By Bob Westerfield
University of Georgia
At this point in the year, gardeners are usually more concerned
with keeping plants alive and vegetables bearing due to the lack
of water. This year is different. For the most part, we’ve had
too much rain and wind. Many plants are showing signs of stress.
Disease is always an issue when moisture is abundant and plants
don’t have time to dry out.
Many ornamentals, particularly annuals and tender perennials,
have suffered from leaf spots and root rot. If annuals weren’t
planted on raised beds, there’s a good chance you may have
already lost them. The pale, yellow color you see in many of your
plants is a result of wet roots and leached-out nitrogen in the
soil.
Light applications of fertilizer will sometimes help perk up
annuals if the rainfall levels off.
Leaf spots and other fungal diseases can be controlled through
sanitation and the occasional use of fungicides. Picking off
infected leaves and removing heavily diseased plants will help
curtail the problem.
When you need to irrigate, water only at night or early morning
(before 9 a.m.) to allow plants time to dry off during the day.
This will help with disease management.
Wind, too
Some plants and vegetables have been affected by the strong winds
along with the wet soils. Many plants are leaning over. As long
as the root system hasn’t detached, you can gently stand the
plants back up by hand and lightly step on the opposite side of
the plant root ball.
In some cases, it may be necessary to use a temporary staking
system and guy wires to encourage a plant to grow back in the
right direction. Be careful when using wires. Protect the plant
with some form of a rubber collar, such as an old water hose.
You can stand small plants back up with the help of a single
stake or even tomato cages. Corn that has blown over will often
stand up itself in a few days and still produce decent ears.
The vegetable garden will also need attention with all the rain
we have had. The weed population seems to love the wet conditions
and most likely is thriving in your garden. Control weeds through
light tilling and hand pulling. Weeds pull nutrients from the
soil and will stunt vegetable plants if left unchecked.
Timely harvest
Harvest vegetables as soon as they’re ripe. Leaving them on the
plant too long will attract disease and insects and may cause a
plant to stop bearing.
Remove vegetable plants as they finish producing and add them to
the compost pile. Tomatoes may look pretty bad now but can keep
producing if you’ll harvest regularly. Prune off diseased foliage
to encourage new growth.
Many tomatoes are showing growth cracks near the top of the fruit
as a result of all the rain. While it may not look pretty, these
tomatoes are still perfectly fine to eat.
To avoid a buildup of disease or insects, remove determinate
tomato varieties, or those that put out one or two big harvests
and then stop bearing, as soon as production stops.
It seems hard to ever hit a summer that has the right amount of
rainfall. We either get too little or all of it at once. By
paying closer attention to our landscapes and gardens during
times of stressful conditions, though, we can help our plants
survive and thrive.
(Bob Westerfield is the Cooperative Extension state consumer
horticulturist with the University of Georgia College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
