January 5, 2016

A New Problem in the Garden

I've never had this happen before.

A soggy, overgrown radish plant. I chop these and feed to the goats.

This poor plant shows the classic symptoms of being water-logged:
  • drooping, wilting, twisting, yellowing leaves 
  • soft sponginess at the base of the leaf
  • rotting roots

Considering that we've gotten 24" of rain in the past three months with no time to dry out, I suppose it isn't a surprise. And this is in the upper part of the garden where the drainage is good. Our last rain was six days ago and I hoped the affected plants would perk up. Alas, they did not.

It's been sunnier for the past few days but colder. More rain is expected by the end of the week. Some things you just have to take as they come.

26 comments:

Sarah said...

Wow! That is a lot of rain. Have you considered starting an ark? Hope things dry out soon!

Dawn said...

Its like living on a soggy sponge here to, yet more to come I was thinking of an ark :-)

Leigh said...

At least it wasn't snow!

Leigh said...

It just isn't warm enough to dry out quickly.

Mom at home said...

We have had 12 inches in 3 days this month. It is finally getting cold and the ground is hard. The good thing about all this rain is a pretty spring. I am counting down to spring this year.

Theresa said...

Nope, we got the snow! ;-)

Ed said...

During my foray into your state recently, it rained on us the entire time. But at least it was warm so I didn't complain too much.

Farmer Barb said...

Wow. The danger with all that wet is fungal growth. Like damping off in seedlings. I wouldn't know. It was five here this morning. I guess winter is here after all!

DFW said...

Hope you dry out for spring time planting which is only 81 days away! Feast or famine huh?

Anonymous said...

RIP to the radish plant, but at least it went to a good home....lol! ;)

Leigh said...

We actually have spring flowers thinking it's time to bloom. Now we've got winter temperatures so I'm guessing they'll all freeze. I wonder what will happen when spring arrives.

Mama Pea said...

And we in northern Minnesota have the ICE!

Leigh said...

I think you got everybody's snow!

1st Man said...

We feel your pain. We had our wettest year I can ever remember. We went two months last spring with rain almost every day. I haven't heard the totals but I'm sure it was a record. Now we've had rain fairly consistently and like you, the overcast days and cold temps at night are not letting it evaporate. It's just muddy and yucky. And DFW...81 days? Holy cow, I have got some planning to do, ha!

I was looking at our grass and thought "I might just need to mow!". In january! Go figure. Anyway, not sure what the plants will think again in a few months.

Hang in there!

Leigh said...

Ed, we really did enjoy warm weather until two days ago. Now it's cold, adding ice duty to the chore list. I dump hot water into the critters' buckets which seems to keep them from freezing again until the day has warmed a bit. Glad your trip had the better temperatures.

Leigh said...

Yeah, that's a concern, and makes me all the happier for the hoop house. :)

Leigh said...

She's on the countdown! LOL. I feel like winter is just finally beginning and wonder if spring will be delayed as well. But who knows???

Pam, yes any critter's tummy is a good home for critter food. :)

Leigh said...

I mentioned earlier about the daffodils and probably have fruit trees budding, which will mean no fruit this year! What a challenging year ahead for us all.

Robin Follette said...

I've covered rows with low tunnels to help keep the soil drier and the plants warmer. It might be too late now but it's an idea for later.

Leigh said...

Robin, yes, everything growing in our hoop house has fared much better, and we will add a few more in the future. For field crops, though, that would be a lot of tunnels. :)

Henny Penny said...

We could be neighbors! Sounds just like our weather. It is terribly cold and everything frozen this morning but supposed to warm up later with a chance of rain, again.

Chris said...

It's interesting how weather patterns are changing. We are getting the most consistent rains we've ever had between Spring and Summer, however they're only small amounts, so it doesn't sink beyond an inch down.

So when the sun and heat do come out, we end up with blossom end rot. I've got a lot of plants growing, but only a handful of fruit maturing. Out of the three pumpkin vines I have growing in different areas, I've only got four fruit which have gone on to develop. It was the same story for the cucumbers and squash.

I'm assuming the rains you are receiving, part of that should have been snow, but the temps haven't dropped for that. If the ground froze, your parsnips would have survived, albeit, growing a lot slower.

Rain is the life giver to the garden, but there has to be a balance with other elements and that's not happening. I need less heat to go with that consistent rain we've been having (to avoid blossom end rot) and you need more cold to turn the rain into snow. Therefore leaving moisture on the surface of the soil, instead of drenching it underneath.

Interesting times.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi! Too much rain is not a good thing. We have gotten some but so far our area has been quite lucky weather wise. Hope it continues! Nancy

Leigh said...

I feel fortunate we haven't had a lot of cold (yet). Otherwise all that rain would have made a lot of snow.

Leigh said...

Indeed. And it is so unpredictable. In mild winters I can harvest quite a bit all winter. In cold winters, everything goes dormant. Makes me glad to have the hoop house this year.

Leigh said...

But I suppose too much rain is better than not enough! Nancy, I hope you continue to remain lucky in your weather too.