Reminders for July

Coppice Road Allotments Association

www.poyntonallotmentgardeners.org

(affiliated to the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Ltd)

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7 May, 2012

July

Although you may have enjoyed some early harvest already, this month the rewards for your earlier work will really start to 'kick-in'.

Under Cool Glass
Tomatoes will be swelling and the lower more mature trusses will be showing signs of ripening. Rather than allow the cordons to continue to grow and produce more flower trusses, it is probably worthwhile to stop them after 5-6 trusses, as later ones will not have time to mature and ripen without additional heat in the autumn. Pinch out the leading shoot and continue to pinch out any side shoots that arise. Lower leaves will become senescent, and will actually become a drain on the resources of the plant. Remove them by snapping them upwards and then downwards to remove them cleanly from the main stem without tearing. Cutting them off will leave a short stub which will be a site for disease attack. De-leaf progressively as the trusses set fruit, leaving around 0.75 metre of top leaves to provide food for the swelling fruit. Maintain adequate watering and feeding, and ensure adequate ventilation to avoid 'cooking' in hot weather. In most greenhouses, without sufficient top vents, it may be necessary to leave the door open too. Apart from keeping the plants cooler, ventilation replenishes the atmospheric carbon dioxide level, depleted by photosynthesis.

Cucumbers will also need attention, ensuring they are tied in when grown as cordons, and limiting the numbers of fruit to ensure that those remaining achieve adequate size.

Swelling melons will also require support, and grapes should be thinned out.

Vegetable Plot
Sowings that can still be carried out include, carrots, turnips, early peas, swedes, spinach and oriental vegetables such as Pak Choi. First sowing of spring cabbage can be made.

Plantings of earlier sown vegetables include late summer/autumn cabbage, leeks into their final position (if not already done), Purple sprouting broccoli, kale and other over wintering brassicas.

Pick peas and beans as they fill the pods and whilst young, tender and sweet, rather than leaving them to become tough and bitter tasting. This will also extend the picking season.

Outdoor cordon grown tomatoes will also need stopping, usually after the fourth truss. De-leaf lower half of the cordon. Bush tomatoes should be left to their own devices.

Stopping runner and French climbing beans, as they reach the top of their supports, will cause them to branch and maximise cropping lower down (within reach!)

All vegetable crops should have a plentiful supply of water during this period. Irrigation may be needed if rainfall is inadequate, but observe any restrictions that may be in force over the use of hose pipes using mains water supply.

Early planted garlic and over wintered Japanese onions will be ready for lifting and using this month. Harvesting spring planted main-crop onions is at least another month or two away.

Summer cauliflowers will be 'curding-up', check the crop every couple of days or so, as they will quickly go over. Protect them from sunburn, which will cause discolouration of the curd, by bending or tying up some of the outer leaves to shade and protect the curd. Some varieties exhibit a pinkish lilac tinge to the curd if exposed to strong sunlight. This is caused by the formation of anthocyanin pigments, which are the same pigments that give red cabbage or purple broccoli their colour, and are not harmful and still edible, just like the coloured cauliflower varieties. Keep the cauliflower plants well-watered, especially during the final 20 days before expected harvest.

Among many crops that will be ready to harvest this month will be, beetroot, carrots, peas, spinach, lettuce, spring (salad) onion, early and 2nd early potatoes, globe artichoke, broad beans and courgettes.

Keep on top of weeds, they will reduce crop yields and provide a haven for pests and diseases. As crops are cleared, sow a fast maturing catch crop, or alternatively sow a green manure to improve soil structure and increase soil fertility. If you leave the ground bare it'll only grow more weeds!

Fruit Garden
The 'June Drop' of apples and pears will tail-off and finish around mid-month, but check over your trees to ensure that additional thinning of the fruit is not required. Allowing a tree to bear too heavy a crop of fruit can lead to biennial bearing, whereby the tree will develop the habit of fruiting in alternate years.

The berry fruits will be ready for harvest this month, make sure the birds don't get there first by checking your netting.

