Cleaning up your vegetable garden at the end of the season goes a long way toward avoiding pest and disease problems next year. You may have heard that it is a good idea to leave plant material standing in the garden to provide shelter for beneficial insects over the winter. This is true of perennial plants, especially natives, but annual vegetable plants have different considerations. Our favorite edibles, such as tomatoes, peppers, squash and beans, have been cultivated for many years, and insect pests and diseases have evolved along with them.
Diseases and insects in the soil
Spores that cause blights in tomatoes and potatoes, verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, mosaic viruses and powdery mildew can all overwinter in debris and target healthy plants next growing season. Pests sheltering in debris and soil include flea beetles, potato beetles, bean beetles, allium leaf miners, squash vine borers — the list goes on and on.
Disposing of debris
Resist the urge to hang onto summer vegetables in order to harvest that one last tomato or pepper! When plants are decimated by disease or frost, remove the entire plant and dispose of them in your municipal waste. Attempting to compost them may just allow the problems to persist. In addition to removing spent vegetable plants, it is a good idea to note where vegetable families were planted and rotate the location next season. That way, any disease or insect that has evaded cleanup will not find its host easily next year.
Preparing the soil for next year
You may have planted some cool-season crops, such as broccoli, cabbage, and spinach. It’s OK to keep these growing, but when they are spent, follow the same guidelines as you would for tender vegetables. Once the soil is cleared, spreading compost and spading it into the soil will improve the soil structure for next year. You can take advantage of fallen leaves by turning them into the soil as well. Fall is also a great time to correct any soil deficiencies. For example, a summer soil test revealed that the pH in my vegetable bed is higher than recommended, so I will work in the specified amount of sulfur this fall.
You may also plant a cover crop to help prevent compaction, suppress weeds and retain moisture. These include crimson and white clover, hairy vetch, buckwheat, oats, tilling radishes and rye.
Adapted from: Lancaster Online
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