The Star: February 22, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday February 22 2018 37
Gardening
Editorial supplied by
www.gardener.kiwi
15 greenhouse tips for late summer
Keep productivity
levels pumping by
prioritising
some key tasks.
Diana Noonan
reports
1. Water warning
Don’t water and work among
your plants at the same time.
Late summer sees greenhouse
plants struggling to support
ripening fruit and masses of
foliage. When you water, foliage
becomes heavier, and plants
lean in all directions, including
over pathways. Foliage also
becomes more fragile as it takes
in moisture. If you’re working
around your plants immediately
after watering, you’re likely to
knock off fruit and break stems,
and the last thing you want this
late in the season is damaged
plant material that then becomes
a site for disease to take hold.
Water early in the morning and
keep out of the greenhouse until
the warmth of the day has dried
the plants off.
2. Stress busters
Plants have been in the ground
for several months now, and are
becoming exhausted from the
task of producing and ripening
fruit. This kind of stress is the
open door through which pests
and disease leap when given half
a chance, so pamper your plants
like never before. Water deeply
to avoid soil drying out. Nourish
plants with low nitrogen liquid
feed (nitrogen at this stage in the
season will only promote leaf
growth at the expense of ripening
fruit). Be more vigilant with
ventilation to avoid heat stress.
4. Pick and pinch
Plants have enough to contend
with in late summer without
having to support fruit that’s
already mature. Harvest as soon
as possible and take extra care to
ensure you don’t damage stems
as you pick. If you’re in a region
where flowers or young green
BE PREPARED: Now is the time to sow the seed of
heat-loving plants that will welcome a late-summer move
into the greenhouse.
fruit just don’t have a chance of
developing or reaching maturity,
or even of growing to a size where
it can be picked to ripen inside,
nip out the no-hopers. Sacrificing
them will make way for other
fruit to mature more quickly.
5. Prune
If your vines are tapping on the
roof of the greenhouse, it’s time to
nip out the centres. Excess height
will only shade plants below.
Besides which, at this stage,
further flowers are unlikely to
have time to produce fruit that
will mature. Prune off dying
lower foliage to avoid it attracting
disease.
6. Open those vents!
Fungal diseases are
synonymous with late summer.
Encourage airflow by opening
vents in the morning and leaving
them partially open at night.
When days are warm, leave the
door open but remember to leave
a netting covering over the gap –
birds are as keen on ripening fruit
as you are.
7. Out with the old, in with
the new
If a plant is failing at this late
stage, don’t dilly-dally – whip
it out of the ground. The space
left behind will allow for better
airflow or, if you have another
plant to go in its place, top up
the soil with fresh compost and
animal manure (taking care not to
disturb the roots of neighbouring
plants) and pop it in.
8. Waste not, want not
Blossom-end rot and tomato
split are all late summer problems
but they don’t spell the end of a
fruit. Keep an eye on your harvest
and pick any fruit with signs of
early disease or imperfections.
Washed and trimmed, they can
be popped in the freezer until you
have enough for processing into
chutney or soup.
9. Be a tidy Kiwi
This is the time of year when
fruit gets missed and drops to
the ground. Do a daily check
and collect any decaying fruit
or leaf matter from the floor
of the greenhouse to prevent it
attracting disease. Snip off leaves
that are showing signs of disease
before they drop and infect the
ground, and next year’s crops at
the same time.
10. Keep supporting
Your plants are tired. You may
be too, but it’s more important
than ever to keep vining growth
BUMPER CROP: Don’t work around greenhouse plants heavy
with water – you risk damaging them. Harvest as soon as
possible and save your plants the work of further supporting
fruit that is already mature
well supported. Get out there with
the ties before the plants bend
over and snap or are weighed
down and broken with the weight
of fruit.
11. Select your seed
Prepare for seed saving
by observing the success, or
otherwise, of your plants and
selecting fruit from the best. If
you want to save seed that will
produce fruit the same as that
from which it has come, select
from non-hybrid plants.
12. Let in the sun
Late summer growth on shrubs
and trees is at its height and much
of that growth may be shading
your greenhouse. Trim back
foliage and cut back any long
grass from around the greenhouse
to take advantage of the last of
the summer heat and encourage
airflow. If panes of glass are dust
covered, give them a light water
blast – you’ll be surprised by the
extra light this lets in.
13. Keep harvesting
In warm regions where harvest
is likely to continue for a good
few weeks to come, keep picking
to encourage further fruiting. No
one is ever totally sure what the
season will bring and you don’t
want to close-off fruit production
too soon.
14. Take note
A gardener’s best friend
is a diary, and that goes for
greenhouse gardeners, too. In
the excitement (or exhaustion)
of harvesting, take note of how
the various varieties of plants
you have grown are performing.
Are all your tomatoes ripening
all at once? It may be that you
should have staggered plantings
or included some early and late
varieties in your mix. Are you
overwhelmed by the number
of cucumbers your vines are
producing? Perhaps it will pay to
grow fewer plants next year or
choose a smaller fruiting variety.
Envious of your neighbour’s
capsicum colours? Wish you’d
planted chillies? Note it all down.
15. Start sowing
Sow the seeds of heat-loving
plants that will benefit from being
in the warmth of the greenhouse
once the cooler days of autumn
arrive. These will vary according
to where you live, but most of
us can bank on another bumper
basil crop if we have it ready to
go in the greenhouse next month.
Lettuce seedlings in the wings will
also be welcome come autumn.
now bigger than ever
growing with you
SprIng Is here –
It’S Sow Time
how to get the best results from
seeds and seedlings
100% NatIve In
The capItal
Unravelling the secrets of
Otari-wilton Bush
The New Zealand
landscape awards
The people behind
the projects
September 2016 | 100%
It’s time
to grow!
New look and more
content than ever!
MeeT LeSTer Brice
A Garden coach
The magazine for
gardeners who like to get
their hands dirty
$7.90 incl. GST
Save our roSeS
How a rose register is protecting our heritage
auckland Botanic GardenS
Why we love our public grounds
SubScribe from
$43. 50*
*6 issues/6 months
ISSN 2423-0219
SUBSCRIPTIONS FREEPHONE
0800 77 77 10
www.gaRdeNER.kiwI