be cleared – the ground re-dug and a new area set up for the young runners when rooted.

v  Globe Artichoke plants may well need to be re-established. If, like most of mine, they are several years old, cut back the plants to allow the new growth to develop and look out for side shoots which can be removed from the parent plant and established in a new bed – not yet!

      Sowing and planting

-      Of course, carrots can be sown until the end of August, if you have suitable conditions although, I have found that I have had more success with earlier sown carrots;

-      Florence Fennel – a wonderful vegetable whose fresh aniseed flavour is such a wonderful addition to salads – sow from May until July outdoors;

-      Leeks can be transplanted as soon as the ground can be prepared. If it is very dry, water it well beforehand;

-      Spinach and Swiss Chard can still be sown;

-      Salad crops – lettuce, radishes, rocket, spring onions, can all be sown outdoors – although, in this very dry year, seed beds will require daily watering;

-      Turnips can be sown until the end of August for harvesting into winter.

 Harvesting –

v  Second-Early and Early-Maincrop potatoes are now be ready for harvesting. Watch carefully for Blight and dispose carefully of any top growth you suspect may have blight – don’t compost it;

v  Runner beans and French beans should be harvested regularly to encourage the plants to continue to produce flowers and fruit [ stop the top growth as soon as it becomes a stretch for you to reach]. Those beans which are being grown for drying for the winter [Borlotto, Orca, Jack Edwards, etc. should be allowed to continue to grow without picking until the end of the season when they should dry on the vine [if the weather is very wet you might need to harvest them and pod and dry them indoors on trays];

v  Beetroots and carrots are also at their to their peak quality – remember, when digging carrots to dispose of carrot tops well away from the crop to discourage carrot root fly.

v  Lettuces and spring onions [see above]. The lettuces won’t sit too long in the bed – eat them quickly or give them away and replant with new seedlings. [ I am really bad at harvesting my lettuces and waste so many of them in-spite of offering them to others- I should rethink the varieties I grow and the quantities

v  Globe artichokes are still harvestable although watch out for greenfly and black fly – they are quite a nuisance now coming into their main harvesting season.

v  Of course, in our greenhouses and poly-tunnels – tomatoes will be in full flow, peppers, aubergines, chillies will be ripening.

v  v Cucumbers – indoors and out will be reaching maturity – don’t allow them to become too mature as the seeds can be unpleasant and will reduce the usefulness of the fruits.

    v  Sweetcorn should be harvestable this month. The cobs should be ready for harvesting when the 'silk' has turned dark brown and is brittle. Don't let them sit too long or the kernels become rather tough. Keep an eye out for attacks by mice. rats or pigeons.

 

Watering Crops in Dry Weather

Watering Crops in Dry Weather

May was a wet cool month as everyone probably remembers – excellent for planting out, digging, weeding and working with the ground – when we could find a short spell when it stopped raining long enough for us to work our plots. But, growth was a bit slow, waiting for some sunshine and heat.

In June we have definitely had that. Growth is rampant, especially with soft fruit of all types that the birds have left alone. I have had to be away quite a lot lately and find, on my return, that my soft fruit crops are way ahead of my picking and using ability. My sugar-snap peas are almost too mature and my summer brassicas – Romanesco and purple cauliflower have headed up but without the water they needed to provide good heads. Most of a bed of Little Gem lettuces have just gone beyond looking their most attractive though I might still be able to salvage some.

I still have some beetroot and winter brassicas in pots waiting to be planted out but, the ground is now too hard and unworkable to plant them. I might have to water the ground well in the beds to be able to plant them out - then water well over days to ensure they have established.

I have a large plot and a poly-tunnel and find that I really must restrict the amount of watering I do. We are not allowed hose-pipes on our allotments but must carry water from fixed points throughout the fields. This can be demanding and very physical work. As I have a poly-tunnel, growing crops which do require water, it is important that this is my first priority. I could choose to water directly onto the root areas of the plants and leave the rest of the ground dry. However, red spider-mites can be a problem. These determined little pests don’t like moisture so I choose to water all of the surface and the paths to discourage the mites which do come in to my tunnel and can move from plant to plant unless discouraged.

If I had lots of energy and unlimited supplies of water I would slosh loads of water around my summer brassicas as they are hearting up and around my peas and runner beans and French beans as they are putting on their flowers and developing pods.

I am watering recently transplanted seedlings and my courgettes, cucumbers and winter pumpkins. The courgettes are now setting, the cucumbers are developing and the winter pumpkins are just putting up their first female flowers – some of them look as though they need some extra water.

