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Under cover

July sees the polytunnel and greenhouse exploding with growth. Many summer crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, French beans, courgettes and basil start producing in abundance. The first peppers may be ready by the end of the month, if you don’t feel the need to leave them to turn red. If the weather is hot outside, you may find it unbearable under cover, so try to fit in any work at the beginning and end of the day before temperatures rocket

Pests and diseases

Just as the produce proliferates, so pests and diseases can multiply with a vengeance. Be vigilant. Keep plants in the best health possible and act before a problem has spread too far. Remove any severely affected leaves, or whole plants, before they spread the problem further.

Potato blight can attack tomato plants too. In hot dry weather you’re safe enough, but if the day is warm, misty and muggy, blight spores can be in the air. Keep doors and windows closed, if temperatures aren’t too high, on days when blight threatens and your indoor plants should escape attack.

Turn over leaves on susceptible plants to check for whitefly. These are easily spotted, being bright white and waxy in appearance. They are easy to squash between finger and thumb if only a few are present. For larger infestations try using the biological control, Encarsia. This tiny wasp lays its eggs on whitefly scales, killing them before they hatch.

Watering and weeding

These can be the two religions of July. Sometimes it seems like you can’t do enough of either. The answer to both is to use a mulch (see page 16). This will help keep moisture in the soil and will keep weeds to a minimum. Make sure the borders are really well watered before applying a mulch. You will still need to water once a mulch is laid down, as plants draw moisture from the soil, but you may get away with a really thorough soaking every four or five days for established plants. It is always best to water in the evening as this allows water to soak well down into the soil before the sun’s heat causes rapid evaporation. If water restrictions are in place, use water barrels to collect rainwater and use a watering can to deliver this vital resource right around the roots of plants.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes should start cropping well this month. The earliest are the cherry varieties such as ‘Sungold’, which must be the sweetest variety going. Fruit at the top of the truss will ripen first and ripe fruit gives off a gas which speeds the ripening of fruit lower down the truss. There is no point in waiting to harvest until all fruit on a long truss is ripe. The top tomatoes will be probably be past their best at that stage.

Keep nipping out sideshoots and start removing a few lower leaves if they are discoloured, badly curled, or overshadowing ripening trusses. Watch out for new shoots sprouting from the base of the stem. These should be nipped out in the same way as side shoots, as they draw the energy of the plant away from fruit production.

French beans

Climbing French beans perform really well in the polytunnel and they can look gorgeous too. The variety ‘Blauhilde’ has purple flowers and pods displayed against dark green foliage. If you sowed seed in April, you should be harvesting plenty of pods in July

For more advice, see this months issue, available to buy online!

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