Vege patch to-do list
NZ Gardener’s guide to planting and sowing in harmony with the lunar cycle.
This month’s moon calendar, and edible crops to sow and tend now.
• Seed success now is about irrigation.
In most places this is the hottest and driest month of the year, so if you want to sow and plant this month be prepared to be extra vigilant with your watering can, rig up a bit of shade cloth to protect newly planted seedlings and keep seed trays in a spot where they receive morning sun but afternoon shade. There is still time to direct sow beetroot, carrots and radishes, and swedes and turnips down south, and sow trays of brassicas (protect from cabbage whites), lettuces, silverbeet and bok choy. You can also plant brassica seedlings under netting, and lettuces, leeks, silverbeet and spinach.
• Trim back summer-fruiting berries.
Once all the fruit is picked, it’s time to cut back summer-fruiting raspberries, blackberries and other hybrid berries. Remove old canes – they won’t fruit again – and any weak and spindly new growth, and pull out any suckers. Select the strongest growing canes on raspberries and tie them into upright positions; with blackberries and hybrid berries tie the new canes into a fan shape or along horizontal supports. But don‘t cut back dual-cropping raspberries such as ‘Aspiring’ or ‘Ivory’ as you‘ll lose your autumn crop! Just cut them back at ground level when winter comes.
• You can plant celery seedlings now.
But I usually wait until next month at my place – celery particularly dislikes hot and dry conditions, and does best in constantly moist soil. If it dries out, even for a short while, it is likely to bolt and even if it doesn’t the stalks will be stringy and tough. If you want to grow your own from seed though, you still have time – just! – in warmer regions. It is notoriously slow to germinate (taking up to 25 days to strike and around four months from sowing until harvest).
• Pests and diseases abound now.
Passionvine hoppers are at their worst now and difficult to control – your best bet is to collect and destroy the eggs in autumn. Green vege bugs are likely to be on tomatoes and sweetcorn – apply derris dust regularly, and squash (wearing gloves!) any you see; the smell causes others nearby to drop to the ground for easier squashing. Tomato fruitworm and white cabbage butterflies are active – squash cabbage white eggs by hand, and treat affected crops with a Btk-based caterpillar spray. Powdery mildew on cucurbits is all but inevitable too. You can remove affected leaves and treat with a DIY fungicide (1L water with ½ teaspoon baking soda) or rip toofar-gone plants out to make room for winter crops. Jo McCarroll