 This particular fall is starting very dry. In fact, if you
haven't been watering a little bit, most things are done for all
practical purposes. The dry weather, coupled with the heat, has
served to bake vegetables and flowers alike. Water and mulch
have been the saving graces of this year.Many of the existing
plants may yet be saved. Water and mulch may yet bring them
around. Many of the flowers would be well served by deadheading
or simply cutting back severely. Other plants, such as tomatoes,
have had diseases and insects to help cause problems for them.
The diseases, such as septoria leaf blight, dry out leaves from
the bottom of the plant up. Once infected, only a fungicide such
as mancozeb will help. Long-term rotation of more than three
years in an area with no tomatoes will also help this situation.
Many of the insects, and their relatives, have been
commonplace and troublesome this year. Problems such as aphids,
mites and whiteflies tend to do the most damage in a dry year.
Part of the reason is that they suck plant sap. Sap tends to be
in shorter supply in dry weather, and especially dry, hot
weather. Plant sap also becomes slightly more concentrated in
sugars during the type of summer we've had. A little bit less
water makes the sap a "super fuel" for the insects and mites
feeding on it. Of course, hot weather speeds the life cycle of
these insects as well. Control can be rather simple in the
garden and flower beds. Insecticidal soap does a great job on
most of the small insects. Of course, you have to get the soap
on them. Whiteflies pose more of a challenge because of their
mobility, but insecticidal soap is one of the best options.
Other products such as oil of neem and many of the synthetic
pyrethroids should also do a good job.
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 Fall gardening is also an option. Best bets this late in the
season are leaf lettuce, mustard greens, radish and spinach.
Everything depends on the weather. Of course! If moisture and
temperatures hang in there for the fall, you can replace the grocery
store items with homegrown for at least a couple of weeks. Many
times, fall-seeded spinach will survive the winter. This may give
you an exceptionally early start for next year.
We can also plant spring flowering bulbs. We may be a little on
the early side, but it takes time to plan, obtain and plant bulbs.
It's always better to have a bulb in the ground than to try to hold
them for another growing season if the weather turns sour on us. Pay
particular attention to some of the less common bulbs or colors.
Summer flowering bulbs should generally be dug after the first
killing frost, since they aren't hardy enough to survive the winter
in the ground.
Enjoy the fall weather while it is here. Fall is a great time of
year, and we all know what is coming next.
[Text from file received from
John
Fulton, University of Illinois Extension,
Logan County Unit]
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