In My Garden Blog
July 17, 2008
Southern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
By
Yvonne Savio,
Pasadena, CA
Lift melons onto pots to speed ripening, and stop watering about a week before they will ripen to concentrate their sugars.
Midsummer Watering for Highest Yields
Continue watering and fertilizing the entire garden with a balanced fertilizer and manure tea or fish emulsion every other week or so for steady growth and food production. Foliar sprays of liquid seaweed help trees, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals withstand heat stress. Pay special attention to shallow-rooted plants, which wilt and dry out quickly in hot, dry weather. Remember to avoid overhead watering late in the day during warm weather, when leaves can't dry off by sunset, as this encourages diseases.
Keep grape root zones evenly moist as the harvest approaches to ensure plump, ripe fruits. Enclose whole grape clusters in paper bags to protect them from birds and wasps. Excluding light will not affect the ripening or sweetening of the grapes.
Water berries deeply once a week until harvest. Then water once a month (twice a month during long periods of hot, dry weather).
Tomatoes and other large plants in loamy clay soil use about 1 inch of water in 3 days of hot, dry weather. Rinse the undersides of leaves with water to discourage spider mites. Tomatoes and eggplants, especially, like this refreshment.
Water and fertilize melons deeply once a week for juicy, fleshy fruits. Stop watering melons about a week before they will ripen so their sugars concentrate.
Soak strawberry beds and fruit and nut trees every other week this month if the weather is especially hot.
Keep citrus and avocado trees well watered throughout the summer. Build a basin for water to soak in deeply, but start it 1 foot away from the trunk to prevent crown rot.
Conserve the water you do provide by mulching heavily with organic matter. Mulch also cuts down on weeds and helps keep plant roots cool. Replenish as it decomposes. Keep mulch from touching stems of plants and trunks of trees to allow good air circulation and avoid crown rot.
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Comments on Midsummer Watering for Highest Yields
We welcome your questions and comments about this column. If
you have gardening questions unrelated to the column, please ask
them on our message boards.
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mary Martin
This year I planted my first vegetable garden in the San Diego area.
I understand that most plant problems are water related. Either too
much or too little. I am confused with watering schedules. If I
don't water every day, the plants wilt. Since I have watered most
days, everything looks like it's dying. My tomato corn, strawberry
plants are turning yellow and dying and the seeds I plant aren't
comming up.
HELP!
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Yvonne Savio
Hi, Mary--
Very perceptive of you to recognize that watering is usually the
culprit for so many plant problems -- and can be either too much or
too little. Yes, watering every day is waaaaaaaaaaay too much,
unless you're gardening in a container or in immediate-draining
sandy soil. When watering every day and plants have yellow leaves
and are dying, you're probably leaching out all the nutrients in the
soil and the roots -- which are limited to the top couple of inches
because that's where every day's water remains -- can't breathe
between floodings.
What to do now for the plants that are still surviving? Refrain
from watering until you feel dry (DRY!) soil 3 inches down. Add
quarter-strength fertilizer every time you water. Purchase new
tomato plants, plant another batch of corn seed. String a soaker
hose between plants. MULCH your soil and on top of the soaker hose.
When weather promises to be 85 degrees or higher for several days,
water the plants long enough the day before so the water seeps down
at least a foot deep so the soil at the root zone is moist like a
squeezed-out sponge (NOT wet like soggy).
Later in the fall, plan to incorporate lots of manure and compost
into your planting beds at least a foot down, so the whole soil
profile is like that squeezed-out sponge -- prime for roots. Then
plan your overwintering vegetables and flowers.
Next spring, train yourself to water deeply only once a week to
train the plant roots to grow deeply following the water. Then,
they'll thrive -- not just survivie -- when the hot weather comes.
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Frustrated Flower gardener
I am in the process of landscaping my back yard and recent put
several bags of Miracle Grow Garden Soil in the raised planter to
mix in with old soil. Now I am beginning to have a problem with
mushrooms, particularly in one small planter. I am pulling them out
morning and evening and still they keep coming. I'm trying to keep
the soil dry but there are a few small plants that must be watered
once in a while. What should I do? I read that baking soda mixed in
water will help. If so, will it harm my stephanotis?
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Leanne
Hi Yvonne,
I have recently become interested in gardening fruits and
vegetables. I live in Redondo Beach, (zone 10), and have a patio on
the south side of my house, and a balcony on the north side, and
live about a mile from the beach. I am having a hard time figuring
out what fruits and vegetables will grow in containers in the space
that I have and will flourish in my zone. Are there any websites
that you could recommend, seed catalogues, books, or nurseries.
Thanks,
Leanne
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Yvonne Savio
Hi, "Frustrated Flower Gardener" --
Not to worry! The Miracle Grow mix undoubtedly contained mushroom
compost as part of its recipe. I wouldn't eat the mushrooms, but
don't fear that they'll present a problem for your current crop.
Some gardeners prefer using "spent" mushroom compost because it
still has lots of vitality and nutrition as well as beneficial
texture of basic organic matter.
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Yvonne Savio
Hi, Leanne--
Welcome to the wonderful world of growing your own food! The basic
guideline for which to grow where is 6 hours of direct sunshine --
less than 6 hours is fine for leafy things like lettuce and herbs;
more than 6 hours (preferably more like 8 hours) is necessary for
fruiting plants like tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers. In addition,
the south-side patio will get the most sun, and the north-side
balcony will get none so might be the best for shade-loving
ornamentals like ferns. While the plants will love the increased
humidity because you're so close to the beach, your persistent
summer fog will lessen the amount of direct sun your plants will
get.
Check our website --
http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Common_Ground_Garden_Program --
under "Helpful Articles" for container gardening tips with
specific-vegetable info.
More and more catalogs are indicating which varieties are better for
container growing.
Ask for the best recommendations at local nurseries that cater to
beach locale gardens, and from neighbors who've already experienced
successes and failures.
Overall, consider this an adventure and exploration. We all have
mini-climates that are the best for some plants and the worst for
others. The playing in the garden discovering which is which is the
fun of it all!
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