	MM-Hero garden box, 4 squares € 99
	MM-Hero garden box, 8 squares € 159
	MM-Hero garden box, 16 squares € 209
	MM-Hero raised table garden box, 8 squares € 299
	MM-Hero raised table garden box, 16 squares € 419

	MM-Bamboo garden box, 4 squares € 129
	MM-Bamboo garden box, 4 squares € 194

	Water reservoir for MM-Minis and MM-Air grow bag € 59
	Water reservoir conversion kit, 4 squares € 69
	Water reservoir conversion kit, 8 squares € 130
	Water reservoir conversion kit, 16 squares € 250
	Raised table water reservoir conversion kit, 8 squares € 120
	Raised table water reservoir conversion kit, 16 squares € 250

	Filler tube cap € 3,95
	Grid set, 4 squares € 14,95
	Grid set, 8 squares € 19,95
	Grid set, 16 squares € 24,95
	Root barrier fabric, 4 squares € 5,95
	Root barrier fabric, 8 squares € 9,95
	Root barrier fabric, 16 squares € 17,95
	Extra perlite for MM-Mix, 5L € 5,50
	Replacement trellis net € 14,95
	Plant labels, 5-pack € 3,95
	Marker for plant labels € 2,50
	Grid screw set, 16 squares € 5,95
	Nylon wick set for water reservoir € 5,95
	Slug fence spare parts € 6,95

	MM-Hero garden box, 4 squares € 99
	MM-Hero garden box, 8 squares € 159
	MM-Hero garden box, 16 squares € 209
	MM-Hero raised table garden box, 8 squares € 299
	MM-Hero raised table garden box, 16 squares € 419

	MM-Bamboo garden box, 4 squares € 129
	MM-Bamboo garden box, 4 squares € 194

	Water reservoir for MM-Minis and MM-Air grow bag € 59
	Water reservoir conversion kit, 4 squares € 69
	Water reservoir conversion kit, 8 squares € 130
	Water reservoir conversion kit, 16 squares € 250
	Raised table water reservoir conversion kit, 8 squares € 120
	Raised table water reservoir conversion kit, 16 squares € 250

	Filler tube cap € 3,95
	Grid set, 4 squares € 14,95
	Grid set, 8 squares € 19,95
	Grid set, 16 squares € 24,95
	Root barrier fabric, 4 squares € 5,95
	Root barrier fabric, 8 squares € 9,95
	Root barrier fabric, 16 squares € 17,95
	Extra perlite for MM-Mix, 5L € 5,50
	Replacement trellis net € 14,95
	Plant labels, 5-pack € 3,95
	Marker for plant labels € 2,50
	Grid screw set, 16 squares € 5,95
	Nylon wick set for water reservoir € 5,95
	Slug fence spare parts € 6,95

Tomaat Seizoen Courgette

July: tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and pumpkin

Summer vegetables love July in the Planty Garden. They start growing like crazy.

Here are a few tips for your tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchinis so you can get even more out of your summer harvest:

Zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes grow fast in the Planty Garden in July — *Summer vegetables getting bigger and bigger*

In July, summer vegetables — like zucchinis, tomatoes, and cucumbers — have a major growth spurt. They love the sun and heat.

Now's a great time to check in on them and make sure they're strong and healthy.

Add extra nutrients

Zucchinis, cucumbers, tomatoes, and pumpkins have one thing in common: they need a lot of nutrients. They are big plants after all. And they stay in the same spot for a long time.

So give their soil mix a boost by adding some extra plant food.

Here's how:

Add some extra nutrients to your soil mix by sprinkling the MM-Plantfood at the base of your zucchini plant — *Sprinkle extra MM-Plantfood at the foot of your plant*

Carefully loosen up the soil mix at the foot of the plant with a garden claw - like our MM-harkje - or a fork. Then toss in a scoop (2 tablespoons) of nutrients. Add water. Gently mix it in. That's it.

Now let's check in on each of the summer vegetables:

Tall tomatoes

Hoge tomaten

The main stems of tall tomatoes - like out Sweety - can grow up to 2 meters high. So you plant it near a trellis.

