Garden Checklist for September
Here's this month's list of gardening jobs:
•Purchase spring-flowering bulbs while the selection is good.
•Fertilize most houseplants for the last time until next spring.
•Sow a new lawn.
•Core aerate your lawn when the soil is moist but not wet.
•Fall is a good time to test the soil in your lawn, vegetable garden, perennial bed or around trees and shrubs. For soil testing,we recommend the University of Massachusetts Soil Lab.
•Clean off the vegetable garden and annual beds as plants die.
•Remove spent flowers from perennials.
•Start a compost pile with fallen leaves and garden debris.
•Plant some lilies.
•Plant chrysanthemums, pansies and ornamental cabbages and kales early in the month.
•Lift and divide iris rhizomes and overgrown peonies.
•Bring fibrous begonias, coleus and impatiens indoors for potted houseplants.
•Store surplus seeds in a cool, dry location.
•Fall is a great time to plant most trees and shrubs.
•Don't fertilize established woody plants until they are dormant.
•Allow winter squashes, pumpkins and gourds to mature completely on the vine. Harvest them before the first frost.
•Wait at least two weeks after the tops die to harvest white potatoes.
•Dig sweet potatoes before the first frost.
•Move perennial plants within the next month or wait until next spring.
•Make a map of your perennial gardens to record the location of your plants.
•Continue to weed the gardens. The best place for these plants is in the compost pile.
•Enjoy your fall garden!
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Fall Lawn Care Tips
Here are the basics of good lawn care for the next few months.
1. Fall fertilization. Feeding your lawn in the fall helps it recover from summer damage. Disease and weed problems are less severe, and the roots tend to grow deeper in the fall. However, fertilizer applied to stressed or dormant grass is not as effective. Instead, wait until the soil is moist and the grass is growing to get the most for your fertilizer dollar.
2. Renovation and seeding. Complete seeding by late September. Soil can be dry when you seed, but be sure to provide supplemental watering for the seeds to germinate.
3. Core aeration. This process improves the physical condition of clay soils. Hollow tines or spoons are used to extract small cores of soil from the turf. The opening then helps water and air move through compact soils. Soil must be moist, but not saturated, for aeration tools to work well. You can wait as late as mid-November to aerate your lawn, even though October is the preferred time.
4. Broadleaf weed control. These applications are most effective when the weeds are growing. Weeds also get stressed, and they aren't controlled by herbicides as well when they're not growing. Wait until the lawn is growing before applying weed controls.
5. Perennial grass weed control. Non-selective herbicides that control perennial weeds are also less effective on stressed weeds. Water these lawns for seven to 10 days before treating.
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Fertilizing Trees and Shrubs
Tempted to give your trees and shrubs one last shot of fertilizer before the growing season ends? Nice thought, but WAIT! Applying fertilizer this late in the season could result in a flush of tender growth that won't have time to toughen up before cold weather sets in, and will be more subject to winter injury.
However, a fertilizer application later in the fall can be of real benefit to trees and shrubs. After these plants have lost their leaves and entered a state of rest for the winter, but before the ground freezes, the roots continue to take up nutrients and moisture and store carbohydrates that the plants will use during the next growing season. Fertilizer applied at that time helps develop a healthy, vigorous root system, that in turn will benefit the tree next year.
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Harvesting White Potatoes
For highest yields and best storage, potatoes should not be dug until two weeks after vines have naturally died down, but before the first frost. This allows the skins to set and reduces skin peeling, bruising and rot in storage. Dig carefully so tubers are not bruised or gashed. Try to dig on a day when the tubers will dry quickly. Usually 30 minutes on top of the soil is enough to dry the tubers. Prolonged exposure results in potatoes turning green. When harvesting at temperatures above 80 degrees F, potatoes should be picked up immediately and put in a dark place. Potatoes exposed to sun and high temperatures will turn green and may rot. This green color indicates the presence of solanine, which is poisonous if eaten in a large quantity. Any potatoes damaged in the harvest should be eaten soon because they will not store well. Only the undamaged ones should be stored.
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Fried Green Tomatoes or Not!
