December/January Garden Guide
What to do in the garden December/January on Aotea
What a sigh or relief for the recent rain…. but this is only the beginning of the summer and now, if you haven’t already, is time to prepare your gardens for heat, wind and rain.
Check Niwa’s seasonal outlook for the three month outlook for December to February.
In the vege garden
Seeds to Sow (for Planting in January):
Anything you sow now will take at least 3 weeks before it's ready for planting, which brings us into January. January on Aotea is typically very hot and dry, so the least favourable time to be planting anything, unless you have an ample source of water to keep young plants alive and some form of shade to put over them.
IF you think you can look after your seedlings, you can still sow:
Zucchini; but if you have plants that are producing well, chances are they will keep going for several weeks yet
Cucumbers
Beans – dwarf beans will give you a quicker crop (about 4 weeks from sowing), runners count on at least 6 weeks til crop (you can also direct sow these, just more risk of birds/rats getting the seeds and seedlings)
Herbs and Greens: too late to sow! (I know there will be some rebels though!!)
Direct Sowing in December:
For direct sowing to be successful now, either sow before a forecasted extended period of rain (if it comes), or be prepared to water once to twice a day!
Coriander : always soak seed for 24 hrs before sowing, use fresh seed AND KEEP WELL WATERED TO STOP THEM GOING TO SEED. DO NOT plant out coriander seedlings - they are taprooted, pots are too small, root hits the bottom and when planted will go to seed very fast. Direct sow coriander every two weeks to keep a good supply.
Beans (plant into damp soil and water just once then cover for a few days til they start to pop up, then resume watering with care- beans will rot if over-watered)
Carrots (soak seed for 24 hrs before sowing, use fresh seed, keep well watered for up to 3 weeks til they emerge, guard against birds, slugs and snails)
Beetroot, guard against birds, slugs and snails
Zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins grow well if direct sown now as their fast growing, long tap roots get down deep. Plant about 4 cm deep into damp soil and water well. Lay seeds flat. Guard against rats - cut a plastic drink bottle in half, take the lid off the top half and place as a mini greenhouse over your zuc seed. Remove once leaves appear.
Seedlings to Plant in December:
Note most of the seedlings being planted from now are heavy feeders and need generous amounts of compost to sustain them, any additional mineral based (rather than soluble) ferts very useful (eg rock dust), as are liquid ferts
Summer lettuce (bolt resistant varieties)
Zucchini (plan on succession plantings every 8 weeks or so).
Tomatoes
Chilli peppers, capsicums and aubergines if your site has good sun hours and the soil is warm. It will be several weeks before they produce. It may be too late for those of you with less sunlight hours eg who are in a deep valley. If you want earlier crops of these, choose varieties with smaller size fruit which don’t need so much energy to form.
Herbs: basil, sage, marjoram, oregano, French Tarragon, parsleys, thyme, rosemary, mint, vietnamese mint
Cucumbers
Acorn squash, pumpkins
Beans: dwarf beans will produce in about 3 weeks with the warmth
Kumara tipu- last chance, water daily til established
Harvesting
Keep a daily check on fruit trees for ripening fruit
Zucs, peas and beans need to be harvested daily
Harvest cucs while still green and glossy. When they turn yellow they can be horribly bitter!
It is fine to pick tomatoes before they are fully coloured. As long as they have strted to colour up, they will continue to ripen off the plant if you keep them in a warm spot in the kitchen (and you have less chance of cheeky birds getting the fruit!)
Sweet Peppers can be eaten while still green but the flavour is not as sweet as when they have coloured. On Aotea this usually is at the end of January.
Harvest eggplants while the fruit is still glossy and gives a little to the touch. Eggplants that have become dull and hard will be very seedy and bitter.
Onions: onions should be starting to swell at the base. Keep them watered during this stage. If they look close to harvestable size, STOP WATERING. This is so that they go into dormancy mode. Onions, after all, are a type of bulb- a way for the plant to survive the heat of summer with the ability to resume growth in the autumn when the rains come, and finally, flower the following spring. By stopping any watering, the roots will stop growing and the tops of the plant start to flop - this is called lodging. At the same time, the surrounding sheath starts to turn golden. This is the time to harvest. Usually this is mid January but can be earlier depending on variety and when they were planted.
When you pull the onion, there should be little resistance as the roots are less active.
Hang the onions in an airy place out of the sun so they can slowly dry and cure.
Watch Out For
slugs and snails (use beer traps or iron phosphate bait)
caterpillars (use nets or Bt)
aphids (plant alyssum, let your coriander flower!)
check tomatoes and peppers for the Tomato Potato Psyllid and Corn Ear Worm
birds after your seedlings (use nets)
In the Orchard
Plant bananas from mid October on AND MULCH WELL
Thin overcrowded fruit on pears and apples
Protect developing fruit against birds
Feed citrus with sheep pellets or chook manure (3x per year but not in winter) too late to prune as borer beetle out and about
Mulch fruit trees after rain to lock in the moisture
Other Tasks
Sort out your watering system for summer. If you have adequate water, set up drip tape. All fittings available at BBS and through Irrigation Express.
collect/make mulch and spread thickly as you plant, to retain precious moisture in the soil over the coming hot months (and reduce weeds).
Liquid feed heavy producers such as egg plants, cucumbers and tomatoes weekly with either purchased or home made liquid fert if your soil is not very fertile. Fish and seaweed mixes are great. Apply liquid fert to damp soil, not dry..
