Last 2 summers here it was too dry due to drought, now it's too wet and flooding and I think the rain has put stress on my tomato and pepper plants. Everything else is thriving, onions, lettuce, green beans, yellow squash, and cucumber plants all look very healthy but noticed the tomato and pepper plants look a little droopy so assume they must be stressed - maybe I should take pictures to get an opinion. I assume there is such a thing as too much ground saturation right? Very soggy soil right now, the lawn even makes squishy noise when you walk over it. Supposed to be dry until Saturday here, wish I had kept better track of the rain total but I would bet we got well over 6 inches here in the past week. I know 2 days for sure that we had 3.5" inches in a 24 hour period and another with just over 2" with 1.5" of that coming in less than an hour.
Too Much Rain?
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Don McCallum
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I usual have a nice small garden. I plant a few hills of squash and have more than we can use. I have planted squash twice about a month apart.
The older ones have died, and the younger ones look like they will die. The man that runs the fruit stand said ,"He cannot find them anywhere."
I have about 35 acres of hay that has been needing cut. I am hoping for some dry weather.
SW.Ms.
The older ones have died, and the younger ones look like they will die. The man that runs the fruit stand said ,"He cannot find them anywhere."
I have about 35 acres of hay that has been needing cut. I am hoping for some dry weather.
SW.Ms.
skyhightree1
Well-known member
I will gladly take any excess rain you all many have. My garden only thing really thriving is sweet taters..
Yeah it's ironic the last 2 summers we were begging for rain now we just wish it would stop for a bit so things can dry out. Rivers here already too full and could use some dry days to stay out of flood stage. Would gladly send some to other places if we could!
We had hay cut last Monday and it's got way too much rain dumped on it and hopefully dries out to bale tomorrow or Friday. Today it's cloudy and cool in the mid 60's and they are talking about a possible record low for overnight which isn't really good weather to help it dry out but should get back to near 80 tomorrow.
We had hay cut last Monday and it's got way too much rain dumped on it and hopefully dries out to bale tomorrow or Friday. Today it's cloudy and cool in the mid 60's and they are talking about a possible record low for overnight which isn't really good weather to help it dry out but should get back to near 80 tomorrow.
SPH sounds like you are around I-80 or north of. Hope you guys missed the storm Monday looks like lots of crops got destroyed from the hail and wind. We too have hay down and it's not drying much at all, Tedder helps out a lot.
Yeah, just north of I80 and 40 minutes West of Des Moines. The winds and tornado that hit were far enough south of us thankfully but feel for those that were affected. Lot of water standing in fields in the area, guessing the crop adjustors will be busy in the coming month to accessing insurance claims.
On the plus side the grass in the pastures sure looks good!
On the plus side the grass in the pastures sure looks good!
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
Seldom an average year here. A little north of me they have over 21" of rain ytd. I scrounged around and now have some good Reed Canary seed all ready to go !
CottageFarm
Well-known member
Too much water could be a problem, especially when you have larger fruit on, but the bigger problem is likely that the soil isn't warm enough because it's so wet. If you're only dealing with a few plants, you could try putting some dark plastic around the base of the plants late in the afternoon to retain heat over night and also if it's going to rain when you don't need it, but take it off during the day to help the soil dry.
skyhightree1
Well-known member
CottageFarm":1h95lqf5 said:
here grounds so hot the rain evaporates :lol2: high humidity and head index of 110 here definately don't need anything to warm up the soil
Jogeephus
Well-known member
skyhightree1":2wdgwdnl said:
What kind of injun are you if you can't do a rain dance and make it rain when you want it to? Dang poser! ;-)
skyhightree1
Well-known member
Jogeephus":3cip0ycs said:
Evidently my dance is broken :lol2: I even tried to do the huck a buck and the Charleston tonight to get it to rain lets see if it works
greybeard
Well-known member
Rain to the excess will cause yellowing, loss of pollination and if fruit does produce, the maters will grow so rapidly the skins split open.
But tomato plants can handle more moisture than most plants IF the ground has the right NPK and pH.
If the ground is staying moist and the temp is in the mid-upper 90s, that will cause wilty looking plants in the heat of the day but they should look better in cool mornings and late evenings.
