The Tribune

This is the time of year when many Bahamians turn to The Weather Channel every morning to check on any tropical disturbances in the Atlantic. September is the most likely month for a hurricane to hit our islands. And just because Isaac was a damp squib does not mean a future storm will not be a firecracker.

When it comes to growing vegetables there is a choice to be made. We can start a vegetable garden now, growing a few vegetables that do well at this time of year, or we can wait until the end of October at which time we will be able to grow any vegetable. Some gardeners wait until January, but that shortens the growing season considerably.

Tomatoes started now will set fruit at the end of October and be in our salads by December. Peppers, cabbages, cucumbers, snap beans and beets are among the crops that can be started early from seed. Remember to apply some snail and slug bait to the seedbed once the seedlings break ground.

August and September are the two hottest months of the year and this means lots of insect activity. Although a soap solution is ideal to protect our plants during the drier months of the year, frequent summer thunderstorms that wash off the leaves make it more practical to use an insecticide that kills on contact at this time.

Check the undersides of leaves, especially of hot peppers and citrus plants. It is there the damage is done and sometimes cannot be seen until it is too late to save the plant. Whitefly is a particularly destructive insect that will need several applications to eradicate.

Do not prune any poinsettia plants as the flowering process is already under way and you risk cutting away the active tissue.

By all means prune other shrubs that are getting too large. In the event of a tropical storm or hurricane it is important that the wind can pass through shrubs. Do the pruning on the inside of the shrub growth, taking out stems attached to the main trunk in the middle. Do this even if there is no storm activity. If light and air reach the centre of a shrub it will be healthier.

You can save a lot of money by sowing annual flower seeds during September. A Christmas display is expensive when bought by the tray. Again, remember to apply snail bait to protect your seeds. Just about any annuals can be sown now and should be fully adult and at their best during the Christmas season.

Towards the end of September you may leave your St. Augustine lawn unmowed and allow seed stalks to develop. When these mature the seeds will drop and thicken the texture of your lawn. At this time of year zephyranthes or August flowers sometimes appear in the lawn. This gives you a good excuse to leave the lawn unmown for a few weeks.

If you solarised your vegetable gardens during July and August you can remove the plastic sheeting during September when it is time to sow new seeds or transplant seedlings from a seed bed. There will no weeding to do but it is a good idea to apply some compost to the gardens to replace bacteria that have been killed off by the heat.

Dig the garden over while you mix in the compost and perhaps add a bag or two of commercial garden soil or cow manure. Sprinkle granular fertilizer over the gardens and water it in. Leave the gardens for about a week before sowing seeds or making transplants.

If you are doubtful about your gardens’ ability to retain enough water, mix in some vermiculite with the soil when you put in transplants. A handful of vermiculite makes a big difference to the initial settling in of a transplanted seedling.

• j.hardy@coralwave.com