Warren County Master Gardeners
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Georgia Antoine, MG
Harvest vegetables frequently to keep plants productive.
The end of July is the best time to start tomato plants for the fall. Remove a few suckers from the healthiest tomato plants in your garden, dip the ends in rooting hormone and stick them in a well watered part of the garden.
Tomato, bell peppers and lima beans may stop producing fruit for a short time during the summer. This is only a temporary set back. Do not pull up the plants. They will start producing fruit again when the temperature falls.
---------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy fresh blueberries this month. Prune blueberry bushes after the harvest. They must put on new growth and set flower buds before winter sets in. If the entire bush is too tall, then the pruning will have to take place over a two-year period. To lower the overall height, severely prune half of the plant this year (not all on one side but rather throughout the plant) and tip prune the remaining stems. Next year, cut back the remaining taller branches and tip prune the new growth on the lower branches that you pruned the previous year. This is the only way to really lower the height and still have berries each year.
Blueberry Bush
Gale Waites, MG
--------------------------------------------------------------
Time to Pick Figs
Figs are a member of the genus Ficus and have been cultivated for thousands of years. Remember the sycamore fig of the Bible? That is Ficus sycamorus (the sycamore fig of Egypt). The figs we can successfully grow is simply known as the Common fig (Ficus carica). Two recommended varieties include 'Celeste' and 'Brown Turkey'. The Common fig is delicious and quite unique in that it does not need pollination to set fruit. Growing figs is relatively easy in our part of the country. Its greatest enemies are cold weather and nematodes. A mature plant can stand temperatures down to 15 to 20 degrees F. On the other hand, soil inhabiting parasitic nematodes can devastate figs. Give your fig bush plenty of sun. Eight hours would be great. Plant it on the south side of a building for winter protection, but not within 25 feet of the septic system. Figs need plenty of moisture but do not like wet feet. Eat them fresh, make jam, cook 'em down. They are great just about any way.
Fig Tree
Georgia Antoine, MG