Cherries will also be ripe, but again make sure the birds don't beat you to it. Stone fruits can be summer pruned as required.

Hold on to the custard powder for now, but get some cream for the strawberries. But,as soon as the summer fruiting strawberries have finished fruiting, cut off all the old leaves and tidy the strawberry bed (removing straw, if used). Unless required to form a 'matted bed' or to root in pots for new plants, cut off the runners

too. Perpetual fruiting or 'ever bearing’ varieties should remain untouched to allow them to develop later fruit.

Currants and gooseberries can also be summer pruned to encourage the formation of fruit spurs for next year.

All fruit should receive sufficient water with additional irrigation if necessary. Make sure cordon or espalier trained fruit are tied in to their support framework to enable the branches to support the weight of developing fruit.

Keep weeds down, hoe on dry days to cause the weeds to shrivel and die.

Pests and Diseases
With the warmer weather comes increased activity on the pest and disease front.

Aphids, including blackfly, will proliferate if unchecked. Aphids will also attack fruit bushes and trees, so check these as well.
Brassica whitefly may also appear. The presence of honeydew, followed by sooty mould, on the upper surface of leaves is a sure sign that some pest is lurking underneath the leaves above.

Keep a watch out for cabbage white butterfly caterpillars. There are two types, the usually lone larger light green caterpillar of the lesser (small) white, Pieris rapae, and the groups of banded caterpillars of the large white. The caterpillar of the small white isn’t always easy to spot, as it is well camouflaged, but it is probably more destructive by going for the heart leaves of the cabbage. The black, yellow and green striped caterpillars of the large white, Pieris brassicae, usually feed on the outer tougher leaves. You don't want either!

Slugs, and snails, are always with us.

In particularly dry weather, on fruit trees, or in a dryish greenhouse, watch out for the two-spotted spider mite (tell-tale signs of webbing). This pest is sometimes called the red spider mite, but it doesn't turn red until the autumn when it's getting ready to over winter, by which time the damage has been done.

Potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans) will start to become prevalent, so look out for the blight alerts. If you have not sprayed against this fungus, and your potatoes get this disease there is little you can do, as there is no curative treatment available to the amateur grower. If you leave the tops of the potatoes on, there is every risk of your tubers becoming infected too. Better to remove the tops or kill them with Weedol (diquat), then wait 10-14 days before digging up your reduced crop of tubers, than do nothing, and lose the lot. Doing nothing is not really an option as you wouldn’t want to be un-neighbourly by allowing it to spread to your neighbour’s crop, would you? Remember that blight affects all common Solanaceae crops, including tomato, peppers and aubergines. Always burn infected plant tissue if possible, and never include it in the compost heap.

Check tomatoes for blossom end rot, caused by irregular watering and poor calcium uptake.
'Ghost-Spot' may also affect tomatoes; a pale halo surrounding a tiny dark spot on the surface of the fruit. Minimise the spread of this by avoiding splashing the fruit when watering.

Check cucumbers for mosaic virus and destroy affected plants.

Powdery mildew may become apparent on cucumbers, courgettes and pumpkins etc., especially during dry spells. Spray with an approved fungicide and maintain a plentiful supply of water to deter further outbreaks.

Pigeons will have grown tired of the tougher leaves of more mature brassicas, but they are still waiting for you to plant out your young, tender, succulent late brassicas. Net them before they are shredded!

Remember that whenever using approved pesticides, including fungicides, it is obligatory to follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the label. Always check out the intervals between sprays and note, and observe, the harvest interval (the time from the last spray application to the time of harvesting the crop). Try and vary the product used, so that the pest has less chance of building up resistance to any one pesticide.

Monthly Gardening Calendar - Reminders

Plot 25 - 13th July 2010 - Broad beans picked and frozen, replaced by Sprouting Broccoli. Potatoes continue to be regularly sprayed with Bordeaux Mixture and remaining blight-free. Early potatoes harvested. Gourds in pots placed in troughs to keep moist during drought. Runner beans less advanced owing to drought, compared with same time last year. (click to enlarge)