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| Potted eggplant and petunia |
Sunday, June 11, 2023
The summer loving edibles from the tropics love this time of year. My Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, pepper plants, morning glory vines and squash plants seem to be growing inches every day! The crops from temperate regions like tomatoes, beans, peppers and Mediterranean herbs are also growing quite well. The humidity brings higher risk of disease and the lack of rain during peak summer heat can put a damper on garden production. Sufficient and proper moisture for garden plants is key.
To keep your plants thriving and your harvests at their peak, here are a few tips for watering your summer edible garden
- Ensure consistent moisture. The cause of cracked fruits is inconsistent water. The plant gets used to very little water and when deluged the fruit’s skin can’t expand fast enough and the fruit cracks. Inconsistent watering can also cause blossom end rot. Over watering can be a problem, too. Too much water will cause your fruits to be tasteless and mushy.
- Morning watering is optimal. It is best to water in the morning; you get maximum absorption (biggest bang for your water buck) and lessen the risk of fungal disease. Tomatoes, potatoes, watermelon, cucumber and squash are highly susceptible to fungal diseases. Fungal disease thrives in moist, humid conditions. It's really like Goldilocks-not too much and not too little. If you have to err on one side, it would be to water less. You can poke your finger into the soil to see if it is still moist. If it is dry in the first 2-3" of soil, it is time to water.
- Water deeply. If in the ground, your plants need either a good soaking rain each week or a deep watering (1" total per week). I use soaker hoses in my mulched garden beds so the water goes in slowly and can be absorbed by the soil and plants, eliminating run off. When water runs off your beds, it is also washing away nutrients. For pots, you will likely need to water 2-3 times per week during the height of summer heat. I like pots with a water reservoir built in the bottom. Because you have to water so much more for pots, you also need to fertilize twice as much for pots as for plants in the garden bed.
- Do not water the foliage of your nightshade plants! They are very susceptible to fungal diseases and water on their leaves encourages fungal growth. It is recommended to spray every 7-14 days for natural fungicides on all nightshade plants (tomatoes, potatoes, squash, watermelon, and cucumbers) when the risk for fungal disease starts. In our Zone 7 garden, late May is not too early to start preventative spraying. I rotate using Copper, Serenade and Southern Ag as a preventative.
These are my top tips for watering. If you see that your summer lovers are consistently not performing well as you get into August and you are fertilizing and watering per the recommendations, you have a few options. You can start a second round in June so that as the first round is winding down, you have replacements just getting started producing. You can look for varieties that are better suited for your garden conditions. Try to buy seed from as close to your location as possible, buy from a seed company that specializes in varieties for your region or ask gardeners at your local farmers market which varieties are great performers all summer long.
For additional summer edible gardening info:
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