Mid- August is two weeks away, but it’s also an important marker on the calendar for lots of garden stuff, so here is your checklist!
If needed, divide iris now, but stop by mid-August. The plants need enough time for the roots to get established before winter sets in. Yes, I said the “w” word. Mid-August is also a good time to start dividing other herbaceous perennials like hosta, daylily, coral bells, etc. The trick for survival is to have a plant division that is at least the size of two fists and to cut the top growth back to a couple of inches tall. Yes, cut it back! After the root system establishes itself, you will see new growth.
Mid-August is also when you should stop fertilizing any woody plants – trees, shrubs, etc. Fertilizing will encourage soft new growth when your plants instead need to start the process of shutting down for winter.
Tomatoes also need a mid-August task performed — to start tip pruning your indeterminate tomato plants. Tip pruning encourages the plant to develop and ripen the fruit already on the plant and eliminates excessive new foliage growth. Fruit that is just starting to develop around August 15 may not have time to develop to picking stage. So instead of the plant wasting energy developing fruits that won’t ripen, it can focus on the fruits that will. It’s easy — just pinch out the growing tips on the ends of the plant branches.
Root pruning is a trick for determinate tomato plants (bush type) to encourage ripening later in August. Using a shovel, make a half circle around your tomato plants about 8-12 inches out from the main trunk. Drive the shovel downward in the ground, cutting the outward roots. This makes the plant think it’s dying and will hurry to ripen the remaining fruits. Plants are smart, but we can be smarter; it’s just learning the right tricks and then putting them into action!
Another mid-August job is pruning vine crops. Inspect any melons or squash to see if they need the ends of the vines cut/pruned off to eliminate unnecessary growth for fruits that won’t ripen before frost. For example, as in the picture, a potential 5-pound butternut squash seen here by the pruners for scale, won’t be half ready by frost. Any melons that are tennis ball size or smaller size by mid-August will never ripen – so remove them. This doesn’t apply to mini fruits.
Is there time left to plant anything in the food garden? We still have about 50 or so decent growing days left. Keep in mind as the season goes on, hours of sunshine will be less, sun intensity is less and nights will be cooler (waiting for that to start). There are several crops you could still plant with a good chance of success. If you are not sure, check your seed packs. They should say how many days it takes to harvest a crop, for example: “50 days.” A few fast crops like lettuce, spinach, mustard, any greens, radish, beets and kohlrabi may have time to produce.
Green onions germinate right above freezing temps. Cultivate and prep an area or row in the late fall and sow seeds in October for spring harvest. Garlic cloves can also be fall planted for harvest in the spring, or in the spring for summer/fall harvest. Garlic is from the same family as Asiatic lilies, and the same genus as onions and shallots. This makes sense when you think of how they grow. When garlic is harvested, it should be hung to dry – that’s why you often see them roped together. They can also be laid on a screen to dry as well. Store them in a leftover onion bag in a cool, dark cabinet or cupboard.
Our weather continues to be adequate in the rain category this summer. The perennial beds are lusher and more beautiful than ever. As of this writing, 1.5 inches was received overnight on Sunday — perfect and love the timing. Many weeds were extracted Sunday morning before the heat that were snuggled too close to plants to use any tools except my hands. This week, in the wider areas it’s been time to shuffle hoe again. The first year in many that I can say the weeds are actually under control!
Knock on wood, I still have not seen one Japanese beetle yet! Normally they start to emerge from the turf in mid-July. Could it be because I accidentally killed the four grape plants that were clearly their favorite food so they just moved on? Time will tell.
The outdoor Mankato Farmer’s Market is open every Saturday at 8 a.m. until noon. It is located at the Best Buy parking lot on Adams Street in Mankato. Stop by and see me every Saturday at “Market Bakery” for all your fresh baked goods! We have nearly 50 vendors with a wide variety of goods and food items, produce, honey, flowers, plants, eggs and local meat!
Diane Dunham is a retired horticulture instructor and is the owner of Market Bakery.