October Gardening To Do List

Monthly Calender for Newbie Gardener’s in the Southern Hemisphere.

October Notes

Ok It?s really getting going now in the kitchen garden. Oh! I love this time of year, spring is really with us. New buds are sprouting and green is fresh & new.

Sow Direct Seed of:
Vegetables:
Chinese cabbage (open)
Grain crops
Rocket
Silver beet (pre-soak seed)
NZ spinach (pre-soak seed)
Tatsoi
Bush & climbing beans
Sweetcorn
Herbs:
Dill
Flowers:
Cosmos
Everlasting Daisy
Nasturtium
Sunflower

Sow or Plant Out:
Vegetables:
Asparagus seed
Banana Passionfruit
Passionfruit
pawpaw
Capsicum
Cucumber
Aubergine
Beetroot (pre–soak seed)
Carrot
Radish
Sweet Potato
Pumpkin
Rock Melon
Cabbage
Leek
Lettuce
Silver beet (pre-soak seed)
Spring Onions
Summer squash
Tomatoes
Water Melon
Zucchini
Herbs:
Catnip
Chives
Dandelion
Hyssop
Lemon balm
Lemon grass
Sweet & purple basil
Marjoram
Mint
Oregano
Pyrethrum
Rosemary
Rue
Sage
Thyme
Yarrow
Watercress
Chamomile
Parsley
Verbena
Lavender
French tarragon
Flowers:
Virginia skullcap
Dahlia seed
Ageratum
Celosia
Dianthus
African & French marigolds
Petunia
Livingstone daisy
Snap dragon
Rosella
Frangipani
Gazania
Shasta daisy
Pelargonium

Sow lawn seed or lay turf

Plant:
Banana
Blueberry
Citrus
Cherry guava
Tropical guava
Mango
Macadamia

In cooler areas: Sow or Plant out: Herbaceous perennials, olive trees, evergreen trees, vines & shrubs

Plant a green manure crop or cover crop of: Red or white clover, pigeon pea, soybean, Japanese millet & sorghum late in the month
In suitable soils grow alfalfa, amaranth or buckwheat

GENERAL
Clip: Diosma after flowering
Prune: Mature Passionfruit, roses, Hawaiian hibiscus when old leaves yellow

Divide: Chives & gerbera

Re-pot plants that require it

Mulch asparagus after harvest with well rotted manure.
Lightly mulch protea with rotted cow manure
Mulch other areas to keep soil moist in warm conditions

FEEDING
On damp soil: apply fertiliser tea to: Young grapes, young rhubarb, young mango, young pawpaw, all banana trees, melons sown in September, asparagus seedlings & young crowns, cabbage, celery, leek , lettuce, silver beet & young passion fruit if needed,

Apply seaweed tea to: Young grapes, mature pawpaw, passionfruit, azaleas, rhododendrons, bulbs after flowering & carnations.
Also to established lawns after rain.
Apply to strawberries in cooler areas
Apply ? strength to young pawpaw

After watering fertilise: Mature passionfruit, herbaceous perennials after aerating the bed.
Lightly fertilise: Young citrus, fig, cherry guava, palms, French tarragon, oregano, mint, marjoram, & anywhere else as necessary.

HARVEST
Green Beans
Globe Artichokes
Runner Beans
Spinach
Elder flowers
Loquats
Lavender