Q: I'd like to plant a vegetable garden in early September, but I am not sure whether to plant summer vegetables or fall vegetables. What do you suggest?
A: I suggest summer vegetables, and you can go ahead and plant now. With our climate, you still have time to bring to harvest many vegetables that we also plant in spring, such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and bush beans, as well as all types of basil. Most local nurseries have vegetable seedlings. You also can start new plants from seed indoors now.
You'll have more problems with insect pests this time of year than you would in spring, so be vigilant.
Select "early" varieties, which ripen faster, and be prepared to protect your vegetables from that first sneaky frost in late October or early November. You probably should avoid summer vegetables that take a long time from germination to harvest, such as winter squash. It needs the long, hot summer to ripen.
If you want to plant cool-weather vegetables, I would spend September getting your garden bed ready and plant in early October. Broccoli, cabbage, lettuces, carrots, collards, beets, shallots, radishes and kohlrabi all do well during the cooler months of the year.
Q: Is it too late to fertilize citrus?
A: Almost, but you need to get it done now. February, May and early August are the best times to fertilize citrus. If you fertilize later, you stimulate new growth that will be susceptible to cold damage.
Free or cheap plants: A local gardener is looking for a source of free or cheap plants for a shady rain garden. The Tallahassee Garden Club's plant giveaway will resume in late September, but if you know of any other sources or if you have plants you want to share before then, email me at comments@msgrowitall.com and I'll pass it on.
Internet radio show: This week on Ms. Grow-It-All's Internet radio show on Blog Talk Radio, University of Florida/Leon County forester Stan Rosenthal and I will be talking about summer garden chores. It might be too hot to plant, but there are other things to do. Join us live at 5 p.m. today at www.blogtalkradio.com/ms_grow-it-all. You can download a podcast of the program, or any of my previous programs, from BlogTalkRadio.com or my website, www.msgrowitall.com.
— Have a gardening question? Send it to Questions@MsGrowItAll.com and Audrey Post will answer your query. She is a certified Advanced Master Gardener volunteer with the University of Florida IFAS Extension in Leon County. Visit her Web site at www.msgrowitall.com.
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