How Much Rain Is Too Much Rain?
Cycling buddy George asks a great question about the amount of rain my Palm Beach Gardens raised vegetable garden has been getting lately.
I know the weather has sucked for cycling lately. But I’ve been looking on your blog for news on how it’s been treating your garden. Are the tomatoes bursting from too much water, or flooded out and drowning? Has all this wet crap helped or hurt things?
Usually, Not Enough Watering
I’m lousy when it comes to watering.
Previously, whenever it has rained, my raised vegetable garden has exploded with new growth and record vegetable production. That makes me think the plants were not getting enough water. In fact, I’m pretty sure I killed three of the four varieties of tomatoes I planted thanks to my lack of watering.
My Vegetables Are Getting Too Much Water
This last batch of rain (a foot in the last week?), however, has been bad for the garden.
The raised vegetable garden planters have turned into swimming pools. Normally, thanks to the specialized weed control cloth under the beds, the raised vegetable garden drains slow enough to hydrate the plants but quick enough that they don’t get root rot. However, the beds can only drain water so quickly when it is coming down at more than an inch an hour.
Causalities of Rain
I lost several cucumbers to mold and rot. My cucumber and watermelon vines are turning yellow. My Sun Sugar tomato plant — a steady producer since day one with always several tomatoes on the vine — is empty and looking pretty sad. (Part of that could be we’re getting near the end of growing season but, mostly, I think it is too much water and a good beating.)
Mulberries Trees Lose Their Fruit
The torrential downpours we have seen in Palm Beach County have also desecrated my mulberry trees. It used to be I could go outside and pick a gallon or more a week of ripe, black mulberries. The trees are now bare. All the ripe fruit has been washed off the trees. It’ll be a week or more before I have another crop.
Ask the Farmer
If you have any questions about my garden or gardening in South Florida, comment below or contact me directly: farmer (at) watchmyfoodgrow.com. No correct answered guaranteed but I do read my garden email.
—Farmer Matt
Have you been playing Johnny Cash singing, "How High's the Water, Momma?"
Could you build some sort of tarp system to go over the top of it to direct the rain elsewhere? Seems like you could build it in such a way to be able to install/remove it easily.
Oh no!! I'm sorry the rain is getting you!
When I kept my plants in pots, I would line the bottom with about 2-4 inches of river rock for drainage, then mix in lots of extra perlite (the little white thingies in potting soil) to keep the soil from holding water for too long. I don't know if it would work in a raised bed though!
PS- I lost my login again…
I wonder if it would help if you drilled some holes in the sides of the bed toward the bottom. They would act like spillways if the water level started rising.
I guess I could do a few things to make it drain better. The reason I didn't was because Florida was in a drought and I didn't want to lose any moisture from the soil. I didn't expect a solid week of continuous rain.
Holes right above the soil line sound like a good idea. That way the plants wouldn't be under water and excess rain could spill out before it had a chance to really sink into the beds.
Maybe next year.
–Farmer Matt
Hey i really like your blog! I found it while doing a search for Victory Gardens posters from WWII. I started my Urban Garden Project in '05 in Winston-Salem NC. I "repurposed" the lot adjoining my woodworking shop and converted it into an organic garden that produces so much food that I am now selling excess at the local farmers market. I also considered a "garden cam" because "marauders" were pilfering my garden, but settled on a fence instead. I'm curious to know what type of camera you used, and how you stream the view. It was dark when I looked, but I'll be back.
Just bookmarked your page…check out my recent slideshow of veggies [June15] I will update it soon
Great blog…I think I'm going to use one of your poster pics in my next article
thanks,
Phil
Hey i really like your blog! I found it while doing a search for Victory Gardens posters from WWII. I started my Urban Garden Project in '05 in Winston-Salem NC. I "repurposed" the lot adjoining my woodworking shop and converted it into an organic garden that produces so much food that I am now selling excess at the local farmers market. I also considered a "garden cam" because "marauders" were pilfering my garden, but settled on a fence instead. I'm curious to know what type of camera you used, and how you stream the view. It was dark when I looked, but I'll be back.
Being a garden art lover, I enjoyed going your blog. Keep it up the good work.