Make sure your plants get plenty to drink on hot days
The vegetation is beginning to turn brown. The temperatures are bumping into the 90s. There’s no rain in sight. Our summer heat season is upon us.
We humans can take refuge in our air-conditioned houses, cars and offices. Our plants, however, don’t have that luxury. We have to help them out a bit.
Most of our plants will take the heat if they have a steady moisture supply. Start by checking your sprinkler system. In many cases a sprinkler system is life support for plants. A good sprinkler system set up with the proper run time will let your plants thrive instead of just survive.
Check to see that all the spray heads are operating properly and are not clogged with grit or hard-water deposits. Check to make sure that the big rotating heads are turning properly, especially if they have been in for years. Replace any not working properly.
Check the timing for each station to be sure the system runs long enough to give things a good soak. Deep watering two or three days a week is more valuable than a quick run every day. If you aren’t sure you are putting enough water on, dig in the dirt after the cycle finishes and see how deep the water actually soaked in. If it is only an inch or two, you need to increase the time for each station. Water in the early morning so plants have access to water before it gets hot but so they can dry off quickly to reduce the possibility of disease.
Mulch garden beds with bark or other organic material to reduce evaporation from the soil and cool the root zones of the plants. A 3- to 4-inch layer of material should do the trick. Be sure to water well just before you put down the mulch.
If you use movable sprinklers, check to see that all the openings are free of dirt or hard-water deposits. Again, water in the early morning or evening to reduce evaporation losses.
If you hand-water your yard and garden, learn to water effectively. After you have watered an area, dig in the soil and check how far the water went. You may be surprised at how shallow your efforts were. Consider using soaker hoses wound through beds and then set up with a mechanical timer attached to your faucet. For an investment of under $25, you can have a 75-foot long watering system.
This week in the garden
Fertilize corn, tomatoes, peppers and other late summer vegetables with a good vegetable fertilizer.
Pull weeds on a regular basis before they set seed. Mallow, pigweed and purslane will all be blooming soon. If you have a large lot or acreage, check for patches of noxious weeds and remove them before they set seed.
Fertilize annuals on a regular basis to keep them blooming. If plants in hanging baskets are getting leggy, cut them back by half. They will quickly fill out and give you another flush of blooms.
Keep hummingbird feeders full and change the sugar solution regularly. A syrup of one part white table sugar to four parts water is a good mix. Do not use red food coloring.
Deadhead annuals and continuously blooming perennials to encourage blooming
Check for spider mites, aphids and other bug problems. Both spider mites and aphids seem to be particularly active this year. If the infestation is small, a strong spray of water will help keep the bugs off balance. If it’s a bad infestation, consult your local garden center or the Master Gardener Clinic as to the best chemical control method. The clinic is located at the Spokane County Cooperative Education Center, 222 N. Havana St. Bring samples of the damaged foliage with bugs attached if possible.
Begin treating plants favored by deer with repellents. As the wild vegetation begins drying up, they will be looking at our gardens for their banquets. There are a number of repellents on the market and home recipes that are effective. If you are using a home recipe, get a bottle of sticking agent that will bind the repellent to the plants.