Log in Subscribe

Garden Guru

Hot and bothered

Jim Boxberger
Posted 8/5/22

Welcome to August, hot and humid, just in time to go on vacation. But if you are not lucky enough to be able to go on vacation, you have to deal with this heat everyday at work.  

At least …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Garden Guru

Hot and bothered

Posted

Welcome to August, hot and humid, just in time to go on vacation. But if you are not lucky enough to be able to go on vacation, you have to deal with this heat everyday at work. 

At least we can get out of the sun indoors and maybe even have a little air conditioning. Your plants on the other hand, have to deal with this heat no matter what. 

This is the time of year that your plants need your help the most to stay cool and well watered. For your lawn this summer, do not mow your lawn as often. By letting your grow taller, the blades of grass will shade more soil thereby keeping the grassroots cooler. 

If you mow your lawn short, the sun will bake the soil drying out your grassroots and causing your lawn to burn. Also, do not put down any lawn fertilizer in the month of August. Lawn fertilizer usually has a lot of nitrogen which will burn in hot weather. 

High nitrogen fertilizers encourage leaf and stem developement which will put more stress on your plants roots at a time when they are already stretched to the limit trying to send enough moisture up the stem to keep the plant alive. 

Fertilizers for summer should be mild and have a higher potash content than nitrogen. Potash helps root developement and will help to strengthen your plants from the ground up. Water soluble fertilizers are a good choose for these hot summer days.  

  For your garden, set up a sprinkler on a timer that will water your plants first thing in the morning while they are still cool and the water can be well absorbed into the soil. 

If you water in the hot, afternoon sun you can get spots on your plant leaves from cold water on a hot leaf that creates a burn. Also the water that hits the ground has a better chance of evaporating before it is absorbed into the soil which will not help your plant roots. 

Gardens can still be fertilizered but, like lawns, do not use a high nitrogen fertilizer. For gardens you want a higher phosphorus fertilizer as it is the phosphorus that promotes fruits and flowers. 

Foxfarm Tiger Bloom is a good choice for flower beds and gardens in the month of August as it is a water soluble fertilizer. Flowerbeds can be treated just like gardens. 

Container gardens on your porch or patio and hanging baskets will need much more attention as they dry out the quickest. I water mine at a minimum of twice a day on any day that it doesn't rain. 

August doesn't have many rainy days. Quick afternoon thunder storms don't count as a good watering as they tend to just drop around an eighth to a quarter inch of rain, which is nice but not enough to water your plants thoroughly. 

Most plants want roughly an inch of water per day during the heat of the season. So if you have containers and your soil is an inch below the rim of your container, fill your container with water until it starts to overflow. 

This should be enough water for your plant for the day, but it may need a little more for the night. Also move your containers to shadier locations if possible. Just like you, your plants would enjoy a patio umbrella over them on a hot day. 

Your plants will not need as much sun this time of the year to flower or produce fruit. When the days get cooler in September, put your plants back in the sun. 

Even your southern tropical plants that you may put out on your pation for the summer can have problems with our heat up north because of the humidity level. Down south it is always hot and humid. 

The humidity breaks up and diffuses the UV rays from the sun. Without that high humidity, the UV rays can burn the leaves of even the toughest plants. So be careful with all your plants on the patio, because when your plants get stressed, that is when other problems creep in, like fungus. 

More on fungus next week, but if you have fungus already, come in get get some neem oil.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here