August's Greenhouse Tips
Owning, using, and enjoying your own greenhouse can be fun and relaxing - but there are still "Things To Do" to keep it clean, healthly, and usable. For each month of the year we have gathered useful greenhouse tips and information from our customers, employees and friends like you to help you get even more enjoyment from your greenhouse.
We've gathered these greenhouse tips from a variety of sources, much of it has been over the years and is not known. Please feel free to send us some of your own ideas.
SEASONAL OPPORTUNITIES
These are the dog days of summer, so called by the Romans for Sirius, the Dog Star which is twice as large as our sun and comes close to the earth during this time. In Greek it means the scorcher. Remember to use sunscreen with UVA and UVB 15 to 30 sunblock. Outside gardening is best done before 11am or after 3pm. Guard your plants also with organic mulch to hold moisture, protect from heat, and keep down weeds. Keep them evenly moist, watering deeply once or twice weekly in the morning. Provide windbreaks to protect and help retain moisture. Check daily for pests, remove and destroy diseased plant material and compost the good. Keep bird baths clean and full. Plant cover crops now (green compost) on any bare garden to replenish nitrogen and nutrients into the soil. Some good choices are buckwheat, clover or vetch. Also plant fall crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, cabbage, spinach and fall flowers: calendula, dianthus, and pansies.
HERB THYMES
Lavender has been historically used for its heady scent and as a wash for its antiseptic qualities to bathe wounds burns (sunburns), acne, athleteís foot and other skin ailments. Its ability to relieve insomnia, tension, headaches and pain is from the chemical, linalool, which slows nerve impulses. Take 1 teaspoon dry lavender flowers or 1 tablespoon fresh flowers for tea, or a cup of flowers for a bath and steep in a cup of boiling water for ten minutes. Add the 1 cup concentrate to your tub-full of water. There are no known side effects to the use of lavender. If your pets are battling fleas, eucalyptus oil on a cloth collar will help. Refresh the oil twice weekly.
THE JUNIOR GARDNER
Did you know that scientists have used mustard greens to mine gold and corn to absorb nearly a ton of lead out of contaminated soil, while sunflowers cleaned up oil spills and radioactivity?! Have you ever grown your own popcorn? Why not plan to plant some pink or blue next year! (Remember to keep your popcorn at least 200 ft away from sweet corn so they will not cross-pollinate.)
GREENHOUSE SCHEDULE
Now make plans for next years greenhouse/garden crops. Time plantings early so as to avoid the most harmful stage of the pest season, choose pest resistant varieties. If your present plants have suffered in the heat, choose varieties that have red and/or hairy leaves, tropical plants that store water, Mediterranean herbs and your area natives. Some heat tolerant flowers are gold daylilies, coneflowers, sage, yarrow, pincushion flower, goldenrod, and fennel. Do not forget to rotate crop locations to avoid plant specific disease buildup. To bring down the temperature in the greenhouse now, use shade cloths, fans and evaporative coolers or misters.
ACCESSORIES OF THE MONTH
For the hot days of summer, the 12 inch Exhaust Fan with Thermostatic Control is a must. Louvers allow out-flow of heated air in summer, while remaining closed during cooler weather. Set thermostat to exact degree at which you want the fan to exhaust. Evaporation is another sure way to lower summer greenhouse temperatures.
BOOKWORM CORNER
The Greenhouse Gardeners Companion truly is the gardeners desktop encyclopedia of information. It covers environment, design, microclimates, plants, pollination, scheduling, specific plants, roots and pests.
Our Greenhousing "How-To" Resouce Guide
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