Row by Row Episode 255: Can You Garden In The Rain?
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Introduction
Over the last several days we have been getting hammered with bad storms and downpours of rain over several hours at a time. A break, maybe we've had a day of no rain in the last couple weeks but that's about it. So, can you garden in the rain? What does all of this rain do to your vegetables? You would think that rain is good for your garden, right? BUT TOO MUCH rain isn't good, it can cause all sorts of problems. The BEST solution is PREPARATION!
What problems do excessive amounts of rain cause? Does it ruin the foliage? What about roots? If you're in the South, you know that hurricane season is upon us! Let's grow together and get dirty!
Can Your Garden In The Rain?
Preparation Is Key!
Here are several tips that we hope will help you be prepared:
- Make sure your plants are tied up/supported. Check trellis, reinforce if necessary.
- Harvest as much as you can prior to the rain/storms.
- Stop watering ahead of the rain!
- Observe how your garden drains and identify problems areas.
- Remove/Prune off bad leaves as soon as possible
- Increase fungal issues from plants being damp for too long. Stay on top of rust.
- Root erosion, add soil back around exposed roots.
- Increase in snails and slugs.
- Increase in weeds. Perfect time to pull is after the rain and soil is soft.
- Rain will wash nutrients away. May need to fertilize more often.
- Hail damage, cover tender plants if possible.
- Mulch, too much can keep soil wet to long and be breeding ground.
- Plants in containers will typically suffer more. Keep emptied and move to covered area if possible.
- Protect young seedlings with buckets/pots.