May Gardening Tips!
The weather during the month of May is very important in determining the amount of success that you’ll have with your spring/summer garden. If temperatures are mild (in the 90′s) the plants will do much better than if they are having to struggle with 100 to 115 degree temperatures. As we know, our past April has been warm.
May is a month for caring for the vegetables that are growing. Now is the time to begin enjoying the harvest from the earlier months of soil preparations, planting and care. Carrots will continue to grow during the warmer weather but they, as well as other root crops, should be dug before they go to seed. Potatoes can be removed by digging down around the plants, removing potatoes, then filling the soil back in plant. Bush bean plants will be producing a good crop of beans this month. In order to avoid a spider mite infestation that could seriously affect the bean harvest, use a miticide spray at the time the first blossoms open.
Tomato plants should start producing by the end of the month. The indeterminate varieties (tall growing) will continue to need to be tied up. A common insect problem on tomatoes is shield bugs (frequently called stink bugs). The bugs suck juice out of the fruit and leave hard yellow areas on the fruit. The damage could warrant spraying.
Strawberries need shade now to prevent sunburn. Corn will be tasseling out during May and ears will begin to develop. The silks will start emerging from the small ears and this marks the time when spraying should start to prevent corn earworm damage.
Summer squash will start producing fruit this month. Remember, it is important to pick the squash and cucumbers regularly to prevent them from growing so large that they are beyond their peak quality and flavor. Frequent picking also stimulates the setting of new fruit.
This is also the beginning of the planting period for most squash, the Tahitian variety should be started in either May or June to assure a good harvest of this long-storing winter squash.
May is an excellent time to start mulching the garden to keep the soil cooler and conserve moisture in the soil.
My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view.
~H. Fred Dale