Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Aug. 10

Hot August nights? They come with hot August days. Fortunately, this current heat wave isn’t expected to stick around.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will experience its first real heat wave of this summer with three, maybe four consecutive days in triple digits.

“Widespread moderate heat risk,” predicts the National Weather Service, which forecasts 100-plus degrees throughout the region through Monday. “This level of heat affects most individuals sensitive to heat, especially those without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration.”

The highs for Sacramento are expected to peak at 103 on Saturday (Aug. 9), says the weather service, while areas such as Redding could reach 109.

“If outdoors, stay hydrated, take breaks and find shade,” says the weather service.

Fortunately, this heat should pass soon. High temperatures will drop comfortably to the low 90s by Wednesday and be back in the 80s by Thursday. That’s actually below average; normal for early August in Sacramento is 92 degrees.

Mornings will remain comfortably in the high 60s and 70s. Attack garden chores as early as possible and stay hydrated. (That goes for the gardener as well as the garden.)

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. After temperatures cool later this week, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting. (Always water before feeding.)

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s now forming.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Feed them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias, annuals and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.