Wherever you are growing, days are long, nights cool, and it’s dry. There is plenty to do in growing spaces now, and it all starts with water. Getting enough water to young plants to support root, leaf and fruit development is essential to ensure a good crop. When plants become stressed from insufficient water, they can wilt and die, will be more susceptible to pests or disease and may run to seed prematurely. They certainly won’t perform their best for you and your plate.
How much water? This is such an intuitive thing and can vary enormously but the golden rule is a good soak every couple of days is better than constant watering; try and give your plants as much opportunity as possible to take up precious water either first thing in the morning or last thing at night, so the sun doesn’t evaporate a share of it. Wherever possible, water the soil, not the leaves, so no water is wasted.
Keep up a regular weekly feed of all crops in pots and containers.
Keen to start growing something now? Keep reading!
Peas
Peas will be climbing, flowering and, in some cases starting to produce pods. Sow more peas directly into a pot or the ground to keep you eating peas into the autumn.
Tomatoes
Keep up a regular watering, a weekly liquid feed and nipping out side shoots on cordon tomatoes (the ones with a single stem) and watch for the flowers. If you are growing indoors you may need to hand pollinate tomatoes by simply moving a pencil or fine brush between the flowers.
Berries
Summer fruits will be flowering and fruit forming. Regular watering is essential when growing fruit in pots as the fruits start to form. Plants in the open ground will also now need a good soak. Keep an eye out as fruits ripen for interested visitors – birds, squirrels, mice and slugs. If you don’t want to share your fruit, TAKE ACTION with netting, old CDs flashing in the sun to keep away birds, and patrol for slugs under pots or any containers nearby.
Greens
Start harvesting spinach, and lettuce leaves- choose the biggest, lower leaves first to keep the plant cropping longer. Keep up regular sowings of all things green: lettuce, spinach, spring cabbage and kale. Follow the Branchton garden club updates on Grow 6 social media for sowing techniques, transplanting and aftercare.
Herbs
Keep sowing annual herbs (one-year life cycle) such as coriander and parsley into open ground. Bees will thrive on common perennial herbs; chives, marjoram, sage and thyme. Once chives have finished flowering, try cutting them back to about 2cms, water them well and watch them grow and flower again.
Tatties
Keep earthing up tatties to prevent tubers (potatoes) from rising to the surface and turning green. In containers, simply add a layer of soil; in open ground, cover the young stems with soil.
Look out for One Seed Forward updates on Grow 6 socials. Plants forming tatties in containers and open ground will benefit from good soaking.
Follow Get Growing Scotland on Facebook and Instagram and please use #grow6 #getgrowingscotland in your posts so we can share your growing photos, stories and inspiration.
Finally….
Whilst this dry spell continues, wherever possible, use water wisely every drop counts as water butts run dry. Guidance here might help.