If fried green tomatoes are not something you relish having a lot of with fall's first killing frost, break out the growing points of the indeterminate tomato varieties in the garden. This will cease the production of new flowers and fruit and hasten the ripening of the green tomatoes currently on the vine.
The same technique can be used with Brussels' sprouts. Just break off the growing point of the plant. This will result in more even and rapid development of the "sprouts" which are actually axillary buds. You will still want to leave the sprouts in the garden until after a frost or two in order to sweeten their strong flavor a bit.
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Hay Fever
25 million people in the United States suffer from hay fever!
There are several causes of hay fever, but one major cause is plant pollen. Not all plant pollen causes hay fever. Most hay fever problems are caused by pollen that is light enough to float on the wind over an extended area. In spring, windborne pollen comes primarily from trees. In summer, the main source is grass. Fall, however, is the worst hay fever season for one reason-- ragweed!
The two kinds of ragweed that cause the most problems are common ragweed and giant ragweed. Both are native, annual plants. They grow in vacant lots, along roadsides, and in fields of corn or in fields or gardens with cultivated crops.
Ragweed depends on wind for transfer of pollen from one flower to another so that seeds can be produced. They produce very small inconspicuous green flowers in late summer and fall. A single plant can produce billions of pollen grains and the plants often grow in large patches if left unattended. The pollen can be carried long distances to cause discomfort for many, many people.
Ragweed can be controlled by mowing, by hand pulling, with string trimmers, or with chemical weed killers. Unfortunately, the destruction of ragweed on your property will probably not alleviate your suffering because the pollen can be blown in from long distances. Still, the control has to start somewhere.
Your suffering is due largely to ragweed. This is not the same as goldenrod, a plant that produces showy, yellow flowers at this time of year and is often unjustly accused of causing hay fever because of its high visibility. Goldenrod is pollinated by bees. Its pollen is much too heavy to be carried far by the wind. While a few people may be allergic to goldenrod pollen, most of us can enjoy this late summer wildflower.
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Fall is for Planting
Although trees and shrubs can be successfully planted just about anytime if done correctly, planting in the fall gives the plants certain advantages. When trees and shrubs are planted in the fall, the roots are able to begin to become established without a lot of demand from the tree canopy for water and nutrients. Woody plants are not putting on growth above, but sending manufactured carbohydrates down to the roots for winter storage. The roots will continue growth until the ground freezes much later in the season. Thus the roots get off to a good start before the demand of new spring growth is upon them.
Many of the tree planting techniques practiced in the past have been found to be detrimental to tree health. Deep, highly amended planting holes have resulted in sunken plants with trapped roots, leading to early decline of the tree. Current recommended practices include a planting hole that is wide as opposed to deep - a minimum of 3 times the diameter of the rootball; loosening and mixing existing soil without adding amendments; setting the tree on solid ground in the center of the planting hole at the same depth as it was planted in the nursery, or, in the case of heavy, clay soils, an inch or two above the soil line. In this case, build up the soil to the root collar. Apply two to four inches of mulch to cover the entire prepared area. Do not pile mulch up against the tree trunk. Water newly planted trees once a week, thoroughly soaking the entire planting area.
Remove any trunk wrapping or protective tape, unless the tree's bark has been broken or disturbed. Only if needed, stake the tree with a flexible wood or metal stake so it can bend with the wind. Use a small section of rubber inner tube to hold the tree for the first six months.
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Growing a Grocery Store Garden
Can I grow plants from store-bought food? Once the cold weather sets in, you don't have to abandon your desire to grow plants. Instead, raise houseplants from grocery store leftovers. Many foods are easy to grow into attractive houseplants. Grow these plants for their unusual foliage, because most don't bear fruit indoors. The following tips should help you get started on some of the easier plants. But don't be afraid to experiment. You might be pleasantly surprised.
■Avocados Remove the seed, rinse off skin in warm water, and insert three toothpicks at equal distance around the midsection. Suspend the seed with the pointed end up over a glass or jar of water. Make sure water covers the seed's bottom third. If a slimy coating appears on the seed or in the water, just rinse it off and replace the water. Place the container in bright, indirect sunlight until the seed splits and roots, and one or more shoots appear. When a shoot reaches 3 inches, transplant the seed to a 6-inch pot filled with potting soil, leaving half or more of the seed exposed. Keep the plant in bright light, feed it with a balanced, water-soluble houseplant fertilizer and pinch it to keep it bushy and attractive.