I’m not too worried about my runner beans. This year I have planted them around tepees rather than in rows. I have found that, as my plot is on a slight slope, as the season progresses and the plants become heavier, my rows of canes start to lean determinedly downhill. I have chosen to plant them in my no-dig area which has had a good mulch of manure each year for several years. In the last few years I have followed my now naturalised flower bulbs with winter pumpkins, squashes and courgettes. I thought, this year,  it would be a good idea to have a change of crop. Well manured and composted ground will definitely hold onto moisture much longer than ground which lacks humus.

Suggestions:

·        It is important also, to keep weeds off the planted beds as the weeds will compete with your crops for the available water. Although it would seem that the weed cover is keeping the moisture from evaporating, really, those weeds which are probably more at home on your ground than the crops you plant, will take the best nutrients and moisture. Hoeing is good in dry weather, if you can get the hoe through the ground. The decomposing weeds will be a mulch to help keep the moisture in. In wet weather, hoeing is not so useful as the weeds move over and re-root

·        Lots of humus in the soil helps to hold onto the moisture in dry weather. Add manure, either as a mulch in autumn or early spring and dig in well or, in a no-dig bed, add in the autumn and let the worms take the humus into the soil. I have, in the past [and will probably continue to do so, put lots of well rotted manure around my fruit bushes, trees, canes etc. in autumn and early spring to feed them and to act as a mulch. However, I have found that birds – crows, magpies, blackbirds, robins, pigeons, remove it looking for insects and scatter it everywhere but under my bushes.

·        Do think about the response of the plant you are watering to the water you are putting on it.

·        Do think about the amount of energy you expend and water used watering plants which may not need watering.

·        Remember that watering encourages leaf, stem and flower growth, for root crops this is not necessarily what you want.

Water is one of the essentials to make plants grow and most gardeners assume that keeping vegetables well watered will pay dividends. In fact, this is not always the case and excess water can result in rotting, leaching of nutrients, poor taste and poor keeping qualities, especially in onions and garlic.

All vegetables need water to start with, either from seed or when planted out. After this establishment phase is over, they usually grow very strongly and push roots wide and deep, 2 feet or more is common. This is usually early season when water is freely available in the soil and extra watering is totally unnecessary and can result in a weak root growth (with a poor subsequent performance) or the production of large amounts of something you don’t want – foliage on peas, for example. When the plant has grown, the onset of flower and seed formation, which is often the product you do want, means that the plant’s emphasis changes to the production of these and root formation stops. It is at this time that many plants need extra water and they respond very well if you apply it.

Watering technique is also important. Roots are usually deep and you need impractically large quantities of water to get enough down there. The only way to help the plant is to target the roots – light sprays over the foliage or wetting ground are useless. This targeting is assisted if you build in depressions in the soil around the plant (peas/beans) or bury a bottomless bottle next to the plant roots (tomatoes). Many will find the extra hassle of these measures not worth the effort [like me – I have 5 ridges of peas and three tepees of beans. I feel they must take their chances with the weather and, so far this policy has worked well]

See the table below for the optimum and necessary times for watering you crops:

Category 1  - Responds well to frequent watering

Category 2  - Water only at sensitive stages shown

Category 3 -  Not very responsive, water only as advised

 

Category 1 - Responds well to frequent watering

·        Aubergines, peppers and chillies – high maintenance plants which require lots of heat, moisture and food – water twice daily. [I wish! Mine are watered when it suits me, every day if possible though I do give them a good drenching when I do water].

·        Summer cabbage and calabrese – most efficient is one watering 2 weeks before cutting

·        Cauliflowers - most efficient is one watering 2 weeks before cutting.

·        Lettuces – throughout their life.

·        Courgettes and other curcurbits [cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, squash, gourds] – frequently once flowers and fruits form.

·        Spinach/ Swiss chard – frequently.

Category 2 - Water only at sensitive stages shown.

·        All beans – when flowering and throughout pod formation and development.

·        Peas - when flowering and throughout pod formation and development.

·        Potatoes – when flowers start to form and potatoes are the size of marbles – for many plot holders this can be a large area [ I never water my potatoes, whatever the weather].

·        Sweetcorn – at tassle and cob formation.

·        Tomatoes – when flowering and setting fruit, be careful to not over water as this will affect the flavour.

Category 3 - Not very responsive, water only as advised :

·        Beetroot – water before the soil gets too dry.

·        Broccoli [winter] – water well after transplanting to ensure the plants have established.

·        Brussels Sprouts - water well after transplanting to ensure the plants have established.

·        Carrots – before the soil gets too dry, just along the rows.

·        Curcurbits [ cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, courgettes, melons] – water well but slowly to allow the water to penetrate to the deep roots, perhaps once a week. Avoid water on the leaves to prevent disease. But frequently once the fruits form.

·        Garlic and onions – do not water in the later stages but, for spring onions water just along the rows.

·        Leeks – after transplanting to ensure they have established.

·        Parsnips – water just along the rows before the soil gets too dry.

·        Radishes – water just along the rows before the soil gets too dry.