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September
The following are September gardening tips from the Rappahannock County Extension Office.
• Near the end of the growing season pick off all tomato blossoms that won t have time to hear fruit, so plant nutrients go into existing tomatoes.
• Tomatoes need an average daily temperature of 65 degrees F or more for ripening. If daytime temperatures are consistently below this, pick the fruits that have begun to change color and bring them inside to ripen.
• Cucumber beetles, squash bugs, Colorado potato beetles and European corn borers pass the winter in debris left in the garden. Remove dead plant material, and compost it or plow it under. This will limit your pest population next year to. the insects that migrate' into the garden.
• Plant spinach, lettuce,! kale, turnip and radish ipearly September as the last crops for your fall garden. Soak seed furrows well before sowing seed and mulch lightly. Water the rows daily to promote germination and growth of young seedlings.
• Cover crops should not iie planted any later than Nov. 1. They should make some growth before hard frost kills them. Where you have fall crops growing, you can sow cover crop seed between rows a month or less before expected harvest. This way, the cover crop gets a good start, but will not interfere with vegetable plant growth.
• Give your perennials and woody ornamentals a fall check-up, look for weak or diseased plants. Eliminate plants that might infect or take energy from neighboring plants.
• Tree-wound paints used after pruning are no longer recommended be-' cause they can slow healing and may promote decay.
gardening
By Kenner P Love
Extension Agent, ANR
Crop and Soil Silences
69.6%