We have had a LOT of rain here, but where I gardened this year has really good draining soil and both the tomatoes and peppers have done great. Can't give the tomatoes away fast enough to keep up.
I'm done with them and as someone else said, I am now in crowder pea he77.
Been thinking about buying one of those pea shellers.
But tomato plants can handle more moisture than most plants IF the ground has the right NPK and pH.
If the ground is staying moist and the temp is in the mid-upper 90s, that will cause wilty looking plants in the heat of the day but they should look better in cool mornings and late evenings.
We have had a LOT of rain here, but where I gardened this year has really good draining soil and both the tomatoes and peppers have done great. Can't give the tomatoes away fast enough to keep up.
I'm done with them and as someone else said, I am now in crowder pea he77.
Been thinking about buying one of those pea shellers.
Pretty sure the pepper plants are not going to make it and 1 of the tomato plants is pretty questionable too. Probably going to replace the plants this week once things dry up a bit. Noticed some of my green bean plants even have a little bit of yellowing but they should be OK. Maybe get some pictures this week to show just how bad they look. One thing is for sure the onions and lettuce sure are thriving with all the moisture.
Finally took a couple photos yesterday of my garden. Going to see if anywhere around here might still have some pepper and tomato plants left I can try to get a late harvest of peppers. I've seen some tomato plants that aren't much farther behind what mine was at when it died but pepper plants might be hard to come by. Just way too much saturation from all the rain we have had in the past month here. This is the first year for this garden as I just moved into this place in December. Brought in some composted manure from the farm that has been piled up for at least 1-2 years to improve the soil and build the base up a little after I tilled it. Everything was looking very healthy till we got dumped on with several rounds of storms that caused some flooding in the area. My house even got hit by lightning 2 weeks ago, thankfully other than some electronics that got zapped and damage to some drywall where the force cracked it didn't have a fire.
Two bell pepper plants and a jalapeno plant are certainly dead as is my large tomato plant. The cherry tomato plant I think may be OK but it obviously could look healthier. You can notice a little bit of yellowing of some of the nearby green bean plants too from being too saturated. I use my lawn clippings as mulch for weed control and compost so that is carpet of brown stuff you see around the plants.
Full garden, already harvested a row of radishes and seeded the other half of the lettuce rows since it is about ready to pick. From front to back I have onions, radishes that were already harvested, romaine lettuce, black-seeded simpson lettuce, green beans, pepper plants (now dead) 2 varieties of tomato plants, then in the back corner are bush variety cucumber and to the right is yellow summer squash. Have a few small cucumbers and squash so maybe by this weekend may have my first of those to harvest.
Two bell pepper plants and a jalapeno plant are certainly dead as is my large tomato plant. The cherry tomato plant I think may be OK but it obviously could look healthier. You can notice a little bit of yellowing of some of the nearby green bean plants too from being too saturated. I use my lawn clippings as mulch for weed control and compost so that is carpet of brown stuff you see around the plants.
Full garden, already harvested a row of radishes and seeded the other half of the lettuce rows since it is about ready to pick. From front to back I have onions, radishes that were already harvested, romaine lettuce, black-seeded simpson lettuce, green beans, pepper plants (now dead) 2 varieties of tomato plants, then in the back corner are bush variety cucumber and to the right is yellow summer squash. Have a few small cucumbers and squash so maybe by this weekend may have my first of those to harvest.
CottageFarm
Well-known member
It's hard to tell for certain with the pepper plants and the larger tomato, but the tomato plant that is still alive looks like a disease issue.
Everything else in the garden looks too healthy for it to be an excess water issue.
Can you get a close-up of the leaves and stems?
This may help as well if it's easier than taking pics:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/problem-solvers/tomato-problem-solver/leaves/
If it's a disease issue, you may encounter the same problem with replacements since it's now going to be in the soil, and may have been there before you planted. You might hedge your bet by putting a couple plants in containers as well as the ground. If the in-ground replacements become infected, you'll know you can't plant tomatoes, or any other nightshades, (peppers, eggplant, potatoes) in that location for at least several years.
Everything else in the garden looks too healthy for it to be an excess water issue.
Can you get a close-up of the leaves and stems?
