© Contribution of pumpkin, cantaloupe and winter squash to the San Diego Union Tribune harvest When the stems dry out and begin to detach from the base. (fake pictures)After unusually warm August and September, we expect short, cool days at the end of this month. be patient. Do not plant until the weather cools. And when you're done, get started!
Why plant in the fall? The sun is low in the sky, so the days are shorter and the air is cooler, but the ground retains its heat. Warm soil + reduced sunlight + cool air = ideal growing conditions for all ornamental plants.
edible gardens
Harvest watermelons, squash, and winter squash when their stems dry out and begin to detach from the base. Leave a few inches of rods attached for the handles. Wash, dry and store in a cool, dry and dark place.
If the tomatoes, eggplants and squash are still producing, you can leave them in the garden for another month or replace them with fresh ones when in season.
Do not compost old vegetable plants. Instead, send it to the green bin. There they produce "hot compotes" to kill pests and diseases.
Sow the seeds of root vegetables (carrots, turnips, radishes, etc.) directly in the gardens. Don't just buy seedlings; Its long roots do not transplant well.
Start with kale, spinach, beans, broccoli, lettuce and other leafy greens, in the garden or in pots to plant in about a month.
If winter gardening isn't your thing, give your garden a break by planting cover crops to improve the soil. Legumes like hairy peas add nitrogen and grains add organic matter. Buckwheat extinguishes weeds, accumulates organic matter and repels nematodes. Choose the best cover seed for your garden. Order and sow your seeds right away.
Replace hot herbs like basil with cool herbs like dill and parsley.
When the weather turns cold, plant perennial flower beds with perennial Mediterranean herbs: rosemary (shrub), laurel (tree), oregano (perennial), marjoram (perennial) and thyme (perennial). These are the best herbs that can be cooked all year round.
fruit trees and shrubs
Take the guava with the pineapple. These egg-shaped, olive-green fruits grow on evergreen bushes that reach 12 feet by 12 feet and form beautiful natural hedges. The botanical name of the plant is Acca sellowiana and it is native to South America but grows throughout Southern California. You know the fruits are ripe when they are "picked" by dropping them on the ground. Just scoop them up, cut them lengthwise, and scoop out the soft, sweet insides. This is!
Plant late season fruit trees and semi-tropical shrubs such as bananas, citrus fruits, avocados, candied apples or tropical guavas. If you don't live a few miles from the coast, plant now or wait until spring.
Order bare hardwood fruit trees (nectarines, plots, apple trees, etc.) from your local independent nursery. They will arrive in kindergarten in January.
Continue to water deciduous fruit trees while they still have leaves.
Are your citrus leaves wrinkled and deformed? Do the sheets look like marble? This is a classic leaf miner. It looks ugly, but it doesn't damage the tree and it doesn't reduce production. Do not cut these leaves. Cutting infected leaves causes the tree to produce new leaves, which will also infect leafminers. The nebulizer does not help. Leave him alone
decorative plants
During shorter, cooler days, the sage ( Salvia) plant family exhibits a stunning display of color and texture: the vivid purple flowers of Mexican sage ( Salvia leucantha), pink and white 'wavy' sage , forsythia with yellow sage flowers ( sage ). madrensis), Copper Salvia Beach ( Salvia africana lutea), Indigo Salvia guaranitica ' Black and Blue' and more.
Plant drought-tolerant trees, shrubs and perennials in areas with winter rain in California, South Africa, Australia, the Mediterranean and western Chile.
- California: Evergreen Game Bush ( Heteromeles arbutifolia) , Downy Oak ( Quercus berberdifolia), Monkey Flower (Mimulus , also called Diplacus), Cleveland Sage ( Salvia clevelandii) , and Dudleya Gypsum ( Dudleya pulverulenta).
- In Australia: pearl acacia ( Acacia podalirifolia), orange and pink flowering pea bush ( Chorizema 'Bush Flame'), blue and herbaceous Dianella 'Cassa Blue' , yellow walnut Grevillea ' Moonlight'.
- South Africa: Cotyledon orbiculata, prickly daisy ( Aloe arborescens) or Aloe ' Grassy Lassie' grass-like daisy flower, are orange, red, pink or yellow South African daisies ( Arctotis).
- Mediterranean Europe: Spanish lavender ( Lavandula stoechas), olive trees ( Olea europaea), mallard ( Teucrium fruticans), Jerusalem sage ( Phlomis fruticosa)
- Chile: Peruvian Brilliant Lily (Alstroemeria) , Crimson Rose ( Calandrinia grandiflora), Chile Grey/Green Palm ( Jubaea chilensis), Sapphire Bromeliad ( Puya alpestris).
Check your garden for green spears emerging from spring bulbs, such as Babiana, Watsonia , and Gladiolus species. If you have follicles that you wanted to grow, do it now. It will not bloom next spring, but will bloom the following year.
Growing irises and plants, including native and hybrid Pacific Coast irises. Carefully separate the roots (they look like little potatoes joined together) into “shanks”. Use a sharp knife with alcohol. Clean the knife again with denatured alcohol between plants to prevent pests or disease from spreading from plant to plant.
At the beginning of the month, trim sprigs of scented geranium and Martha Washington geraniums a few inches. The following month, prune the long branches to force the plants to grow new shoots at the base.
Feed the roses with liquid fertilizer in the middle of the month. Check the blades for mold, rust or black spots. Remove infected leaves and place them in the green bin instead of the compost heap.
Garden preparation and maintenance.
