After a fairly cloudy few weeks, this burst of god weather might be just what your veg plants need – particularly if you have tomatoes, peppers and squash that are struggling to ripen… and you are not alone if that is the case…it has been a tough season for tomato growing.
So, to make the most of the summery spell that weather forecasters are predicting for much of the UK, here’s what we would suggest.
- Prune back tomatoes to leave pretty much just the trusses of fruit on the plants. Just snip leaves off with secateurs, and pinch out the growing tips if you haven’t already done so. This will allow the plant to concentrate solely on fruit.
- Prune out leaves and vines of winter squash and pumpkin plants so that the sun can reach any fruits. Remove any fruits that are looking too small so the plant can focus on those that are more mature at this point.
- Pinch out growing tips of aubergines, and any very young fruits so that you are leaving just 3 to 5 fruit on the plants.
- Pinch out the growing tips of pepper and chilli plants, but leave the fruits and flowers if you are growing in a greenhouse as there is still some time for these.
- Give the above plants a liquid feed, today if you can, so that they have a boost of nutrients to go with the warmer weather.
- If you can mulch around the base of plants before the good weather comes to an end, it will help to keep the warmth in the soil which will also help.