This may help as well if it's easier than taking pics:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/problem-solvers/tomato-problem-solver/leaves/
If it's a disease issue, you may encounter the same problem with replacements since it's now going to be in the soil, and may have been there before you planted. You might hedge your bet by putting a couple plants in containers as well as the ground. If the in-ground replacements become infected, you'll know you can't plant tomatoes, or any other nightshades, (peppers, eggplant, potatoes) in that location for at least several years.
skyhightree1
Well-known member
I have to agree with CF to me thats not a rain issue looks like a disease issue.
I'll try to get a close-up if I can, reason why I am hesitant to think it is disease is they were perfectly healthy up until the time where we got dumped on with a stretch of heavy rains including a stretch where we probably got about 6+ inches in less than a week and it was right after that they gradually started to get droopy... The furthest away of the 3 pepper plants is the jalapeno plant and it was so saturated there the plant actually leaned over and I had to put it back upright and pack the soil in around the base. The green beans that yellowed a little look a lot like what happens with water logged soybeans when you had standing water after heavy rain.
This is from a rain that dumped 1.5" inches in under an hour on 6/30 which was probably the last big rain we've had but the affected plants were already starting to look droopy by then. This pool drained away shortly after the rain stopped but just shows how saturated the ground was when it couldn't handle any more rain. There is a low spot in that area that drains down the fence line where it slopes away but where the tomato and pepper plants are at I have never seen standing water as the grade gets higher towards the corner of the lot. Debating about doing some drainage work this fall to create some slight troughs for rain water to drain off the lot better.
This is from a rain that dumped 1.5" inches in under an hour on 6/30 which was probably the last big rain we've had but the affected plants were already starting to look droopy by then. This pool drained away shortly after the rain stopped but just shows how saturated the ground was when it couldn't handle any more rain. There is a low spot in that area that drains down the fence line where it slopes away but where the tomato and pepper plants are at I have never seen standing water as the grade gets higher towards the corner of the lot. Debating about doing some drainage work this fall to create some slight troughs for rain water to drain off the lot better.
CottageFarm
Well-known member
Yeah, I noticed the yellowing on the beans but it's not severe. Peppers and tomatoes will take a surprising amount of water. The fruit can be damaged but the plants will generally survive. The plants will struggle far more from cold soil than too much water.
The tomato that is still alive looks diseased in that pic, but it is too hard to say for certain without a better look at the leaves and stems. There are a number of diseases that will be exacerbated/accelerated by wet leaves, especially if they don't get time to dry out well between rains and conditions are cooler. That may be why it seemed like the rain caused it. If it seemed to come on suddenly, it could well be Early Blight. It's one of the more common tomato problems, and is also one that will accelerate with wet leaf conditions. Alternaria, Powdery Mildew, and Verticillium are also common and seem to accelerate in wet conditions.
The tomato that is still alive looks diseased in that pic, but it is too hard to say for certain without a better look at the leaves and stems. There are a number of diseases that will be exacerbated/accelerated by wet leaves, especially if they don't get time to dry out well between rains and conditions are cooler. That may be why it seemed like the rain caused it. If it seemed to come on suddenly, it could well be Early Blight. It's one of the more common tomato problems, and is also one that will accelerate with wet leaf conditions. Alternaria, Powdery Mildew, and Verticillium are also common and seem to accelerate in wet conditions.
skyhightree1
Well-known member
SPH":3878f7eo said:
Does your home owners association frown upon cattle mooing after 10pm ? :shock: :lol2: just joking with you.
skyhightree1":12j1cvt2 said:
LOL! :lol: Yeah I should explain, my folks live at the farm and I live in town about 30 minutes away so I'm basically a minority owner as I still own a few cows in the herd and am the "hired man" if you want to call it that but I keep pretty involved with our cattle operation. Going out there tonight actually so probably going to have some new cattle pictures to share soon. Actually we don't have a home owner's association in our neighborhood thankfully although I found it funny that the monthly newsletter that comes with the water bill had a survey about owning chickens as they were getting inquiries and did not have a set in stone ordinance about it yet and the next month were the results which was quite a fun read to see all the reactions. The town I live in used to be a small rural town that now is gradually becoming a suburb of Des Moines so it's interesting to see how some of the "big city problems" are gradually starting to make new problems for a community that still has a small town feel to it.
