What to do in September in the vegetable garden?
September combines the last summer harvests with preparations for autumn and winter. The soil is often still warm, but nights are getting cooler. Use vacant beds for suitable follow-on crops and adapt your plans to the weather, your region and the varieties you grow.
A personalised gardening calendar helps you keep track of sowing, planting and harvesting times.
What can you sow in September?
Depending on your climate and varieties, there may still be time to sow quick-growing radishes, winter radishes and turnips. Late carrot sowings need suitable conditions and enough growing time, so check the seed packet rather than assuming every variety can be sown now.
Prepare a fine seedbed, cover the seeds as directed and keep the soil moist until they germinate. Thin crowded seedlings afterwards to give the roots room to develop.
Lamb's lettuce and suitable spinach varieties can also be sown now. Choose hardy varieties if you intend to overwinter them. For onions, select a variety intended for autumn sowing. Cover onion seeds according to the packet instructions; planting seeds is different from planting onion sets.
What can you plant in September?
Young plants of suitable cabbage and lettuce varieties can fill gaps in your beds. Allow enough room for the mature plants and keep the growing point of lettuce above the soil. Depending on your method, lamb's lettuce and sorrel can also be planted out as young plants.
A late leek planting depends on the variety and the size of the young plants. Plant leek seedlings, not bulbs. Strawberries can be planted in late summer and early autumn. Globe artichokes need a suitable site, and autumn planting is less appropriate in cold regions.
What can you harvest in September?
In mild weather, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, beans, peppers and aubergines may continue to crop. Lift potatoes when they are ready for their intended use, preferably in dry weather. Sweetcorn, leeks and cabbages may also be ready: check the maturity of each crop rather than relying only on the date.
Let pumpkins and winter squash ripen as fully as possible, but bring them in before the first frost. Depending on the variety, apples, pears and grapes are ready in the orchard. Remove damaged fruit before storing your harvest.
Care for your beds before winter
Remove weeds and spent crops. Protect bare soil with suitable mulch or a green manure chosen for the season, soil and crop rotation. Mustard, for example, is not suitable for every vegetable rotation.
To blanch leek stems, gradually draw soil around them without letting it fall between the leaves. Excluding light keeps the covered parts pale. Here, blanching means a growing technique, not briefly cooking vegetables in boiling water.
Watch the forecast and have horticultural fleece ready if needed. Mulch can help protect the soil around hardy root crops and make winter harvesting easier. Harvest frost-sensitive vegetables before cold weather damages them.
