Our vegetable garden tips for September

September is the ideal month for autumn crops and crops heading into winter. Sequential sowing and transplanting remain important at this time as well. The weather has clearly changed: we still regularly enjoy sunny, warm days, but there is noticeably more rain and humidity is increasing.

Therefore, clear away spent and harvested crops and dying leaves, so that there is sufficient again. air circulation occurs in overgrown beds. Additionally, give less water – especially to certain crops – and remain alert to typical autumn pests, such as caterpillars, and fungal diseases such as mildew.

 What can you sow in September?

• Leafy greens & Asian vegetables → Sow spinach, endive, Chinese cabbage, pak choi, tatsoi, arugula and mizuna for a quick harvest in the autumn.
• Lettuce & hardy herbs → Start with winter purslane, lettuce, lamb's lettuce, parsley, dill and coriander for fresh salads in the cooler months. Winter purslane is an absolute favorite: with just a few plants, you can harvest an enormous amount from it.
• Crops to overwinter → Sow now spring onion, fennel and chard. They can overwinter in the garden, so you can harvest them early in the spring.
• Quick root vegetables & kohlrabi → Plant kohlrabi, radishes and turnips to enjoy it in winter and early spring. Tip: Purple kohlrabi looks beautiful in the vegetable garden, but green kohlrabi is particularly sweet and delicious in taste during the colder months.
• Larger cabbage crops for the spring harvest → Sow broccoli, sprouting broccoli (broccoletti), cauliflower and kale as soon as possible to be able to harvest next spring. Experimenting with organic F1 seeds can help to get larger heads and cauliflowers.
• Protection tip: Always sow brassicas, kohlrabi, radishes, and turnips indoors or under insect netting to protect young seedlings from caterpillar damage.

What can you plant out in September?

• Hardy crops → Plant out all hardy young plants that can still be harvested in the autumn or spend the winter in the garden for a harvest in the spring.
• Smart combination → From the end of September, you can start planting winter crops alongside summer crops that are nearing the end of their cycle. Plant, for example Spinach directly under your tomatoes and cucumbers. In this way, both crops can grow side by side for a while in the shade of the tomato and cucumber plants, until the summer crops are eventually removed.

 Activities

• Prune for good air circulation → Continue removing the bottom leaves from tomatoes and cucumbers, so that only the top ones remain. 4–6 leaf layers remain. Also remove spent, dead, and affected leaves and plants. This creates space and reduces the risk of rot in the higher humidity of autumn.
• Tomato tops → Cut off the top growing point of your tomato plants. By doing this now, you encourage the plant to put its remaining energy into ripening the existing, large fruits before it gets colder.
• Adjust your watering → Give fruit crops such as tomatoes and bell peppers less water now that temperatures are falling and rain takes over a larger share of the water demand. Stay cucumbers, celery and celeriac Do water regularly, because these crops still need a lot of moisture to grow well. Watering tip: Always water directly at the base of the plant and try to keep the leaves as dry as possible.
• Tackling pests & diseases:
  • Mildew → Due to the higher humidity in autumn, fungal spores can spread more easily. Keep the foliage dry by watering only at ground level, prune densely packed leaves for better air circulation, and immediately remove severely affected lower leaves.
  • Moth caterpillars & cabbage whites → Check weekly beets, chard, celery, herbs and cabbages. Pick caterpillars by hand, use a weekly treatment with Bt (with extra attention to the underside of the leaves) and remove damaged leaves to break the pest's life cycle.