The Tribune

Many Bahamians have been looking forward to October to bring relief from the oppressive heat and humidity of August and September. During the month the temperature of the ocean will drop appreciably causing air and soil temperatures to decrease. Mornings will have a little nip in the air and most people will seem to have more energy.

For many gardeners October is the real beginning of the vegetable growing season. The lower temperatures are ideal for a great number of veggies that are not naturally subtropical. Lettuce, spinach, green peas and many more are cool weather crops and germinate at lower temperatures than peppers or tomatoes.

Those vegetables that like warm germination conditions can be planted as seeds during early October. Chinese and regular cabbages are good candidates as well as most of the root crops: beets, carrots and onions. Leeks can be started in flats or pots and allowed to grow to pencil thickness before being transplanted to a prepared bed where they will reach maturity.

The type of onion seed used is very important because in the Bahamas we have short days and only certain varieties of onion will bulb to satisfaction. Scallions do not bulb and can be sown on a regular basis throughout the growing season.

No gardener should grow vegetables without also growing herbs to accompany them. Rosemary is a shrub and can be grown separate from the main herb garden. Thyme, basil, sage and other herbs will grow together in a single bed and provide great satisfaction to the gardener who is also a cook. Do not forget to grow Mexican marigold, a wonderful subtropical substitute for tarragon.

Once the cooler weather has established itself we can turn our attention to the flower garden. Virtually any annual can be grown during the period October to March and that gives us a tremendous choice. Seeds put in the ground in mid October should be flowering for Christmas.

Flowering shrubs tend to slow their rate of growth during the cooler months so pruning is best done in spring. One exception is roses. They appreciate being pruned in April in preparation for summer, and also in October for the kinder months ahead. Remember never to cut away any more than one-third of the mass of any plant.

Insect activity decreases during the cooler months but there will still be plenty to deal with. Crops sprayed with a soap solution are usually impervious to predation and the drier months allow the soap film to stay on the plants longer. Try to spray the undersides of the leaves when applying soap solution. This is the point of attack for many insects.

The cooler weather will bring morning mists or ‘draughts’ that in turn will provide the ideal conditions for mildew, funguses and other spore-borne diseases. Spores in the air land on soft-leaved plants such as cucumber and squash and the dew allows them to stick. When the sun rises and dissipates the dew the spores become established and start to destroy the leaves, often leaving only a lacy network of dead leaf veins.

When it comes to fruits, this is our avocado season but the pickings seem very slim this year. It has been a very poor year for most fruits and even the faithful carambola trees seem unwilling to flower and fruit. The citrus trees are also very spare and I hope this is a one-off year rather than the beginning of a trend.

The grass is still growing but by November will slow down considerably. If you do not mind having a ragged lawn for a month or two you can stop mowing and allow your St. Augustine grass to seed. This will add body to the lawn when new growth occurs next spring.

• j.hardy@coralwave.com