Vegetable & Fruit August Growing
Guide
August with a little luck brings us the best of the summer
weather but being the traditional holiday month it can be hard to keep on top
of the vegetable plot with a been away even if a friend can be
persuaded to water as required
Sweet corn in August
The sweet corn is as
high as an elephant's eye and soon the cobs will be ripe and ready.
Sowing & Planting
in August on the Vegetable Plot
Direct Sowing : There are still quite a few things you
should be sowing in August. Spring Cabbage and Chinese cabbage, which is a late
crop as well as hardy lettuce. Although
we think of lettuce as a summer crop, it is a surprisingly hardy plant and
under cloche and in the greenhouse can easily be available for a Boxing day
salad rather than some tasteless import from sunnier climes. Sow spring onions
like White Lisbon winter hardy which will grow, albeit slowly, to add zing to
that salad along with some fast growing radishes. Late spinach can be sown in August along with
a last sowing of kohlrabi and turnips.
Planting Out : Plant
out the savoy cabbages and cauliflowers to grow on for the earliest crop as
well as hardy kales.
Cultivation, Pests
& Problems : Your runner beans will be at the top of the canes now so
pinch out their growing tip to encourage bushier growth below. Pick all runner,
climbing and dwarf beans regularly except for the haricot varieties such as
Borlotti where we want the bean rather than pod for table.
Stop tomato plants now to encourage fruit to swell and
ripen. Stopping is the process of cutting off the growing tip so the plant's
energy is not diverted into foliage from fruit. Keep your tomato side shoots in
check, you want tomatoes not masses of foliage. Ensure they are watered
regularly, drying out prevents the plant from taking up sufficient calcium and
the deficit causes blossom end rot. Keep on top of the pests. Aphids and
Blackfly are a particular problem in the greenhouse although they are certainly
about in the open plot as well. You can control them with pesticides or just
wash them off many plants with a strong jet of water. A squirt with soft soap solution will do no
harm to the plants and will reduce the numbers down by stopping the pests
breathing. In the greenhouse the biological controls are most effective and
don't forget the traditional sticky yellow cards which attract the whitefly.
Fruit : If we do
get a prolonged dry spell, don't forget that that fruit bushes and trees need
watering. Swelling apples and currants need water as much as leafy vegetables.
Give a good soaking rather than little sprinkle's that encourage surface rooting.
It's the last chance for summer pruning. Watch out for overladen plums and
damsons. If needed you can support branches by inserting a length of 2x1 notched
at the top (like an old fashioned line prop) to support the branch or tie to
the stem with robust twine. Keep the base of trees weed and grass free, mulch
to keep in moisture and add fertility with garden compost. Protect autumn
raspberries now with netting from the birds before the fruits arrive and the
birds eat them.
In the Greenhouse /
Polytunnel
Ensure good ventilation. It can get incredibly hot in a
greenhouse with strong sun and scorch your plants. You should also consider
shading the house either with blinds or films or with a shading wash. Keep
pinching off the side shoots with your tomatoes and stop them a few leaves
after a truss by pinching out the growing stem. keep an eye out for pests such as aphids,
whitefly, red spider mite. If you are subject to attack by these pests it is
worth checking out biological controls as these are perfectly safe to use and,
used correctly, more effective than traditional chemical controls.
I would suggest using the organic alternatives as a mainstream choice
