Here’s a quick look at what’s happening in the winter garden so far and what’s to come.
I had a gardener stop me the other day to get information about the plants he was ready to plant in his winter garden. Unfortunately, his list was led off by tomatoes, peppers and summer squash — all plants that are doing well in the garden right now but are too late to be planted now.
BHN 968 and Ruby Crush, both all-star cherry tomatoes, have been producing fruit for a month now, and the larger varieties such as HM 8849, Tycoon, Red Snapper and Celebrity, have begun to mature fruit as well. The tomatoes should be fertilized one more time for the fall.
You should have your cold protection materials ready for action, otherwise consider harvesting the tomatoes when they show some color. Remember that LED bulbs are great for long-lived efficiency, but they don’t work as a heat source for your tomatoes and other cold-sensitive plants. Use old-fashioned heat producing light bulbs for cold protection.
Okra, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers and summer squash will continue to produce a while if they are watered and the mature fruit is removed as it ripens.
Broccoli and other cabbage-related transplants
It has been dry and hot enough that broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and collard transplants have needed daily irrigation. But if you have been able to keep them moist and fight off the cabbage loopers, they seem to be growing well.
The most effective treatment for cabbage loopers, Bt (Thuricide, Bio-worm Killer, Dipel, and others) only works when loopers eat leaves on which it is sprayed. It does not work as a direct spray on the loopers. Add a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid to every gallon of Bt solution mixed. The detergent helps the Bt adhere to the foliage.
Cabbage, greens and broccoli grow in a San Antonio winter garden.
Contributor file photoSpinach shortage
“Where is the spinach?” is a common question by area gardeners. The recent heat has limited the ability of spinach seeds to germinate both at the wholesale plant producer and in your garden. Expect spinach transplants to be available at the end of October when temperatures will have moderated.
Looking ahead to lettuce, beets and onions
Turnip and rutabaga seed germinated at the beginning of October but everything else in the vegetable garden including beets, radishes, carrots, lettuce and English peas will germinate more readily as the temperatures cool in October.
Remember that lettuce seed cannot be covered with soil or even compost if you want it to germinate. Lay it on the surface of moistened soil.
Soak English peas seeds overnight before you plant them at the foot of a trellis.
Onion transplants will become available at area nurseries in late October, but I have had the most success when I plant onions in December.
Fresh winter vegetables from a backyard garden.
nadiasphoto /Getty Images / iStockphotoWhether red, white or Texas 1015 sweet, plant onions in a row prepared with 2 inches of compost and 10 cups of 19-5-9 slow-release fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed. Plant onions every 2 inches in the row and then harvest two of the three as green onions. The remaining onions will mature by June 1.
To protect your oak trees from oak wilt, paint any wounds that occur within an hour of the time they occur. Use pruning paint or even latex paint to protect the wound from being infected by sap beetles which carry the fungus.
Discourage squirrels from consuming your bird seed and suet by using pepper-flavored formulas. They also pass up safflower seed, and feeders with weight-sensitive perches are effective at preventing them from consuming the seed inside.
Leaf-footed bugs are feeding on the tomatoes in our winter gardens. They harvest plant juices from the fruit and leave scar tissue. A spray of malathion does a good job of controlling the pests.
Contact herbicides for controlling Bermuda grass will work only if the plants are actively growing. If you do not control them now before they go dormant, they will be back as weeds in the spring competing with your desirable plants.
Fertilize them at least one more time in the winter to maximize the bulb size. The onions are ready to be harvested when the tops flop over.
Calvin Finch is a retired Texas A&M horticulturist. calvinrfinch@gmail.com
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A guide to what’s growing now in San Antonio’s winter vegetable gardens and what to expect and plant later this fall - San Antonio Express-News
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