Check there is adequate ventilation, harvest cucumbers and sow parsley
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| Help prevent plants like peppers from drying out by keeping humidity levels up on hot days
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'On hot days, damping down the floors and benches will help to keep up the humidity levels so the leaves of crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, melons and peppers do not dry out.'
Under glass
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| Remove yellowing leaves from melons
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AUBERGINE, CHILLI PEPPERS AND PEPPERS: Tidy through the plants and remove all debris. Remove decaying or yellowing leaves from these and other greenhouse crops, such as tomatoes and melons to help prevent the spread of mildew and botrytis. Put them on the compost heap.
CABBAGES: We sow Cabbage 'Pixie' into trays and prick out cabbages 'April', 'Tundra' and 'Wheelers Imperial'.
CUCUMBERS: We harvest cucumbers at the end of August.
BULBS: Start cyclamen into growth now in preparation for winter flowering. Top-dress potted cyclamen with fresh compost and water. Keep them in the greenhouse or in a cold frame in August.
FLOWERING PLANTS IN POTS: Keep them watered and well ventilated.
LEAF CORIANDER: Sow into trays.
LEEKS: We prick out leeks 'Carlton' and 'Musselburgh'.
LETTUCES: Sow lettuces 'Lollo Rossa', 'Sangria' and 'Unrivalled' into trays. Prick out any that were sown earlier into modules. We pot up lettuces 'Valdor' and 'All the Year Round' to be grown on in the greenhouse.
ONIONS: We sow onions 'Guardsman' and 'Lancastrian' into modules.
PARSLEY: To have parsley through the winter, sow seeds in pots or trays of moist compost and cover lightly with compost. Ensure the pots gets good light, then pot up the seedlings when they are big enough to handle.
PESTS: Check for pests in the conservatory and greenhouse and spray regularly with soft-soap solution.
POTATOES: We pot on potato 'Salad Blue' micro plants into 5-litre pots.
SHADING: Remove shading or mesh at the end of the month when light levels are falling and days are significantly shorter.
TURNIPS: We sow the varieties 'Purple Top Milan' and 'Snowball' into trays.
Greenhouse ventilation
As temperatures rise, the need for ample ventilation increases, as most diseases occur in an environment of stagnant air. During the early and late parts of the summer the greenhouse will require ventilation during the day, but not at night – whereas during the warmer summer nights ventilation can be provided continuously. We have found that an electric fan working on a thermostat, placed in the end of the greenhouse opposite to the door works very well. On hot days, damping down the floors and benches will help to keep up the humidity levels so the leaves of crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, melons and peppers do not dry out.
Look further
Nick and Sue Hamilton run
Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, Leicestershire, formerly owned by the late Geoff Hamilton.
* Photography: Sarah B
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