October Tips: Vegetables

October Tips: VEGETABLES

If there is a threat of frost at night, harvest your cucumber,
eggplant, melon, okra, pepper, and summer squash so the fruits are
not damaged by the frost.

Tomatoes need an average daily temperature of 65F or more for
ripening. If daytime temperatures consistently are below this, pick
the fruits that have begun to change color and bring them inside to
ripen.

Plant garlic and shallots now for harvest next August.
Plant in a sunny spot in well-drained soil placing the tips 2 inches
beneath the soil surface.

If you are rescuing green tomatoes from a frost and plan to allow
them to finish ripening indoors, be sure to select fruits that have
changed color from the darker green of immature tomatoes to the
lighter color of the mature green stage. If picked before this color
break, the
tomato will rot instead of ripen. You will be on the safe side if you
wait for a hint of red to appear. Use underripe fruit for pickling.

Make a note of any particularly productive or unsatisfactory
varieties or crops. Such information can be very useful during
garden-planning time in spring.

Dig horseradish just before the ground freezes. The tops should be
trimmed from the roots to within one inch of the crown.

Remove any diseased or insect-infested plant material from your
garden; it may harbor overwintering stages of disease and insect
pests. If you leave this plant material in your garden, you are
leaving diseases and insects that will begin to reproduce again next
spring and add to next year's pest problem.

Dig parsnips and Jerusalem artichokes after hard frosts have
sweetened them.

Many disease-causing viruses overwinter in the roots of perennial
weeds.
Tomato mosaic virus overwinters in the roots of ground cherry,
horsenettle, jimson weed, nightshade, and bittersweet; cucumber
mosaic virus lives in the roots of milkweed, catnip, and pokeweed;
bean mosaic overwinters in white sweet clover roots; and many cabbage
diseases spread from wild members of the cole family. So, from the
aspect of disease control, it is evident that a good fall cleanup is
essential.

Hot peppers store well dry. Pull the plants and hang them up, or pick
the peppers and thread on a string. Store in a cool, dry place.

Place a ripe apple in a closed container with green tomatoes to
encourage the tomatoes to turn red. Ripe apples give off ethylene
gas that causes tomatoes to ripen.

Cure pumpkins, butternut, and Hubbard squash at temperatures between
70 to 80 F for two to three weeks immediately after harvest.
After curing, store them in a dry place at 55 to 60F. If stored at
50F or below, pumpkins and squashes are subject to damage by
chilling. At temperatures above 60F, they gradually lose moisture and
become stringy.