Temperatures are rising! October is an exciting month - it's time for tomato and vegetable plants to get underway while all garden plants will spring into life.
- The danger of frosts should be over, so now would be a great time to plant your vegetable gardens. Remembering to start by digging in plenty of compost!
- Seeds such as spinach, beetroot and radish, carrots, peas and beans can be planted directly into the garden. At the same time, seeds such as eggplant, cauliflower and lettuce, cucumber, peppers, courgettes, pumpkin and tomatoes can be sown into planting trays or directly into the garden!
- Vegetable seedlings can now be transplanted from trays directly into your garden.
- Now is also the time to plant passionfruit, rhubarb and tamarillos in preparation of tasty desserts! At the same time, new herb plants such as parsley should be planted before existing plants go to seed!
- Be sure to dust all cabbages and cauliflowers to prevent white butterfly caterpillar. At the same time, use a child and pet safe snail and slug bait to control slugs and snails.
- Remember to spray all fruit trees, grape vines, vegetable plants and potatoes with a copper oxychloride in order to prevent fungus diseases such as melanoses and brown rot.
- Lastly, liquid feed all plants to fertilize! Repeat this process every 10 – 14 days as liquid fertilizers get absorbed quickly!
- To see what to plant and when in your area, you can download this handy planting calendar. Download this handy planting calendar to see what to plant in your area, and when.
- October is a great time to plant your favorite flowering annuals! Sow seeds of Alyssum, Marigolds, Cosmos, Nasturtium and Sunflowers directly into the soil. At the same time, seeds such as Carnations, Dahlia, Petunia and Gerberas can be sown into trays in preparation for transplanting.
- Plant summer flowering bulbs such as Dahlia, Begonia, Gladioli and Calla for a full looking garden.
- Using a slow release fertilizer, spruce up your garden by planting new roses!
- Acid loving plants such as Camellias, Azaleas and Rhododendrons should fed with an acid fertilizer after flowering.
- Be sure to remove dead blooms from Rhododendrons and prune back all your spring flowering shrubs after flowering.
- For a cheerful summer display, plant up terracotta pots and hanging baskets with flowers!
- Remember to conserve moisture by adding a layer of mulch around all plants. At the same time, check your water systems are working efficiently.
- Lastly, remember to fertilize!
- You can now repot houseplants such as Orchids after flowering. At the same time, increase watering amounts of all pot plants as the weather is warming up!
- New areas of lawn should be sown! Be sure to fertilize your existing lawns.
- Lastly, use a prickle and weed killer to be onehunga and prickle free this summer!
October can be a busy month for preparing an aesthetic glower garden in preparation for summer! But don’t forget small jobs and maintain all existing plants and trees.
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