Grant Douglas's Garden Diary

Week 51: Fourth week of December

The drought certainly has broken. 150mm at our place in the last week. All that rain and high humidity brings it's own problems of fungal infections and rots. Prevention is better than cure. Ensure good ventilation around plants and remove any diseased material as it occurs and, if necessary, a copper spray will act as a preventative for such things as Tomato/Potato blight.

I have actually had a little bit of blight shown up in my greenhouse this year but am so far keeping it under control by removing the odd leaf, where it occurs. In the greenhouse, only water the soil and preferably in the morning.

Your early planted greenhouse Tomatoes will be ripening now and to speed this up, the removal of the lower leaves, up to the first truss, will aid both ripening and ventilation.

For those who planted their garlic early, it will be coming ready now with tops collapsing and tips of leaves browning off. Dig it out and hang it to dry loosely in a warm, airy site. I prefer not to leave it lying on the ground to dry as one side will sweat on the soil and the other side will possibly get cooked by the heat of the sun.

Now is the time for thinking about the sowing of root crops to see you through the winter, such as Beetroot and Carrots.

Sowing or Planting this week:

Basil
Beetroot
Beans - Scarlet, Runner (Shiney Fardenlosa), Dwarf Butter (2nd sowing)
Cabbage (Red and Green)
Cauliflower (Frieda - Summer variety)
Celeriac (for transplanting or direct)
Cucumber/Gherkins (am trying Lebanese Cucumbers this year - short type with very tender skin)
Kohl Rabi
Kumaras
Leeks
Lettuce (Loose-leaf Fancy and Hearting (Webbs or Greatlakes)
Onions
Pepinos
Potatoes - keep a succession of plantings going for new Potatoes, plus planting for main crop (storage)
Red Onions
Silverbeet and Perpetual Spinach
Spinach (New Zealand)
Spring Onions
Sprouting Broccoli
Sweet Corn
Zuchini

Sow Direct:

Carrots - main crop varieties
Corn Salad
Corriander/Dill
Mescalin Mix
Parsnips
Rocket
Radish

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