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August is a busy month for most gardeners. Preserving and canning season is in full swing. Have you started planning for your fall harvest? That’s right, it’s already that time of the year to start planning and plant your cool season crops. Below is a list of which cool season plants to sow in August.
THE CALENDAR TASKS AND CHORES FOR AUGUST
- Continue to mulching to conserve soil moisture and to control weeds Auguest is one of our hottest months of the summer and the plants take a beating with the heat,
- Keep harvesting fruits, herbs, and vegetables for continued production.
- Do the final summer pruning for fruit bushes.
- Prune Apricot trees to avoid Eutypa Fungus. Remove about 20% of this year’s growth. Remember to sterilize your clippers before starting each tree.
- To prevent the spread of rot, clean up debris around fruit trees and pick up damaged fruit.
- Control salt buildup on indoor plants. Give household plants a good bath outside and keep in the shade when your waiting for the leaves to dry.
- Set melons and pumpkins on a board or brick to prevent rot.
- Deep water trees and large shrubs.
- Set out bails for slug (slug traps). Avoid watering at night when the slugs are more active.
- Plan your fall garden.
- Fertilize camellias, azaleas, and gardenias with chelated iron if there is yellowing between the leaf veins.
- Fertilize strawberries; when you see new berries growing, now is the time to fertilize your strawberries with a balanced formula 10.10.10 or 20.20.20 this will provide the strawberries with all the nutrients it need for a strong growth, healthy roots, and a good crop. Another way is to add seaweed (kelp), bone meal , compost, or well rotted manure as an organic option.
- Fertilize fruit trees; After harvesting fruit, add nitrogen and water.
- Citrus Trees; This is the last feeding of the year for the citrus trees and Avacodo’s. I’ve tried a couple of brands in the past. Dr. Earth Fruit Tree Fertilizer, and Down to Earth Citrus Tree Fertilizer . Both are organic fertilizers and can be purchase through Amazon.
- SWEET CORN; sweet corn tastes good only perfectly ripe. Wait until the tassels at the top of the cob turns dark brown before checking.
- TOMATO, SQUASH, AND PUMPKIN need plenty of sunlight to ripen, but the fruit is often shaded by foliage. Prune leaves covering squash and pumpkins to allow light. On the tomato plants, take of the lower leaves to allow more light and help the lower tomatoes to ripen first.
- Raspberries; After the summer fruiting is harvested, cut down to the ground to allow more light to the fall fruiting bearing cane (new growth). Support new canes when needed.
WHAT TO PLANT IN AUGUST
- Sow winter annuals; like sweet alyssum, crimson clover, and stock flowers
- Sow seeds of perennials in flats or pots for transplanting in October. Try thrift, yarrow, coneflower(echinacea), and salvia.
- START SEEDS INDOOR; cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, bunching onions, and swiss chard.
- DIRECT SEED; Oriental greens, beets, carrots, lettuce, turnips, Florence funnel, mustards, radish, rutabaga, spinach, and leeks.
What are you planting this fall? Let me know in the comments.
