Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Aug. 23

Prepare for more dry lightning storms (and smoke)

"When thunder roars, go indoors." That's the advice of the National Weather Service this weekend as another round of dry thunderstorms head our way.

Ash from the wildfires accumulates on a rose leaf. Give plants a rinse in the

morning to get rid of the smoky residue. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

From Sunday through Tuesday, dangerous weather systems will be blowing across Northern California. The NWS says expect "frequent cloud-to-ground lightning, little to no rain, gusty and erratic winds." Extremely high fire danger is also forecast.

Plus it will be hot with afternoon temperatures still in the high 90s.

A similar storm system brought disastrous consequences last weekend as more than 12,000 lightning strikes touched off about 550 fires, according to CalFire. Smoke from ongoing wildfires, including two of the biggest in California history, still chokes the air throughout the Central Valley.

Concentrate gardening time in the early morning, when temperatures are cooler:

* Water deeply. Give shrubs and trees a deep soaking. Container plants may need daily watering.
* Got ash? Give your plants a gentle morning shower, rinsing off the accumulated grime from leaves.
* To remove the gritty ash from your harvest, gently scrub fruit and vegetables with a vegetable brush and a little dish soap. Fully submerge leafy greens in water with a teaspoon of dish soap, then rinse.
* Don't fertilize. Under these weather conditions, feeding can add to stress to plants instead of promoting growth.
* Tomatoes won't turn fully red during high temperatures. Pick mature tomatoes and let them ripen (and redden) on the kitchen counter.
* Watch out for sunburn. Shade tomatoes, peppers and eggplant still on the vine.
* Pick up and discard fallen fruit and decaying vegetables to avoid pest problems.
* Get to work on your cool-season garden. Plant lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and other winter favorites indoors. Transplant seedling outdoors in September.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

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Food in My Back Yard Series

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting

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Garden Checklist for week of April 27

Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.

* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash. Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

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