■Sweet potatoes Choose a plump sweet potato without deep scars. Insert three toothpicks around the sweet potato and place it with the pointed end down in a jar or glass of water so the bottom half stays wet. Place in a sunny location. When shoots reach 8 inches, transplant the sweet potato into a pot at least 50 percent deeper than the tuber's length. Bury the entire sweet potato in well-drained potting soil. Provide the plant with bright light and water it regularly for a beautiful vine of heart-shaped foliage.
■Oranges, lemons, tangerines and grapefruits Remove the fattest seeds and wash them. Soak the seeds overnight in water. Plant them about a half-inch deep in a small pot with loose, well-drained potting soil. Water thoroughly and fasten a plastic bag over the pot only until the seeds sprout. If moisture builds up on all sides of the bag, loosen or remove it to dry it out. Transfer sprouts to larger pots once roots grow through the drainage holes. Give plants increasingly brighter light. Feed them monthly with a balanced houseplant fertilizer. Citrus plants grow into small, bushy trees with glossy, deep-green foliage that gives off a pleasant odor when bruised. After four or five years, some plants flower and produce fruit. Unfortunately, most indoor-raised citrus is hard and bitter tasting.
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Core Aerating the Lawn
September is the perfect time to core aerate your lawn due to common periods of cool nights and adequate soil moisture. This is an excellent practice to help prevent thatch buildup and to improve the root health of turfgrass growing in compacted clay soils.
The best type of aerator is the kind with hollow tines that pulls out plugs of soil and turf. Coverage of the lawn should be such that there are 8 to 9 holes per square foot. This may require 2 to 3 passes over the lawn in different directions. Holes should be a minimum of 2 to 3 inches deep. Do not remove the plugs from the lawn. After several mowings, they will be broken up and worked back into the soil.
Core aeration can make a big difference in your lawn's overall health and appearance due to the improved movement of air and water into the soil and the reduced compaction of the soil. Core aerating can be done two times per year, the spring and fall, if thatch is a problem. However, core aeration is not a miracle cure and will not reverse severe thatch buildup.
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Kentucky Bluegrass
Now is the best time to seed a new lawn. Late summer to early fall is ideal for the recommended cool-season turfgrass varieties to get a good start on developing strong root systems without the stress of summer heat. Often times, spring-seeded lawns suffer because the root systems are not well-established before they're hit by heat and drought.
You may wonder why we grow turf grass varieties that suffer so from summer heat, usually resulting in a brown lawn for a few weeks in mid-summer. You may have noticed lush green lawns growing under sweltering conditions in southern states and thought you'd like to have that grass in your lawn.
The catch is that heat-loving turf species, such as Zoysia, thrive under hot conditions, but are dormant and brown during cool weather. That means all fall, winter, and spring here in the north. Zoysia only looks good here for a few weeks, as compared to improved Kentucky Bluegrass cultivars, that look green for all but a few weeks. Kentucky Bluegrass will usually stay green here, too, as long as irrigation during heat/drought stress is an option.
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Dividing Perennials
Gardeners are sometimes reluctant to divide perennial plants. Concerns range from not wanting to hack a mature plant into smaller pieces to fears that the plant may be killed in the dividing process. Instead, dividing should be looked upon as an opportunity to revitalize a plant and share it with gardening friends.
As clumping perennials age, the center of the plant becomes less vigorous. Growth begins to slow as the plant crowds itself. The reduced vigor and density of the plant makes it more susceptible to disease and other stresses.
Spring- and summer-flowering perennials do very well when divided in early autumn. The roots then have two or three months to reestablish themselves before going dormant. Growth in the spring is excellent.
Begin by digging up the plant that is to be divided. Dig around the entire plant loosening the roots from the soil. Then, lift the plant from the soil. Place a garden fork through the center of the plant. Place a second fork back-to-back with the first fork. Pull the handles of the two forks away from each other, separating the roots. Repeat this process until you have the clump size you want for replanting.
You're now ready to replant the smaller clumps to increase the numbers of the plant in your perennial bed. Or, share the extra plants with friends and neighbors.
