Keep up with that seeding! As the weather warms up, direct sow outside in successions to make sure you extend that harvest all season long! It’s also time to keep an eye out for pests! Learning to identify and control pest infestations early on can make things way easier on you as the season progresses and for the years to come. Our Pest Watch Guide can help you know where to look and how to identify these bugs! Learning pest control basics can also help ensure things don’t get too out of hand with those pests that love to munch.
- Continue to cover Brassica crops with floating row cover to protect from cabbage moth and flea beetle damage if these little critters have been a problem in the past.
- Colorado potato beetle adults, eggs, and larvae can be handpicked to remove or sprayed with an organic insecticide. The adults are yellow-and-black-striped beetles. The eggs are yellow and laid in groups on the undersides of leaves. The larvae are humpbacked and red. Look for them on the stem tips. They are present almost all season.
- Also keep an eye out for striped and spotted cucumber beetles. They transmit bacterial wilt to squashes and melons. Adults and eggs can be handpicked throughout the season.
- Watch out for Mexican bean beetles. To be on the safe side, you can cover the entire crop with floating row cover as soon as seedlings emerge.
- Aphids of all types show up on a range of host plants as soon as the warm weather arrives. Look for them in newly unfurling foliage. Sticky leaves are also a sign of their presence since they secrete a ‘honeydew.’ While it can be alarming, the honeydew itself doesn’t damage the leaves. Aphids, however, do damage the plant. Spray leaves with a strong jet of water to dislodge most of them. Insecticidal soap is an organic approved product that provides pretty good control as long as the insects are wet enough. A second and third treatment to kill newly hatched eggs may be needed in five to seven days.
- Squash vine borer adults are one inch long, orange and green day-flying moths that are emerging from the soil about now. They lay brown, button-shaped, 1/16 inch eggs at the base of the vines of summer and winter squashes. Examine stems daily and remove eggs by hand to prevent burrowing of larvae as they hatch. Wrap lower 6 to 12 inches of stem with aluminum foil or floating row cover to prevent egg laying.
- Keep direct sowing sunflowers, nasturtiums, marigolds, borage, basil, and other warm season flowers and herbs.
- The beginning of June is an excellent time to take softwood cuttings of shrubs to start new plants. Some shrubs that can be propagated in this way are spirea, lilac, and viburnum.
- Stay out of the garden when the vegetable plant leaves are wet. Walking through a wet garden spreads disease from one plant to another.
- After your vegetable garden is well established, it is best to water it thoroughly once a week rather than giving it a light watering every day. That way, a deeper root system is encouraged to develop, which will later help the plants tolerate dry weather.
- Keep a close eye on the quality of your spring crops. Hot weather causes lettuce to bolt and become bitter. Plant a warm season crop as soon as the spring vegetables are harvested.
- In most cases, blossom end rot on tomatoes, peppers, squash, and watermelons can be prevented. Do this by maintaining uniform soil moisture by mulching and watering correctly, planting in well-drained soil, and not cultivating deeper than one inch within one foot of the plant. Blossom end rot can also be corrected with an application of calcium-heavy fertilizer such as bone meal. Avoiding high nitrogen fertilizers can also help.
- Continue planting direct-seeded, warm season vegetable crops such as beans, summer squash, and cucumbers.
- Garden flowers, whether annuals or perennials, benefit from "deadheading" after flowering. By removing the spent flower heads, energy is used to produce more flowers, foliage, and roots. Many will produce another flush of blooms.
- Flowering requires lots of energy so it can be helpful to fertilize annual plants with a balanced fertilizer once flowering begins. Fertilize one more time before the end of the season.
- Weed the garden regularly to keep the task easy and manageable.
- There is still time to plant heat-loving Southern peas and asparagus beans.
- Pinch the flowers off of herbs like basil, mint, and oregano to promote bushy growth.
- Harvest onions and garlic as the tops dry and fall over. Braid garlic tops and hang in a cool, dry place. Cut onion tops back to one inch and dry thoroughly before storing. Use any damaged produce immediately.
Monthly Garden Guide provided by: https://sowtrueseed.com/