Dig In: Garden Checklist for week of June 17

Get your tomatoes and vegetables set for summer success

By Debbie Arrington

Mid-June is ideal to set your garden up for summer success. A little TLC now will pay off in bigger harvests and fewer problems in weeks to come.

Warmer weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Look for equal amounts of the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; those are the large numbers printed on the fertilizer box or bag. That helps promote steady growth and development.

Bone meal can help set tomatoes. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

* Seeing lots of yellow flowers but no green tomatoes? Bone meal can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit. It also works on squash, peppers and eggplant.
* How much should you water your tomatoes? Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, especially if temperatures soar into the high 90s or triple digits. Figure at least one gallon per plant each irrigation. The important factor: Don't let them dry out completely. That can encourage blossom-end rot, a problem in several summer vegetables.
* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.
* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.
* Still got room in your garden? From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.
* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias for instant color. 
* Transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.