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Cover Crops
What's green manure? No, it's not a new fashion for cow fertilizer, but it works like a fertilizer. Green manure, planted in the spring, or cover crops, planted in the fall, do the same thing -- the name you use just depends on when you plant. By planting a crop, then tilling it under, you add organic matter and improve the soil. The added organic matter loosens up clay soil and makes nutrients available to plant roots. With sandy soil, the organic matter holds soil particles together to prevent minerals and nutrients from washing away. Plant green manure next spring if you don't plan to use all of your garden. Grow green manure throughout the gardening season, and till it under in late summer. A nice green manure crop for the frost-free gardening months is buckwheat.
Plant cover crops every fall and till them under in the spring when preparing for your first planting. This improves your soil while also helping to prevent erosion during the harsh winter months. And, cover crops help keep weeds from getting started in the spring. Two good cover crops to try in the Cleveland area are winter rye and hairy vetch. Winter rye can be planted as late as the end of October. Hairy vetch, a legume, should be planted in early October. For either, simply sprinkle the seeds on weed free garden soil and cover them by raking.
Don't wait until you've completely harvested everything to begin planting cover crops. Even if late-season vegetables still need to be picked, seed between the rows by hand-broadcasting over the entire garden area.
Except for winter rye, turn under green manure crops when they begin flowering. To speed decay, mow the crop before tilling. With winter rye, you'll want to mow and turn it under as soon as possible in the springtime (early April in the Cleveland area). Allow the soil to rest for two weeks after turning the green manure crop under before planting your vegetables. This gives the soil bacteria time to break it down into organic matter for your plants.
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Controlling Broadleaf Weeds
Mid September to early November is generally the best time to selectively control broadleaf weeds, such as clover, plantain, and dandelion in the lawn. Controlling the weeds now gives the turfgrass an opportunity to fill in the open areas that appear after weed control. This results in a denser turf which culturally helps prevent weed establishment.
There are a number of herbicides available for control of broadleaf weeds. Most of these weed killers are sold as two-, three-, and even four-way combinations. These combinations have taken most of the guess work out of broadleaf weed control because weeds not controlled by one chemical are usually controlled by one of the others in the mixture.
Apply the weed killer to the foliage of the weeds when they're actively growing according to label directions. Pick a calm, sunny day with moderate temperature when ample moisture is present in the soil. Under these conditions, the herbicide is rapidly taken up through the leaves of the weed and is quickly transported throughout the rest of the plant. Be careful when using herbicides as they can damage flowers, trees, shrubs and vegetables.
Do not apply broadleaf herbicides within 4 to 6 weeks before seeding and not until the new grass has been mowed several times. Therefore, if overseeding is currently being considered or has just been done, do not use these products this year.
Weeds are not the cause of a poor lawn, but are the result of a poor lawn. Maintaining a vigorous, dense lawn is the best method of weed control. Correct mowing, fertilizing, and watering are essential to achieving a quality lawn.
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Bringing Houseplants Indoors
What should I do to bring my houseplants back indoors?
No one likes moving from place to place -- it's stressful. Houseplants think the same thing. Those wonderful green houseplants you moved outside to grace your patio or porch now need to move back home -- inside, where drastic light and temperature changes can really cause some stress. To help ease your plants' moving day, Ohio State University horticulturist Marianne Riofrio offers these tips:
1. Don't move plants on a hot day. An air-conditioned home can really shock plants that have lived outside, especially during this summer's heat wave.
2. Inspect closely for insects looking to hitch a ride inside. Aphids and spiders are the most common castaways. Control them with an insecticidal soap spray if necessary.
3. Try to keep lighting situations as similar as possible. If the plant was in full sun, put it in the sunniest south window you have. Even then it's not uncommon for plants to drop leaves, warns Riofrio. Don't worry too much -- new leaves accustomed to the new lighting should grow back.
4. Adjust your watering schedule to keep plants properly watered. Remember, they can't soak up rainwater anymore. Also, the inside of your home is less humid. Misting helps for a few minutes, but not much more. Unless you have a Florida room where you can control humidity, it's difficult to effectively increase it.
