Summer is finally upon us, and it is obviously going to be a hot one! Your garden will have to deal with many environmental issues as well as the normal insects and vertebrates which love to invade our space and enjoy our efforts – often well in advance of harvest day. Here is a look at a few and how we should effectively handle each.

Heat can be detrimental to many crops yet wonderful to others. Be sure to pay attention to your plants and aid the ones in need when the heat gets brutal. Remember those which needed help in the past and provide them a natural respite – afternoon shade from a tree can be the difference between life and death! Plant companions which provide help to others whether through deterring insects or vertebrates from the garden or providing a cooler (shaded) soil for the roots of the main crop. On a personal note, protect yourself with a hat, long sleeved shirts, and plenty of sunscreen!

There is one weed which sticks out in my mind as pesky – spurge. These plants are in some ways kind as they grow low to the ground. But that is the only kindness it will show you, as it maintains a low profile while overwhelmingly covering the garden surface like a carpet - overnight. You look for it today and see nothing, then tomorrow there are flat patches everywhere overtaking the vegetable and flower gardens! Culture control can be difficult since the plant begins to produce seeds very quickly and the small seedlings are invisible and a challenge to pull out of the ground. These small seedlings are easy to overlook and will quickly surround your garden plants. Those which get by you establish a large seedbank quickly, so cultivate your soil often to help eliminate this pest! Go to http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7445.html for more details.

 

  

Ever run across this? Your cucurbit plant is exhibiting the tightest leaf rolling you have ever seen, and the plant looks awful – like it is starving for nutrients.

  

Don't fertilize just yet – first identify the culprit(s). You may see half a dozen white flies and a few more aphids but look closely and you should be able to identify the main agent of change – thrips! These tiny, slender insects with hairs on their wing margins are less than 1/20 inch long. Quite often, you will see the damage before you see the thrips. To manage thrips, combine good cultural care, pest exclusion, and less toxic insecticides (soapy water) that are softer on natural enemies. Add reflective mulch to cover the ground and repel flying thrips. Prune off declining, injured, or infested plant parts. Avoid applying nitrogen fertilizer as it may increase the thrips population. And stop over-watering (are you guilty of this?) because the thrips were taking advantage of your mistake. Next year look for plants which are labelled thrip-resistant.

Tomatoes are the best summer crop, and yet gardeners face challenges to get the fruit off without loss to various elements.

Rats love tomatoes! I use three traps attached to a “U” shaped frame of short pieces of wooden two-by-four and set these on the ground under the tomato plant. If necessary, bait the traps with fallen or bad fruit. This makes it difficult for the rat(s) to steal the bait without setting off one of the other traps.

Blossom End Rot can also take a toll on our production simply because we are attending to the heat (but tomatoes love heat) and over-watering or trying to keep the spider mites down by washing them off. “To reduce rot, monitor soil moisture to make sure that the root zone neither dries out nor remains saturated. Follow recommended rates for fertilizers. Some varieties are more affected than others. The disease is not caused by a pathogen; there are no pesticide solutions.” http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/ENVIRON/blossomendrot.html

All the pests above have nothing on the most feared pest of the season. This two-legged critter robs his garden and imposes his choices upon his neighbors with excess produce, usually of the cucurbit family. You guessed it, the zucchini neighbor! Someone planted a full 6-pack of zucchini and is coming over every other day to share! My neighbors fear me and stop answering the door after a couple of deliveries. Then my wife makes zucchini bread for those who weren't available for the real thing on our walks around the ‘hood.

Take care! Hope to see you on one of my trips.