July'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
With summer heating up, watering becomes an issue. If you want to replace delicate blooms for drought hardy stock, choose marigolds, lavender, salvia or native flowers. Water for the birds and a mud puddle for butterflies would also be much appreciated. Those who have allergies will be glad to know that there are flowers that do not yield nearly the pollen that many others do. Some allergy friendly flowers are fuchsias, snapdragons, petunias, pansies, delphinium, day lilies, peonies and hollyhocks. Mulch to keep weeds down, retain moisture, protect plants from heat and control erosion. Leave mulch 2"- 4" away from base of plant. Mulching is also the best form of fertilization as it is balanced, slow release and soil-web friendly. Trellis plants for less weeding, easier harvest, more yield per square foot, easier monitoring of pests and elimination of fruit loss. Place tall trellises on the north to prevent shading of lower plants.
HERB THYMES
It's BBQ season. Why not try rosemary or sage sprigs for skewers to give extra flavor! Warmer weather means more insects, pests included. Try this recipe for a proven insect spray. (It has also been known to keep barnacles off ships, dissuade moose and grizzlies, deter deer and repel termites!) Simply puree 1 large hot chili in a blender full of water. Let stand a couple of hours, strain out fiber and put liquid in a spray bottle. Use as needed in your greenhouse and garden. Do not get this on your skin, as it will burn. If you do, neutralize it with oil.
THE JUNIOR GARDENER
A vine-shaded teepee will make summer an adventure. To make this special house, take 6- 8' bamboo poles and about 60' of sturdy cord. With about 10' of the cord, bind the top of the poles together, wrapping cord around several times and then weave the remaining cord between each pole and over the wrapped cord. Secure cord ends. Set up poles, spacing evenly apart, leaving room for the door opening. Beginning at the door, take about 80' of sturdy clothesline and tie horizontally to each pole, continuing around to the other side of the door opening. Do this at 1' intervals to form the covering of the teepee. For added support, attach two or three lengths of sturdy cord to the poles, vertically, tying these to the clothesline between each two support poles. Plant fast-growing vines around the outside of the teepee. Use Morning Glory for heavenly blue flowers or Scarlet Runner Bean for eating later! GREEN THUMB QUESTION: How do you know when corn is ripe? (See*)
GREENHOUSE SCHEDULE
Set out transplants. Remove any diseased leaves or branches of greenhouse plants. (DO NOT COMPOST!) Water in the morning, gently, onto the soil. Splashed mud, dirty hoses and high-pressure watering all promote plant damage, pests and disease. Trellis greenhouse tomatoes. Keep evenly moist and warm but not hot (80 to 85 degrees). Mulch and feed weekly with lime and micro-nutrients. Do not use much nitrogen.
ACCESSORY OF THE MONTH
Closeable Base Vents offer you another way to get additional air flow and reduce summer heat in the greenhouse. Place these high quality ABS polymer air vents at the base of your greenhouse for natural ìground-upî cross -ventilation. Close during colder weather.
*ANSWER: The silk will be brown
Our Greenhousing "How-To" Resouce Guide
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