News Article for July 2, 2007
July usually ends the spring vegetable garden and puts us into the dog days of summer.
Once your vegetables play out weeds will take over quickly, especially with the afternoon showers we have been experiencing.
Now would be a good time to start your weed control for next year. If you have let the garden grow up in tall weeds, go in and either mow them down or use a weedeater to trim them back.
Let the grasses and weed start to regrow for several days to a week and then spray with a glyphosate herbicide such as Roundup.
Roundup will only kill actively growing grasses and weeds so do not spray it on bare ground.
Roundup should be applied at the rate of 1 to 2 quarts in 10 to 25 gallons of water per acre, plus 3 to 8 ounces of a nonionic surfactant (1 ½ to 2 2/3 ounces of Roundup plus 1 tablespoon of surfactant per gallon). Apply the mixture to the foliage of weeds until they are wet but not saturated to the point of run-off. Do not mow or plow for 10 to 14 days to ensure the uptake of the Roundup by weeds.
The rates are printed are for the full strength product. Read the label on the product that you buy because the glyphosate comes in a lot of different concentrations. Follow the manufactures directions for good control.
Another weed control method is to plant a cover crop. Try southern peas they will grow well in the heat of summer and can add a lot of organic matter if disked into the soil.
Blackberries should be pruned right after harvest. Just like blueberries the fruit grows on the previous year’s wood. The growth between now and next year is where the fruit will occur next spring.
It is best to go down into the center of the plant and remove the oldest canes. This will leave the new canes and help to keep the plants rejuvenated.
Some people will mow the entire plant to within 6 inches the ground. This procedure works but will usually produce fewer berries next year.
Fertilize after pruning with 2 to 3 tablespoons of ammonia nitrate per plant.
July 4th is time to go get the bulls out of the cow pasture. Calves produced from late summer and fall mating are usually not very productive due to the extreme heat and lower quality forages. Bulls can return on New Years if you want fall calves.
For more information on these or related topics contact Kenny at 686-3020.