August
In The Vegetable Garden This August
Apply a high-potash fertiliser such as tomato food once fruits start to form on peppers, cucumber and aubergine plants.
Pinch out the tips of your runner bean plants once they reach the top of their support. This encourages side-shooting and more beans at a manageable height for picking.
Limit the fruits on a squash plant to about three, but make sure these fruits are well established before pinching out the surplus.
Continue to feed tomato plants with tomato food and remove lower leaves to help with air circulation and prevent disease. Pinch out the top of tomato plants to concentrate the growth into the fruit that has already formed. Aim to leave 5 or 6 trusses of fruit per plants.
Start harvesting your main crop potatoes as the leaves yellow and die back. Store your potatoes in hessian sacks which excludes light but allow ventilation.
Water sweetcorn plants regularly and feed with tomato food to get the best cobs.
Pinch out the growing tips of your aubergine plants once they have 5 or 6 fruits. Pick fruits while they’re young and shinny.
Top Tip:
Lift and dry onions, shallots and garlic once foliage has flopped over and yellowed. Store them in onion bag to prevent mould developing.
This Month's Key Tips
- Keep ponds and water features topped up.
- Watering - particularly containers and new plants, preferably with recycled water or stored rain water.
- Deadhead flowering plants regularly.
- Don't delay summer pruning fruits trained as restricted forms.
- Harvest vegetables regularly as they become ready to promote new growth.
