Gardeners Checklist: Here Is What to Do on the Week of July 15

* Keep checking vegetable crops for pests. The critters most likely to be found now include squash bugs on squash and pumpkins; cucumber beetles on cucumbers, melons and squash; potato beetles on potatoes, eggplant, and tomatoes; cabbage worms on all members of the cabbage family: Japanese beetles on beans and eggplant. All of these particular pests can be managed by hand-picking the adults or larvae and by crushing the eggs.

* Cut some flower stems from cockscomb (Celosia) and hang these in a dark, dry, well-ventilated area. Cockscomb dries nicely and makes for a great addition to dried flower arrangements. Strawflower, lavender, cornflower, and larkspur are other flowers that can be easily air-dried.

* Watch for the development of powdery mildew on the leaves of beebalm. Presence of powdery mildew can be an indication that the plants are getting too much shade (they prefer full sun) or are too crowded (allow ample space between plants for good air movement) or need to be divided (divide them every two or three years in spring).

* Harvest cucumbers and summer squash at any size. Just don’t let them get too large. Small and tender is best. It’s not too late to sow more seeds of these vegetables for a September harvest.

* Dig garlic when about one-third of the leaves on the plant have turned brown. If you wait until all leaves have turned brown, the tight skin around the bulb will break down and the cloves will separate. These bulbs do not store well. Cure the harvested garlic plants by hanging them in small bunches from the rafters in the garage, barn, or garden shed. I’ve also placed them on screens in a dry, airy location for curing. Curing takes about two weeks.

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Few things are as repulsive as stripping the husks from sweet corn and finding a corn earworm munching on the kernels. Well, maybe finding half of an earworm after you’ve bit into the corn is a little more repulsive. This is the point in the growing season when earworms infest sweet corn. The adult form of the earworm is a moth, which lays its eggs on the silks of corn. After a couple of days, the eggs hatch and the tiny earworms move down the silks to the tip of the corn ear where they begin to feed on the kernels. Usually, you don’t see more than one earworm on a mature ear. That’s because the larvae are cannibalistic. The best way to control corn earworm is to apply an organic insecticide containing Spinosad to ears of corn when the silks are first visible. Repeat this application every three to five days until the silks have turned brown. An old home remedy is to apply mineral oil to the base of the silks at the tip of the corn ear. This works reasonably well, but I’ve heard that it may reduce pollination and, therefore, kernel development.

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee. His book, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, is available here.