5. Fertilize your plants only once or twice after they are inside, then wait until spring to resume. Most plants need a rest period, or dormancy. A good rule of thumb is to hold off on the fertilizer from November to March. Gradually begin fertilizing again after the first spring growth spurt.
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Harvesting Sunflower Seeds
A successful sunflower garden means you'll have plenty of sunflower seeds for healthy snacks for yourself or to share with the local wildlife. If you wish to keep the seeds for yourself, cover the seedhead with cheesecloth to keep the animals at bay. It's time to cover the heads when the birds begin to visit.
Seedheads can be harvested when 2/3 of the seeds are mature. Covered seedheads are ready to harvest when the back of the head is brown and dry and no traces of green remain. If not already covered, use a bag or cloth to catch any falling seeds during harvest.
Leaving about 1-2 feet of stem attached, hang the seedhead in a warm well-ventilated place such as a garage or attic. When the backs are entirely brown and papery, remove the seeds by brushing them out with your hands or a stiff brush. Never wash the seeds before storage as this may promote rot or mold. Store in air-tight containers in your refrigerator to maintain flavor and nutrition.
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Fall Gardening Chores
Fall is the best season to make improvements in your garden. The cooler days make heavy duty jobs like garden clean-up, compost building and soil improvement easier. The shorter days and longer nights remind us to pull up the covers, so mulch or plant a cover crop in those garden beds! Finally, do those jobs you've been considering, but putting off due to the heat and humidity of August, such as renewing paths, building that raised bed or tool box bench.
Garden clean-up and compost building go hand-in-hand. Fall is a good time to turn spent and dead plant material into humus (HYOO- mus) via the composting process. This is top quality organic matter that can be produced from those dead plants and weeds in your garden. See Extension Fact Sheet HYG-1189-99 "Composting at Home" for details on making compost piles. If you lack space for composting, mow off the tops of the dead plants and turn them into the soil.
It's best to never leave your soil barren. Protect the surface layer of your soil by planting a cover crop or green manure crop. Excellent choices for our area are winter rye or hairy vetch. Sown in October, these plants reduce soil erosion, prevent leaching of nutrients from the soil, inhibit weed growth in the spring, and add organic matter to your soil when turned under next spring. October is also the time to plant spring-flowering bulbs, garlic and shallots.
Fall is a good time to perform a soil test. If lime is needed, this is the best time to add it, since it takes a while for lime to dissolve and produce the desired changes in the soil.
Once the soil is taken care of, then you can move onto building that grape arbor, or erecting the trellis for your spring peas.
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Adding Lime to Your Garden
Lime is added to soil to correct that which is too acid or sour. Lime sweetens soil or reduces its acidity. Fall is an excellent time to add lime since it dissolves slowly, and the freezing and thawing conditions of winter help to incorporate it into the soil.
However, lime should never be added to soil unless its recommended by a soil test. Most plants grow best in slightly acid soil. Adding lime to an area where plants currently grow well can change the soil so that the nutrients in the soil are no longer available to your plants.
So, be sure to test your soil before adding lime. Many times the results indicate that gardeners are overfertilizing their soil. This can cause poor plant growth and make plants susceptible to diseases and insects. For soil testing,we recommend the University of Massachusetts Soil Lab. The basic fee is $10 and their report will tell you how much lime, if any, and fertilizer is needed to provide the right amount of nutrients for your plants.
If you choose not to perform a soil test, but can't resist the urge to add something to your garden soil, I recommend that you add organic matter, such as leaf humus or composted manures.
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Pumpkins and Winter Squashes
Nothing signals the onset of fall like ripe pumpkins and winter squashes in the garden. People often are unsure as to how to handle these versatile fruits. Winter squashes and pumpkins should not be harvested until they are fully ripe (they have developed their mature color) for best quality and storage. Harvest fruits before the first hard frost; a light frost will not hurt them. Leave part of the stem on the fruits when harvesting. Store only those fruits that are free of cuts, wounds, and insect or disease damage. Immediately after harvest, the fruit should undergo a ripening or curing process to harden the shell, improve flavor and extend storage life. A curing period of about two weeks at 75 to 85 degrees with good circulation is recommended. Storage should then be at 50 to 70 degrees with humidity between 50 and 70 percent.