Collect the leaves that fall from the fruit trees. Unlike the leaves of ornamental plants, these leaves are sent to green waste, where bacteria, mold, etc. they are composted at high temperature.
Before planting anything new, make sure your garden has a solid foundation:
- Create a long-lasting irrigation system using direct drip irrigation (not individual sprinkler heads). Create "water zone" zones of plants that have similar water needs, then water accordingly.
- As climate change progresses, storms will become less frequent but more intense. Keep this water out of the gutter by diverting it from your home to flower beds or bioholes.
- Fix fast-draining clay, compacted soil or sand with a layer of 4 inches (or more) or 1 inch or less of coarse sawdust or tree shavings (mouldy trees). Water well and let stand for four months or more. Beneficial microbes and small animals break down mulch and turn it into soil. You will be amazed at how rich the soil is and how well it drains.
- Clean gutters and drains before winter storms.
- Hold the rain barrel. Use the remaining water. Remove mold or algae. Make sure rain barrels are closed to keep mosquitoes away while you search for places to lay their eggs. Look for the drain valve to divert (rather than collect) the first rain of the year, called "first flush".
- Do you know how much water you can remove from your roof? For every square meter of roof, one inch of rain provides 0.62 liters of water. So if you take up to 1,000 square feet of water from your roof, you can harvest 620 gallons of water from just one inch of rain! Feel free to use tanks that can hold hundreds and thousands of gallons of water that you collect on your roof over the winter.
how to plant
Perfect your farming style:
1. Water the plant in its pot and let it dry. Carefully remove the plant from the pot. Dig the roots as deep as tall and slightly wider. Make the hole square instead of round and scrape the edges. Add a few handfuls of melted worms to the hole, but no other patches. Fill the hole with water and let it drain.
2. Carefully loosen the roots of the plant (except bougainvillea or poppies matiliga , romania cultieri). Place the rootstock of the plant in the hole, about the height of the plant when attached. Fill the hole with the soil you dug. As you fill the hole, moisten the soil and press down to remove any air pockets.
3. When filling the hole, make a shallow trench around the log or log. Adjust the hose to pour water into the trench until the soil is saturated. Apply a 3 to 4 inch layer of mulch to the surface of the soil, starting at the outer edge of the trench. Continue to use mulch to cover the entire seedbed.
Bougainvillea poppies can die when the roots become rough during planting. To plant, complete step 1 above, then turn the pot on its side and carefully cut the bottom of the pot. Use your hand to secure the bottom of the plant to its pot and move it to the carefully prepared hole. Cut the sides of the pot and start filling the hole again. After a few centimeters, carefully remove the rest of the pot. Continue with step 3 above to complete planting.
irrigation
As the sun is low in the sky, plants need less water, so set your watering timer to water longer but less often. If you have a smart irrigation controller, be sure to make the necessary changes. If your controller isn't "smart", set the water to flow at a slower speed. Do not change the run time.
"Smart" irrigation controllers regulate irrigation seasonally, zone by zone, the type of plants to be watered in each zone, landscape position, soil type, slope, sun, shade and Moreover.
When growing native plants and other Mediterranean plants, water them with a drip. Integrated drip irrigation has emitters built into the lines and sends water directly into the soil, where it penetrates to the roots. The entire root zone is evenly moistened, just as rain evenly moistens the soil. Locals do well with this type of drip irrigation.
Replace single drip jet. These types of systems are neither permanent nor unreliable.
How often should you water? Always water long enough to saturate the deep roots of the plant. Use your fingers or a soil probe to feel the water depth. Adjust the watering schedule so water reaches deep roots. For drought-tolerant plants, let the soil dry out several inches before watering deeply again.
sawdust
Organic mulches act like a sponge to retain water, retain moisture in the soil and protect the soil from erosion. When soil breaks down, it nourishes plants and microfauna which help build healthy soil to support plants. Research shows that mulch can also protect plants against soilborne pathogens.
Enrich your garden mulch with organic mulch (leaves, bark, wood, etc.) for non-succulents. Place succulents and cacti with rotting rock or granite. No matter what you use, keep the mulch 3 to 4 inches thick.
Although mulch should cover the surface of your garden's soil, it leaves several voids for native bees, which are very important garden pollinators that rarely sting.
parasites
Unfortunately, we are still dealing with citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing or HLB), which is spread by young Asian citrus monkeys. There is a quarantine area on the North Shore and in North Central San Diego. If you live in a forty zone, do not move citrus fruits, leaves, wood, or any other part of your citrus fruits off your property. Do not fertilize dead leaves, twigs or pruning. Instead, seal them in a plastic bag and put them in a closed green box for collection. Find the quarantine map here.
The South American palm continues to destroy Canarian dates and begins to spread to other types of palms. When the central leaves begin to drop, the palm is doomed. If you notice giant red bumps appearing or your palm starts to look sad, there's a chance to save it, but you need to act fast. Find the information here.
The agave weevil is another large black weevil, but this weevil attacks agave , its relatives, golden cactus, and even some Opuntia weevils . They often attack plants in the center and the first thing you notice about their presence is a fallen plant. Dig deeper and you'll find rotten roots and crowns at the base. As soon as you notice a fault with the plant, dig up all rooted plant parts and any giant caterpillars or caterpillars you can find. Close everything in a plastic bag and throw it in the trash, no green waste. Act quickly before the wheels spread to nearby plants.
Sterman is a water park designer, writer and host of "A Growing Passion" on KPBS Television. More information is available at growingpassion.com and waterwisegardener.com.
This story originally appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