Tie the stem to it or weave it through the net.

Tall tomato at the trellis in a Planty garden — *Tall tomato at the trellis*

Lage of struiktomaten

Use scissors if they're too big:

Use a pair of scissors to prune larger sucker side shoots — *Big suckers? Use scissors*

Onze balkontomaat kan wel 80 cm hoog worden, en helemaal als je onze waterreservoirs gebruikt. Die geef ik dus wat sneller steun - ook al omdat de tomaten best groot en zwaar worden.

Ik maak de wigwam van iets dikkere en hogere bamboe-stokken. Daar wikkel ik weer touwtjes omheen, zodat die de trossen tomaten dragen. Zo blijft de plant ook mooi staan:

*Wigwam van bamboestokken als steun voor de balkontomaat*

Side shoots or suckers

All tomatoes produce side shoots. These grow between the leaves and the main stem and are called suckers. No wonder: they drain energy from the rest of the plant.

With the tall tomatoes, it's best to remove them as soon as possible. Then all the energy can go to the main stem, and the plant does not expand sideways.

Use scissors when they are a bigger, but small suckers like these are easy to snap off by hand:

Pinch off small tomato suckers by using your thumb an index finger — *Breaking off little suckers is a snap*

Controleer regelmatig of er nieuwe dieven zijn gekomen en haal die meteen weg, want voor je het weet groeien ze uit tot enorme zijtakken. Check ook op de plekken waar je ze al eerder weghaalde: soms groeit daar weer een nieuwe.

Meer over het dieven van tomaten lees je hier.

De lage struiktomaten hoef je niet te dieven. Want daarbij is het juist de bedoeling dat ze flink bossig worden.

Knip lelijk blad weg

Check regularly for new suckers and remove them right away. Otherwise, they'll grow into huge side branches before you know it.

Check the places you pruned before. Sometimes suckers grow back in the same spot.

And while you're at it, cut back any ugly-looking leaves:

A pile of tomato leaves and suckers that have been removed — *A pile of suckers and yellowed leaves*

Water geven

In dry weather, water your plants a little every day. Regular and even watering does the trick. And be careful: tomatoes that are (almost) ripe quickly burst open if they absorb a lot of water all at once.

Fun fact: You don't need to remove suckers from low-growing tomatoes like the yellomato. You want them to get nice and bushy.

When can you harvest tomatoes?

Usually in August, if you've started early. Pick our cherry tomatoes when they're red and round.

The yellomatoes are best harvested when they've just turned yellow and feel nice and firm. Yum.

Wanneer kun je tomaten oogsten?

Meestal pas in augustus, tenzij je erg vroeg begonnen bent. Oogst de Sweety tomaatjes als ze mooi rood zijn, en doe dat net zo bij de Balkontomaat.

De tomaatjes van de gele struiktomaat oogst je als ze net mooi geel maar nog wel stevig zijn. Dan zijn ze echt het lekkerst.

Oogst van 3 soorten Makkelijke Moestuin tomaten — *Oogst van onze 3 soorten tomaten*

Komkommer

Komkommers zijn rankende planten met lange stengels. Momenteel verkopen we 2 soorten: de Iznik mini-komkommer en de iets kleinere Snack-komkommer. Die laatste groeit zo snel, dat je 'm nog de hele maand juli kunt zaaien. Ook die staan bij een klimrek, dan groeien ze mooi omhoog.

Ze klemmen zich vast met tentakels, maar toch weef ik ze wel een beetje door het net om ze extra houvast te geven:

Zijscheuten bij komkommers

Right around now, I get a lot of questions about cucumber side shoots. A cucumber plant quickly becomes a tangle of stems, leaves, and side shoots with flowers and cucumbers growing all over.

An Iznik cucumber plant with vines, flowers, and young cucumbers — *The glorious Iznik Cucumber- full of cucumbers*

Cucumber side shoots aren't like tomato suckers. So, don't remove them right away. They can actually help you get a bigger harvest.

Let them grow for a while, wait for the first flowers and cucumbers to appear, and then cut the rest of the side shoot off.