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Jerusalem Artichokes
These native sunflowers, known as Jerusalem artichokes, sunroots or sunchokes are an undemanding perennial and grow in nearly any climate and are pretty much insect and disease free.
The tubers are usually planted in the spring or fall. They send up multiple stalks, six to 12 feet tall, and form an attractive screen.
After the first frost fells the plants, let the tubers cure a bit in the ground. Cut off the dead stalks about six inches above the soil and then wait about two weeks to dig. Uncured sunroots have a raw "green" taste. During the curing process, however, the carbohydrate inulin begins to break down into sugar, resulting in the sweet, nutty flavor. The intestinal discomfort or upset that the tubers have been known to cause some individuals may be related to eating tubers that are not fully cured.
After harvest, clean and dry the tubers, then store them in plastic bags in the refrigerator. Left out at room temperature, they lose moisture quickly and become limp. They cannot be re- crisped by soaking in water.
To prepare sunroot tubers, peel, scrape or scrub them with a stiff brush. If you don't plan to use them immediately, dip in water acidified with lemon or vinegar to keep them from discoloring. If you wish to cook them, keep the skins on. Don't cook sunroots in a cast-iron skillet or pot, the chemical reaction causes the tubers to turn black.
The tubers are delicious. Eaten raw, they are crunchy, with a slightly sweet flavor. You can cook them in casseroles or stews, cream them, puree them for soup, curry or mash them, fry or bake them like potatoes. Thinly sliced, they are like water chestnuts in stir-fry dishes. Make a unique salad of sliced sunroots, onion, celery and a bit of cucumber.
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Composting
Composting is a practical and convenient way to handle your yard wastes. It is easier and cheaper than bagging the lawn clippings, leaves, and dead plants. The finished product, humus, improves your soil and the plants growing in it. If you have a garden, lawn, trees, shrubs, or even planter boxes, you have a use for a compost pile.
Humus returns organic matter to the soil in a usable form. Organic matter in the soil improves plant growth by loosening heavy clay soils to allow better root penetration; improving the capacity to hold water and nutrients in sandy soils; and adding essential nutrients to any soil. Improving you soil is the first step toward improving the health of your plants. Healthy plants help clean air, conserve our soil and beautify our landscapes.
Yard wastes and kitchen scraps use up valuable space in our landfills and this space is running out fast! These materials make up 20-30 percent of all household wastes. Because of their high moisture content, yard wastes also lower the efficiency of incineration systems. By composting these materials at home, you can help protect the environment, save money and improve your own soil at the same time.
It's good for the soil, plants and environment. And, it's time composting becomes a more widely used process and for every garden to have a compost bin or pile.
For more information on composting, see Extension Fact Sheet HYG-1189-99 "Composting at Home."
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Ornamental Kale
The shockingly colorful kales are extremely useful during the fall and early winter to landscapers in large gardens, who must please a public gone numb on mums and pansies. Not only are they used for outstanding color in the landscape, but they serve as garnishes or as an edible underlay on lavish salad platters.
The new varieties come mostly from Japan and are called "ha-botan," or leaf peonies. The hybrid uniformity in size, color and rate of growth of these ornamental bedding plants is a distinct plus for gardeners and commercial alike.
There are three distinct leaf types: crinkle-edged like kale, such as Nogoya Hybrid: feather-leaved, like Red Peacock: and round-leaved, such as Tokyo Hybrid, which looks something like a collard or cabbage and may even be listed as "ornamental cabbage." Each kind comes with centers of red, pink or creamy white. The usual practice is to plant at least two types for optimum contrast.
To grow any of the ornamental kales to perfection, timing needs to be precise. Coloration doesn't begin until night temperatures regularly drop below 60 degrees F. and full coloration takes three to four weeks. The plants need to be almost full grown when coloring time arrives.
Consider using ornamental kales for long-lasting and unusual cut flowers for the holiday season.
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Needle Drop of Evergreens
Evergreen may provide green color all year long, but the individual needles don't live forever. Conifers periodically shed their oldest needles while retaining some foliage year-round. Evergreen needles have varying life spans, depending on the species. Arborvitae and pines retain needles for two seasons, while spruces needles will remain on the trees for 3 to 10 years.
