Great Plains Gardening

By Edith Koeller

August 8, 2003

The CSU Gardener’s planning and planting guide for the month of August has some interesting tips that I will pass on to you. Some of them are relevant to our area.

"Complete soil tests for future garden areas; results will help determine appropriate amendments."

"Continue to turn the compost pile. Top dress flower or vegetable beds with the ready compost. Keep the compost evenly watered by not soggy."

"Enter the local county fair with you favorite crop." For Kiowa County the latter part of

August is the time to be determining what will be available for exhibit and taking special care of the selected crop. "Continue to plant fall season crops such as lettuce, spinach, peas, radishes, bush beans." Keep in mind the very hot weather this area is still capable of delivering, and take notice of the soil temperature if fall season crops are something you might like to try this year. "Transplants of broccoli, kale and cabbage may also be available (at some garden centers). Keep corn crop evenly moist. Sweet corn is generally ready 21 days after the silks appear."

"If a serious thunderstorm or hail has damaged your garden, try using a half strength solution of fertilizer to boost your flowers into regrowing. Prune off any damaged leaf and flower tissue and compost this matter."

"Keep perennials deadheaded as they bloom. Often, this will extend a perennial bloom period for several weeks."

"Don’t forget to water your houseplants. Give them a shower to clean off the foliage. Use a gravel tray to increase humidity. This works great when you are on vacation."

"Start to harden off frost- sensitive trees by decreasing the water. Pick up fallen fruit. If they look diseased or infested with insects, do not compost them. Do a final pruning of suckers at the base of trees."

Tomatoes are the most commonly grown vegetable in the home garden, and at this time of year many gardeners are enjoying the fresh tomatoes or wishing they were and wondering why not. Here are a few suggestions from CSU fact sheet #7.605.

"The most frequent cause of poor fruit set and rough tomatoes, particularly on the fruit cluster, is low night temperatures. A tomato plant, properly hardened, can endure night temperatures down to freezing without injury. However, pollen will not be produced in sufficient quantities at night temperatures below 50 degrees. When lower temperatures prevail, fruit will set poorly or not at all. The answer is to either raise night temperatures during flowering by covering the plants at night, or spray the blossoms with a blossom-setting hormone. If there is any doubt about the presence of pollen, tap a mature blossom during the middle of the day and watch for the yellow dust. If not present, fruit set will be poor."

"From the time of transplanting until late August, apply about 1 inch of water per week. This is not a substitute for daily attention to the soil moisture. During August, it is time to ripen fruit and this can be hastened by withholding water. Avoid prolonged wilting."

"While some plants can grow on a window sill, a tomato plant will not be productive if it receives light from only one side for three or four hours a day. It must have full sunlight for eight or more hours a day in order to do its best."

"Like most other crops, tomatoes perform best in a good, rich garden soil. However, nitrogen fertilizer over 2 pounds per 1,000 square feet per year might be excessive. Apply all fertilizer before planting to promote the development of sturdy plants to carry the fruit load later on. After the fruit sets, the emphasis should be on its maturing. Occasionally, if heavy rains occur, soil nitrates may be depleted. Replenish them with another 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. This should not be done after August 1 because it will induce vine growth at the expense of ripening the fruit."

"Every gardener would like to dispense with pesticides and let natural predators take care of their pest problems. With the exception of psyllids, you can generally get a tomato crop without pesticides as long as you control weeds and the plants receive good culture. However, to avoid having some plants turn purple and dry up in the middle of the season, control psyllids with an insecticidal soap, sulfur dust or malathion."

"Many soils are infested with nematodes and diseases that attack tomato roots. The best defense against these is to rotate tomatoes to new ground each year and use resistant varieties that are designated by letters after their names. For example, VFN indicates resistance to verticillium, fusarium and nematodes."

"In addition to organism induced disease, tomatoes also may suffer from physiological and nutritional disorders. Blossom end rot is caused by water stress within the fruit. It generally occurs on the early fruit and may be aggravated by a calcium deficiency, high transpiration rates and a fluctuating water table. Leaf roll also causes concern. For many varieties, this is natural under Colorado conditions, especially late in the season. In itself, leaf roll is not harmful."

Until next time…