Organic Gardening goes on throughout the growing season, indeed, throughout the year. August is sometimes called high summer. The term may refer to the height of the growing season, the height of the plants at this time or the height of the tourist season, when family vacation travel reaches its peak before school starts. During high summer, we may have many concerns. Heat has a cumulative effect on our gardens, so even as overnight temperatures begin to go down and the length of daylight continues to abate, some areas of our gardens may be stressed from simply surviving the summer thus far. Some signs of plant stress are wilting, pale coloration, mottled coloration, yellowing and browning.
If you notice plants wilting, what you see may be a defense mechanism that means the plant is trying to rest in the heat. If the wilting disappears later in the day as temperature cools and the sun sets, your plant is probably fine. If the plant does not recover, water it thoroughly just at ground level without wetting the plant above ground. Count slowly to ten as you run the water on it to make sure the water is going deep enough to benefit the plant. If you do not provide enough water, the water remains at the surface and the plants roots may actually begin to grow back upwards, seeking the water. This can cause instability.
Discoloration in plants can come from a wide variety of problems. Take a closer look at the stressed plant. You might even want to use a magnifying glass, just be careful not to magnify the suns rays onto the plant. This can burn the plant. Do you see any insects? Try to identify them. Do you see any powdery substance on the plant. Mold or fungus can be black, white, blue or yellow. Some disorders called "rust" are reddish or orange, as the name suggests.
August is on average (surprise!) the month of the year most likely to have rainfalls of 1" to 2" in the Chicagoland area. This is when the mulch can be very helpful in keeping that moisture in the ground where the plants can use it. The mulch also prevents overheating of the soil. Overnight cooling is preserved through more of the day by this protective layer.
Otherwise cultural practices will help your garden at this time of year. The way you spaced your plants, according to their individual needs makes a big difference. The "companions" or nearby plants you chose can also help.
The best thing we can do is consider each plants needs and make sure we provide them. Preventive cultural practices may be the best way to avoid ecologically harmful substances.
