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Being one of the hottest months of the year, February is all about reaping what you have sown; it's one of the main harvest periods. Keep feeding your plants with a fertiliser like NovaTec Premium.
It's important to keep an eye on watering at this time and to keep the soil moist, to prevent plants from wilting. When plants get water-stressed, they become susceptible to pests and diseases, which can be very quick to move in. A healthy plant is much more likely to stay that way if it's well watered.
Many summer crops will be harvested and pulled out of the ground now. While the garden is empty, take time to replenish the soil with a new layer of compost or Tui Super Sheep Pellets. If you have poor, dry soil, add Debco SaturAid to help retain more moisture. Add thick layers of compost or Tui Pea Straw Mulchto vegetable beds to conserve water, reduce weeds and add valuable nutrients to the soil.
SPECIAL ATTENTION
- Potatoes - keep mounding up rows of potatoes to ensure a bigger harvest. When watering potatoes, water the soil and not the leaves. Keep the area around plants weed-free.
- Sweetcorn - protect plants from strong winds by staking them or erecting a windbreak.
- Tomatoes - remove the lower leaves of plants to allow more light to ripen the lower trusses of fruit. Immediately remove any diseased leaves or fruit that may appear, to limit the spread of the problem.
SOW
- Beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, cavolo nero, celeriac, celery, kale, leeks, lettuces, mesclun, radishes, rocket, spinach, silverbeet, chervil, corinader, parsley.
PLANT
- Beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, cavolo nero, celery, courgettes, kale, lettuces, peas, silver beet, spinach, coriander, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.
FERTILISE
- Feed established plants once a month with Seasol plant tonic. Some quick-growing crops, like pumpkins, cucumbers and melons, can be fed every two weeks.
SPRAY
- Mildew can be a problem on cucumbers, courgettes and marrows; spray with Tui Eco-Fungicide to control it. Lay Tui Quash slug & snail control to control these pests, and spray aphids and whitefly with Tui Eco-Pest if they are still a problem. White butterflies and their hungry caterpillers will be lurking about too; deter these with derris dust or spray with Tui Eco-Pest.
HARVEST
- Globe artichokes, beans, beetroot, capsicums, carrots, chillies, courgettes, cucumbers, eggplants, garlic, lettuces, marrows, onions, peas, potatoes, shallots, sweetcorn, tomatoes.
Regional variaton: remember that there will be differences between crop timings depending on where you live, and the variety of vegetable grown. Always factor in climatic differences when sowing, planting and harvesting.
