Red-hot start could make July challenging
A two-tone zinnia catches the early morning light. There's still time to plant zinnias and other flowers for summer color, but wait until it cools off a bit later in the week. Kathy Morrison
Stay hydrated. That advice applies both to plants and people as we’re on high heat alert through Sunday night.
According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento is in the midst of its first triple-digit heat wave of 2023. Downtown hit 104 degrees Friday and 107 is forecast Saturday. Some Sacramento area communities could see 110 degrees.
Last Sunday (June 25), Sacramento’s high was only 76 degrees. That’s a 30-degree jump.
June saved its hottest day for last. “At 1:30 p.m. today, downtown Sac hit 100ºF!! First time this year!” tweeted the NWS Sacramento office on Friday afternoon. “We just ended a 293-day streak of below 100 temps. This is the 2nd longest streak since 2000. HOT DOG!”
Fortunately, these triple-digit days won’t last. By Tuesday’s Fourth of July holiday, Sacramento’s forecast high is 94 degrees. Normal for July: 92.
Take advantage of cooler temperatures in the early morning to get things done. (Or wait until next weekend if possible.)
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Don’t fertilize during a heat wave; wait a week before feeding hungry veggies.
* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.
* Avoid blossom end rot by keeping fast-developing vegetables evenly watered.
* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.
* Expect a gap in tomato production; pollen tends to dry out when temperatures hit 95 degrees and fewer tomatoes will set.
* If your melons and squash aren't setting fruit, give the bees a hand. With a small, soft paintbrush, gather some pollen from male flowers, then brush it inside the female flowers, which have a tiny swelling at the base of their petals. (That's the embryo melon or squash.) Within days, that little swelling should start growing.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Later in the week, plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds for instant summer color.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers. Keep seedlings evenly moist.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and 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.
* Smell orange blossoms? 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.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* 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.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, 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.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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