Key tips to keep the garden growing all summer!
From Cristian Acosta, Cornell Cooperative Extension Serving Allegany County Ag Educator
Summer in Allegany County brings warm days, humidity, and the occasional dry spell, and the same conditions that grow a productive garden also invite disease, insects, and stress. Sitting in USDA Hardiness Zones 5a–5b, our gardens face a predictable set of midsummer troubles every year. The good news: most are manageable if you catch them early and lean on good habits before reaching for a chemical spray.
- Diseases love wet leaves. Our humid nights and heavy dew fuel problems like early and late blight on tomatoes and potatoes, powdery mildew on squash and cucumbers, and downy mildew on cucumbers and basil. The single best defense is dry foliage: space plants for airflow, water at the base in the morning rather than overhead, and mulch to keep soil-borne spores from splashing up. Remove infected leaves, throw them out rather than composting, and rotate tomatoes and potatoes to a new spot each year.
- Watch for the usual insect suspects. Colorado potato beetles, squash bugs and vine borers, cucumber beetles, Japanese beetles, tomato hornworms, aphids, and slugs are all regulars here. Handpicking into soapy water is surprisingly effective, and row covers protect young plants until flowering (pull them once blossoms open so pollinators can get in). Skip Japanese beetle traps, they tend to attract more beetles than they catch. And if you spot a hornworm covered in white rice-like cocoons, leave it: those are beneficial wasps at work.
- Some problems are weather, not pests. Blossom end rot: that sunken brown patch on the bottom of tomatoes, isn’t a disease but a watering issue, usually corrected by watering consistently and mulching. Inconsistent watering, sunscald, and poor pollination round out the season’s common complaints. Deep, less-frequent morning watering and a few pollinator-friendly flowers go a long way.
- And of course, wildlife. In Allegany County, deer, rabbits, and woodchucks are some of the toughest challenges of all. A tall (8-foot) fence or a 3D-fence are the only fully reliable deer defense; repellents help only briefly once animals are hungry.
The bottom line: scout weekly, water at the base, mulch, give plants room, rotate crops, clean up diseased material, and identify a problem before you treat it. That short list prevents most of the trouble gardeners call us about.
Want the full guide? The complete article , with detailed symptoms and management steps for each problem, plus a free downloadable troubleshooting handout, is on our website: https://allegany.cce.cornell.edu/gardening/pest-management/common-summer-garden-problems-and-how-to-manage-them or scanning the QR code on the image of this post.
When you’re not sure what you’re looking at, we’re here to help. Our educators and Master Gardener Volunteers can help diagnose plant problems and recommend research-based solutions. Send a clear photo or bring in a sample. If you’re in another county, contact your local Cooperative Extension office.
Remember: if you use pesticides (even organic ones) read the label and follow it for dosage and protective equipment. The label is the law. Happy gardening!
