Another set of superb tips from the Pesticide Action Network. Here are the general tips from the sheet and to see the whole thing you will have to sign up for it of course. Just in time as my wife and I have huge plans for our garden this weekend. Well, maybe. If the weather decides to behave.
GENERAL TASKS
✲ Mulch beds with organic matter to preserve moisture - particularly important for seedlings which don’t have extensive root networks.
✲ Pinch out sideshoots of tomatoes and growing tips after the fourth tress has set. This forces plants to focus on ripening tomatoes.
✲ Fertilise tomato plants weekly and keep them well-watered. Dryness around the roots prevents tomato plants from taking up sufficient calcium and can cause blossom end rot.
✲ Fertilise onions and keep them well weeded; plants in the onion family (alliums) don't compete well with weeds.
✲ Check the undersides of brassica leaves for the eggs or caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly. Squash any you find.
✲ Protect carrot sowings from carrot rootfly.
✲ Protect potatoes from blight by covering soil with a thick mulch.
✲ Prevent greenhouses from getting too hot by opening doors on hot sunny days and hanging shade cloth on the sunny side.
✲ Keep up with weeding and make sure no weeds go to seed.
✲ Protect summer cauliflowers by bending them over the flower heads to prevent them from opening up too early.
✲ Pinch out tops of climbing beans once they reach the tops of their supports. They will develop more sideshoots and more beans.
✲ Water runner beans well to encourage the flowers to set.
Cheers
Al
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