Some species of evergreens have more noticeable leaf drop than others. In the fall, arborvitae and white pines drop their 2-year-old needles all at once, alarming some gardeners who believe their tree has a disease or is rapidly dying. The older needles of yews will turn yellow and drop in late spring or early summer. Rhododendrons, broad-leaf evergreens, drop their 2 to 3-year-old leaves in late summer and early fall. So, no need to worry about leaf loss on evergreens, as long as it's not excessive and is restricted to old growth.
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Pull Those Weeds!
Although the threat to your garden plants may not be so great this time of year, and your gardening enthusiasm may be waning, try to keep on top of those weeds to reduce the weed seed bank that will be ready to compound its interest next spring.
One of the reasons that those plants we classify as weeds are so successful is their ability to produce tremendous amounts of seed. The seeds of these tenacious plants will be there, ready and waiting for the right conditions to get a jump-start on your garden plants next year. Those weeds you pull now will make a great addition to your compost pile (without mature seedheads, please), thus becoming useful organic matter to incorporate in your soil next year, instead of a menace.
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Sweet Potatoes
Dig sweet potatoes before the first frost. Brush the soil from them and allow them to dry in the sun. Place them carefully in boxes or crates. Cure sweet potatoes by placing a sheet of plastic over the boxes and setting them in a warm room (75-85 degrees F). Allow them to cure for a week to ten days. Check the boxes to be sure that water is not condensing on the inside of the plastic. Loosen the plastic if necessary. After the curing process, remove the plastic and store the potatoes at room temperature.
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Planting Garlic and Shallots
While onions can be propagated by seeds, plants, or bulbs, multiplier onions are propagated only by bulbs or bulblets. The multiplier onions are garlic, elephant garlic, shallots, topsetting onions, and potato onions.
Garlic differs from the onion by producing a number of small bulbs, called cloves, rather than one large bulb. Each bulb contains a dozen or more cloves, and is covered with a thin white skin. Garlic has flat leaves rather than the round hollow leaves of the onion.
Garlic will grow well wherever other vegetables grow well. Purchase a strain of the Italian type (also called Late, Pink Skin, German). These are winter hardy and store best. The Creole type (also called Early, Louisiana and White Mexican) does not store as well and is not winter hardy. Italian garlic cloves are covered with pink skins while those on Creole garlic cloves are white.
Before planting, spread leaf humus or composted manure 2 inches deep and incorporate by hand turning or rototilling. Sprinkle 2 lbs. of 5-10-10 per 100 square feet when preparing soil. Follow soil test recommendations for your particular garden soil.
Cloves are divisions of the mature bulb. Divide the bulb just before planting. The larger outer cloves will produce the largest bulbs. Plant mid-September through October or very early spring (as early in March as possible). Setting the bulbs in an upright position ensures a straight neck. Space the cloves 3-5" apart in rows 18" apart. Space at 6 to 8 inches apart for wide row planting. Cover garlic cloves to a depth equal to twice the length of the clove. A five foot row per person per year is a general recommendation.
Shallots differ from the common onions in that they produce a cluster of bulbs (5-20) from a single bulb. Growing conditions and soil preparation are the same as those for garlic.
All of the multiplier onions are easy to grow and will be the first crops to turn green in your spring garden. For a source of plant material, contact local garden centers and mail-order seed companies.
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Frost Protection
Although cooler temperatures may be slowing down production on warm-season vegetables, such as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and summer squash, harvest can still continue for a few weeks with a little protection from light frosts.
Many of the methods used to get an early start in the spring garden can also be used to extend the season in the fall. Floating row covers give varying degrees of frost protection depending on their thickness, how warm the temperature was during the day (so how much heat will radiate from the soil and be held under the cover), and the degree and duration of cold temperatures at night. Plastic cloches and tunnels give better protection under colder conditions, but should be removed or monitored closely during the day, so that temperatures do not become too high.
Blankets, tarps, and even newspaper can be used for cold temperature emergencies. Whatever is used, be sure it is well- anchored so it doesn't blow away; Plastic covers should not come into direct contact with plants during the day, or leaf scorching may result.
