GARDENING TIPS
FOR
OCTOBER
•Early October is the time to
withhold light to force your Christmas cactus and
poinsettia if you want them to bloom in time for
the Christmas
season.
•Get your cold frame ready.
•Harvest sunflower seeds (if
there are any left over by the birds and
squirrels).
•Cut the flowers heads with a short length of stem
attached. Hang upside down till dry, and rub the seeds off.
•Dig up potatoes and store in
the dark in a cool plac
•Apples should be stored in the cellar (if you are lucky to have one) or in a cool
area.
•Mulch your roses, plants and
trees to protect from the cold.
•Use the
abundant fallen leaves from your yard for protective mulch during the
cold months. Be sure to remove
the leaves in early spring.
•Make cuttings of geraniums,
Impatiens, chrysanthemums and fuchsias; and plant in pots indoors. Save for next spring.
•Continue
with fall clean up. Rake up diseased leaves and canes, and discard in the trash. Fallen fruit that are diseased, rotten or mummified are prime wintering sources for
disease and insects.
•Start cleanup around your rose bushes. If you had a problem with black spot of roses last growing season, a thorough cleanup around the rose bushes will help with less black spot problem next spring.
•The rose black
spot disease fungus lives through the winter in the diseases leaves and
canes.
•Do not forget to remove diseased canes. Prune off about 1/2 inch below the lesion and discard.
•This is the time to save your sweet potato vines. Make cuttings and keep in a
pot, bring them inside during the winter. This gives you a quick head start
next spring.
•Chives, parsley and other herbs that you had growing in your plot can be
transplanted into small pots and kept in a bright sunny window for kitchen use during the
winter.
•If the part of the country where you are at allows you to have your tomatoes
producing in October, it is about time to pinch off all blossoms so that nutrients go the
existing tomato fruit.
