OUT IN THE GARDEN
Sweet Basil loves the heat so choose a spot in the garden where the heat is at a maximum and cold winds are minimised – if necessary put a few concrete blocks/bricks behind the basil to reflect the heat onto the plants. Feed with a liquid feed regularly. And if you want a touch of fun in the vegetable garden we have the small straw scarecrows back in stock.
Pumpkins are just so easy! My father-in-law from the UK declared pumpkins ‘cattle fodder’ but I think nothing beats roast pumpkin and good pumpkin soup.
Here are a few pointers to get the best results – easily.
They’re gross feeders so dig in plenty of good compost before planting, water well, feed regularly with Nitrophoska Blue and a seaweed or fish-based plant tonic, be aware of the shallow roots when hoeing around them, and put a short board under the fruit later in the season to prevent fruit rotting.
They’re ready to harvest when a thumb nail won’t pierce the skin, and when you cut the pumpkin off, leave the stalk still attached to the fruit.
An occasional spray to the plants with copper to prevent mildew.
If you’re short of ‘pumpkin space’ train the leaders to grow in a circle with a few short stakes strategically placed.
An occasional spray to the plants with copper to prevent mildew.
If you’re short of ‘pumpkin space’ train the leaders to grow in a circle with a few short stakes strategically placed.
Feeding time – my favourites are iCan Real Blood & Bone, Nitro Blue, OceanFert seaweed granules, iCan liquid food for tomatoes, Dave’s Growth Booster pellets as an extra for roses, and Novatec for containers.
Vege gardening is in full swing right now so maximise growth with the real McCoy - iCan Real Blood & Bone is double strength because it still has all the blood in the mix, unlike many blood & bones which have had most of the blood removed and used in other products such as dried blood.
The results will speak for themselves when you try the iCan version.
Seed of the Week
Parsnip Trafalgar is like all the seeds in the Chef’s Best iCan range – selected as the reliable top performer after extensive trialling and highly recommended. Now is the time to get parsnips in to allow plenty of time between sowing and harvesting next winter. Make sure the soil is well dug over to a good depth and has had a light dressing of blood & bone mixed in well. Gardeners who’ve used iCanTrafalgar seeds say the germination is better than others they’ve used.
Here's a Handy Tip: Avoid collar rot in lettuces (caused by big fluctuations in temperatures and plants being wet overnight). Collar rot is the sudden dying off in young lettuce plants and I’ve spoken to two of our suppliers whose recommendation is to avoid watering lettuces after 3pm.
Monarch Butterflies aren’t too far away now (I’ve already seen a few at home) and could I urge you to plant Swan plants now and get some size on them before those giant caterpillars start devouring the plants? It will save you time, frustration, and money as the alternative to planting now is buying lots of smaller plants later on to maintain a feed supply.
Curly leaf on peaches and nectarines can be a problem at this time of year with the erratic hot/cold spring; the best cure of course is spraying in early August with copper as a prevention, but if that didn’t happen, then spraying with copper now will at least hold the situation (which has been particularly bad this year with the cooler, greyer spring) and if you give the trees a good feed now it will encourage new growth which mostly remains ‘clean’ for the rest of the season. And a light sprinkle of Gro-Safe FreeFlo Copper around the root area will allow the tree to absorb the copper up into its system.
Lawns have been growing strongly in the last 2 months so a feed now will prevent that tired faded look. If we don’t get rain just run the sprinkler on the lawn to wash it in. I use it at home with great results.
We have a wide range of Kiwicare lawn products to take care of lawn weeds, grass grub, and any fungus problems – just ask any of the staff for advice.
For those pesky weeds in shrubberies or on paving, gravel etc use Kiwicare Weed Weapon Preventer which is safe to use near established plants, suppressing weeds for up to 3 months, and safe for children and pets after watering in for 2 hours with a sprinkler. BUT don’t use it on dormant Spring bulbs as it kills bulbous weeds prior to emergence.
Copper is a good remedy for blight on tomatoes and being a natural product is suitable for edibles, and the new Gro-Safe Free Flo Copper is easily mixed and very effective. And for any tying up of tomatoes (or any other plants for that matter) check out the Cloth Soft Tie rolls at a great price – stretchy and soft so no harm to bark or stems).
Mulching is very important from now on – even with the odd bits of rain we will probably get dry soon, so conserving the current moisture levels with mulches is important. If you want to save moisture AND smarten up the look of the garden then we have the Black Beauty black bark mulch. So far we’ve had enough rain to just keep us going but the trick is to retain that valuable moisture.
Rhododendrons will be coming to the end of their spectacular flowering now and sending out new foliage growth. If the plants are still small it’s worth spending a bit of time breaking off the spent flower/seed heads (which you don’t need and which will take quite a lot of the plants energy that would be better put into leaf growth). Be careful not to break off new foliage shoots.
Are our feathered friends eating the vegetables before we can get to them? We get regular attacks from the sparrows here at Terra Viva, and they target the lettuces, brassicas, and the silverbeet. We keep them covered with a clever combo of wire hoops and bird netting.
At home we have the same scene with birds attacking lettuces etc and we use the wire netting cloches to keep them at bay, with good success. As the plants get bigger we change to either bird or bug netting and kill two birds with one stone – well, not literally. Of course I blame The Constant Gardener and her over-generous winter bird feeding for the destruction in the spring.
Rhubarb, rhubarb – one of the most delicious ‘fruits’ both stewed for breakfast and in puddings and cakes. Rhubarb is what is known as a ‘gross feeder’ and responds well to good animal manure such as Rooster Booster. Feijoas are putting out new growth and will also benefit from a bit of Rooster Booster.
Hostas are spectacular with their bold foliage but they are also a delicious source of food for slugs and snails so to avoid the ‘shotgun’ look make sure you put slug bait around them. The same applies to newly-planted petunias and lettuces.
Roses – assuming you fed the roses in August/September and that the growth has been pretty spectacular with flowering about to happen, then November is the time to feed again as the plants use up a lot of energy in the spring/early summer flowering.
The options are Burnetts Gold Rose Food, Tui Rose Food, Nitrophoska, and sheep pellets for a nitrogen boost.
The Rose Combat 3-in-1 is an excellent option for spraying, covering a big range of insect problems, plus all the main fungus/disease problems, and feeding at the same time. If you have any questions re sprays talk to Tracey our plant health expert.
Systemic fungicides are harder to find these days but the Buxus Blight Fighter is systemic and as well as buxus blight is great on other plants like roses - just not suitable for edibles. And FreeFlo Copper is still a great safe fungicide.