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Storing Pesticides
The ideal storage site for your surplus pesticides is one that is dry where the product will not freeze or be exposed to high temperatures. The original label should remain on the package. Keep pesticides out of the reach of children. Ideally, they should be locked in a storage cabinet. Do not throw pesticides in the garbage. Give them to someone who can and will use them according to label directions if you have no use for the product. Otherwise, keep them stored until there is a hazardous waste collection. If the color or consistency of the pesticide changes from when you purchased it, do not use the chemical.
In the future, try to purchase only the amount you will use in one or two seasons. Then, you won't need to worry about keeping them around for long periods. Also, consider using other methods of pest control, such as sanitation, crop rotation, use of pest resistant plants, or hand picking. Purchase the least toxic pesticide to control the pest.
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What Causes Autumn Colors?
Scenes of stately sugar maples resplendent with orange foliage, or red oak trees ablaze with crimson set against the backdrop of a bright blue autumn sky, are all part of the joys of fall in our area. Each fall, trees and shrubs across the state exhibit an array of brilliant color that to some of us would rival the best spring has to offer. This fall color spectacular is determined by the kind of tree and the environmental conditions during the fall season.
Pigments within the leaf are responsible for the various colors of the leaf during the growing season. All green plants produce the pigments chlorophyll, carotene (CARE - uh teen), and xanthophyll (ZAN the fill). The summer leaf, however, is seen as bright green because the high concentration of chlorophyll in the foliage covers up the orange pigments of carotene and the yellow xanthophylls. As the days grow shorter and temperatures cool in the fall, chlorophyll is broken down faster than it is produced, allowing the oranges and yellows in the leaf to become visible.
Anthocyanin (an the CY uh nin) pigments which produce red, blue, and purple colors in flowers, fruits and leaves are the real "show stoppers," but not all plants are able to produce them. In trees that are able to produce these pigments, the amount of the pigment formed is influenced by the environment. A high concentration of sugar in the cells brought on by bright days, low moisture, low but not freezing temperatures, and a low nitrogen supply favors the formation of these striking pigments. This explains why trees of the same species may be colored quite differently in separate locations.
Generally, sunny warm days, cool night, and light rainfall in late summer and early fall produce the best fall colors. The fall color display usually peaks in mid-October in our area. Let's hope that weather conditions cooperate to paint the forests this fall.
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Soil Test
Have you tried to grow a lawn or flower garden with less than adequate results? Perhaps you should have performed a soil test before beginning? A soil test will tell you the proper amounts of lime and fertilizer that are needed to make nutrient levels ideal for plant growth. It could be that nutrient and acid levels are already suitable. Remember, too much lime and fertilizer can result in poor plant growth! The soil test is your best guide for proper liming and fertilizing of your lawn and garden.
For soil testing,we recommend the University of Massachusetts Soil Lab. The basic fee is $10 and their report will tell you how much lime, if any, and fertilizer is needed to provide the right amount of nutrients for your plants.
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Spiders
The next time an itsy-bitsy spider crawls up beside you, leave it alone. The frightening portrayal of spiders in the movies has caused many people to think the creatures are poisonous and out to get them. More correctly, most spiders are not poisonous and are actually afraid of people. There are only two types of poisonous spiders found in Ohio. These are the black widow spider and the brown recluse spider. They are both rare and shy, and will not bite unless provoked.
Get used to spiders and enjoy them. Spiders eat large numbers of insects. Although most spiders live outdoors, those living indoors eat household insect pests, such as flies. In some Southern states, people are actually encouraged to harbor spiders in their homes to help control insects.
Outdoors, most spiders die in the fall, leaving small sacs of eggs to hatch in the spring. During spring and summer, spider populations rise, peaking in September.
Indoors, spiders will continue to breed through the winter. But, their populations remain low if there are few insects to eat. Late summer is when many insects come inside and when indoor spider populations are, therefore, the greatest.
The more bugs indoors, the more spiders you get. Spiders will go where their food source is. If you want to reduce the number of these 8-legged pets, you'll need to reduce the number of insects in your home.
To accomplish this, seal cracks and crevices in walls, doors, window casings and foundations. Also, keep screen doors closed, window screens down, and porch lights off. Reducing sources of moisture will keep away spiders attracted to damp corners.