Summer resident’s list: what must be done in the garden in early May

Vegetable garden: sow and fertilize

Potatoes can be planted in early May. The best time is to start flowering bird cherry and the appearance of leaves on a birch. It’s also time to sow crops in open ground that are not afraid of possible frosts. Until May 10, you can transfer early seedlings and cauliflower to the beds. It is important to add compost or rotted manure and ash to the holes. A couple of days before the move, it is useful to feed the seedlings with a solution of potassium sulfate.

Sow carrots, beets, herbs, radishes in the beds. At the very beginning of the month, you need to have time to plant onion sets and spring garlic, and from 5 to 10 May – turnips for summer use.

The most important fertilizer for the garden in spring is nitrogen. However, you shouldn’t forget about potassium and phosphorus either. The combination of these substances can be found in complex fertilizers labeled “Spring”. You can make the mixture yourself. For 1 sq. m you need to take:

• 30–35 g of nitrogen (ammonium nitrate or urea);

• 25 g phosphorus (superphosphate);

• 20 g of potassium (potassium sulfate, potassium magnesium, kalimag).

Don’t neglect organic fertilizer. Overripe manure and compost are applied at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 sq. m, it is useful to add a glass of ash to this amount.

By the way

In May, it is useful to make a nettle starter for feeding all crops on the site. It is necessary to tightly fill the container 1/3 with nettles, top up with water and leave to ferment for a week. Despite the unpleasant smell, you get a completely free life-giving elixir for literally all plants. A liter of leaven is diluted in a bucket of water and watered.

The berry and the garden: protecting and feeding

If the trees suffer from the attacks of the flower beetle from year to year, it is necessary to carry out pest control in early May. For several days in a row, in the early morning, spread a white agrocloth under the trees and shake the trunks. Most of the insects sleepy from the cold will be below, burn them. Install trapping belts on the trunks: almost all pests crawl onto trees from the soil. If you use chemicals, spray the crowns with Fufanon or Iskra, but only before the flowers bloom.

Apply nitrogen fertilizer. For 2-4-year-old trees – 4 matchboxes, for 5-6-year-old trees – 7, for mature trees – up to 20 boxes.

Remove diseased and dead leaves from garden strawberries, then feed. For the prevention of the disease, it is advisable to sprinkle strawberries with a solution of “Alirin-B” (2 tablets / 1 l). Examine blackcurrants for mites. Remove large spherical buds, and treat the bushes (preferably before bud break) with “Fufanon”. After bud break, watering along the branches with a solution of fertilizer “Baikal EM1” – 1 tbsp. l. 10 liters of water.

Flower garden: transplant and process

At the beginning of the month, you need to feed the bulbous with nitrogen fertilizer to stimulate flowering. If you find specimens with weak seedlings among the tulips, remove them along with the bulbs and adjacent soil. If possible, find and dig up non-sprouted bulbs. Such plants are usually affected by Fusarium. Take care of perennials: now it is convenient to transfer them to new places, divide or plant them. Spread the agrotextile, lay the dug plants on it for dividing and examining the roots.