5.30.26 - After The Rain
Transcript
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the Keep Growing Podcast, your weekly guide to gardening in the Mid-Ohio Valley. I’m your host, John Morgan, coming to you from Bob’s Market in beautiful Mason, WV.
We’re heading into the first week of June, and things are really starting to pop in the garden. Let’s dive right in.
Weather Outlook
First, let’s talk about the weather for the next several days.
A weak, moisture-starved backdoor cold front is going to slide southward into our region Saturday morning just after daybreak. After that front passes, we’ll see a tightened pressure gradient that’ll give us breezy conditions. Expect surface gusts of 15 to 20 mph out of the northeast.
The good news after what has seemed like an eternity of rain — precipitation chances stay near zero. The atmosphere is really lacking deep moisture right now.
Looking ahead into next week, we’re in for dry weather with seasonable temperatures for early June. Perfect conditions for getting outside and staying on top of garden chores.
This Week in the Garden
After the recent rains we’ve had, here are the most important things you should be doing right now:
Number one — Scout for pests. Those warm, humid days followed by rain are perfect breeding conditions for aphids, spider mites, Japanese beetles, and slugs. Walk your garden every couple of days with a close eye, especially the undersides of leaves. Catch problems early before they explode.
Number two — Pinch back your herbs. Especially basil. If you pinch or cut the tops back now, you’ll get much bushier plants and a bigger, better harvest with more flavor. Don’t be afraid to take a few inches — it’s actually good for them.
Number three — Deadhead flowers. Keep those blooms coming! Remove spent flowers on petunias, marigolds, zinnias, roses, and anything else that’s looking tired. This tells the plant to keep producing flowers instead of going to seed.
Number four — Direct sow more bush beans and okra. It’s not too late! You can still get a great crop by sowing another round of bush beans and okra right now. They’ll love the warm soil we have coming.
And number five — Fertilize after the rain. With all the recent rainfall, nutrients have been leached out of the soil. Give your vegetables, flowers, and containers a good feeding this week while the soil is moist. Your plants will respond quickly.
This Weekend’s Big Sale at Bob’s Market
Before I let you go, I want to tell you about something exciting happening at Bob’s Market this weekend.
We’re running a Buy One, Get One Free sale on our beautiful 10-inch diameter Calibrachoa hanging baskets — also known as Million Bells. These little petunias are absolute rockstars in full sun. They’ll give you nonstop color from now all the way into fall.
Normally priced at $20.99 each, this BOGO deal means you can load up and add more pops of color around your landscape for a great price.
As a fertilizer combo, I highly recommend pairing them with Jack’s Classic Petunia FeED Water Soluble Fertilizer — it’s specifically formulated for heavy blooming plants like these.
The sale runs through Monday, June 1st, so make sure you come see us this weekend.
Closing
Check out our website at bobsmarket.com for more details on this weekend’s sale, full show notes, and our brand new VIP Club.
Speaking of the VIP Club, something awesome happened this week. A customer named Rhonda — thanks again, Rhonda — helped us discover that text messages now work both ways. If you join the VIP Club, you can shoot me a text with your gardening questions. Just keep in mind I’m the only one on the other end right now and I don’t watch the app 24/7, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
That’s it for this week, folks. Keep scouting, keep pinching, keep deadheading, and, of course, keep growing!
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