Pest Control
Keep birds off ripening fruit with colourful windmills, streamers and even old CDs strung from string to sparkle in sunlight.
Apply Vine Weevil nematodes to container grown plants. Vine weevils damage plant roots and cause the plant to suddenly die. Prevention is essential.
Sowing Now
Seeds Suitable to Sow Outside: cauliflower, lettuce, onions, radish, salad leaves, spinach, swiss chard.
In The Greenhouse
During hot weather keep the greenhouse well ventilated. Use shading if necessary and damp down the greenhouse floor to keep the air moist and reduce the risk of red spider mites.
Other Jobs
Make sure your tomatoes get a constant water supply. Letting them dry out and then drowning them will increase the chance of problems such as splitting fruit and blossom end rot.
Continue to pinch out the side shoots on cordon grown tomatoes. Pinch out the top when they reach the desired height.
Provide support and tie plants in to canes as they grow.
When raspberry canes have finished fruiting cut them down to the base.
If your strawberry plants are 3-4 years old now is a good time to think about replacing them if the yields have started to drop. Container grown strawberries especially can have a real drop in yield as the compost gets exhausted. You can order plants to be delivered in the autumn. This gives them a head start for the following year. Read our article on growing your own strawberries.
If necessary, prune apple and pear trees that are becoming congested with too many branches crowded together. This will provide a healthier tree and better crops.