Here, visual aides should help explain it:

An Iznik cucumber plant with a side shoot forming — *See the side shoot forming on the right?*

That little side shoot will just keep growing and growing.

When it gets to be 10-20 cm long, it'll have a few flowers and tiny cucumber fruits. So, first, locate the first two cucumbers. Then remove the rest of the side shoot:

Leave two cucumber fruits on the side shoot and cut off the rest — *Leave 2 cucumbers and cut off the rest of the side shoot after the second*

Meer over het dieven van komkommers lees je hier.

Wanneer oogst je komkommers?

When do you harvest cucumbers?

Right away. Our Iznik snack cucumbers are delicious when they're 12-15 cm long. Smaller than that is good too, but any bigger and they won't taste their absolute best.

Iznik cucumbers harvested when they're 12 cm long taste best — *Harvesting right on time*

Traditional cucumbers, like the Marketmore, grow to be much bigger. Harvest those when they're about 20 cm long.

Just don't let your cucumbers hang too long. That slows the plant's growth and most cucumber varieties get bitter with age.

Zucchini

Our climbing zucchini plants get HUGE.

At first, it looks just like an ordinary zucchini. That's because it takes a while for the stem to grow. But once it gets going, it won't stop 😉

Once it reaches the trellis, be sure to guide it upward. If you wait too long, it'll be too late to coax it up the trellis and the stem may snap.

So, keep an eye on your plant and help it grow tall. You can attach it to the trellis using string or plant ties. Add a bamboo stick for extra support.

In juli - en de maanden daarna - wordt de stengel steeds langer. Dan is het veel eenvoudiger om die vast te binden.

Knip groot blad dat in de weg zit of je andere planten in de schaduw zet weg. Laat wel een flink aantal gezonde bladeren zitten, want daar maakt de plant een groot deel van zijn voeding mee aan.

Wanneer oogst je courgettes?

You'll see: in the next month or two, your plant might be taller than you are.

Big leaves getting in your way or putting your other plants in the shade? Cut them off. Just be sure to leave a good number of healthy leaves. That's how your zucchini gets a lot of its nutrients.

When do you harvest zucchini?

When they're still pretty small — about 20 cm long. The fruits of the zucchini plant grow quickly — just like cucumbers. So, one week it'll be puny. The next, you get this:

Harvest your Planty Garden zucchinis when they are 20 cm long — *Oh yeah, time to harvest 😉*

Pompoenen

Pompoenen zijn net als komkommers rankende planten. Alleen worden die ranken veel dikker en langer en is het blad ook veel groter.

De meeste pompoenen zijn te zwaar om aan een klimrek te hangen. Die van ons - de Baby pompoen - is daar wel geschikt voor.

Maar omdat de hoofdstengel zo lang wordt, weef je die in horizontale lussen door het net: Doe dat heel regelmatig want hij groeit enorm snel. Doe het ook heel voorzichtig, want de top van de stengel is wel heel buigzaam, maar breekt ook snel.

*Weef de hoofdstengel in horizontale lussen door het net van het klimrek*

Zijtakken bij de pompoen

Ook een pompoen maakt veel zijtakken aan. Die hebben een enorme groeikracht, dus ook die haal je beter zo snel mogelijk weg.

*Kleine zijscheut en pompoen in wording*

Meer over het dieven van pompoenen lees je hier.

Wanneer oogst je pompoenen?

Een pompoen is rijp om te oogsten als hij egaal oranje is en het steeltje helemaal ingedroogd is. Meestal is dat pas rond september het geval, soms zelfs oktober. Vaak is de rest van de plant dan al helemaal lelijk.

Valt een pompoen eerder af, leg ‘m dan op een zonnige plek in de vensterbank, dan rijpt hij vanzelf verder.

A little goes a long way

Do you need to spend a lot of time caring for summer vegetables? Not at all. Just do it during your daily round of watering. Or when you go into your vegetable garden to harvest something.

Because that's what we do it for, right? The mighty harvest 🙂

By giving your plants a little extra attention now, you'll harvest longer, and harvest more.

Enjoy!