Too much rain - Will it hurt my tomatoes?

[annafaie]

I'm in the Dallas TX area and we've had rain for at least a week straight and there's more to come! How badly will this affect my new tomato plants? I planted them on April 12. They still look good but with this much rain I'm afraid of disease. My backyard looks like a marsh! What should I be keeping my eye out for and what can I do to head the disease off before it starts? They are all planted in raised beds.

Thanks for your help! Anna

[Haesuse]

the fact that they are in raised beds is a huge bonus, already. I'm having the same trouble with mine. they look absolutely gorgeous, but who knows how many days of rain rain rain, and no sun, they will take before something gets to them...

[James282]

Try to keep the lowest leaves out of the water/soil..as this is where disease is likely to jump up from.

[annafaie]

Thanks!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Anna, prune the the bottom foot of foliage; the tops will take off like a shot and I swear it boosts flower production. Keeps that early blight from climbing your tomato like a ladder. A shot of bone meal helps as calcium is good for disease resistance, but I'll tell you how you keep the fungus off the leaves and feed your plant calcium at the same time. Milk.

You are going to mix it one to ten parts with water. 1%, 2%, whole, skim, or chocolate; it doesn't matter. Yogurt works great too, so does sour cream. Spray your leaves after a rain, any time you get enough dry time.

Now I know you're being polite, because most folks from Texas are lovely people but you are thinking I'm a crazy Yankee. You would be right about the crazy part, but happily, I'm a Red Sox fan. But I digress... there is sound scientific thinking going on here called antagonistic biological counter-culture; we are pitting a very common bacterium Lactobacillus against fungii. Lots of folks like this idea...

http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/21594

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080286406

These guys are using Lactobacillus against fusarium, a common tomato disease...

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T7K-4R53W3Y-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=22ad0d6947c1db4623e10ac0d271683d

Pretty cool for stuff you have in your refrigerator (and even inside your mouth!). Keep those questions coming...

HG

[annafaie]

I would never call you a crazy yankee, bless your heart!

My plants are, maybe, 2 ft each right now...should I still trim the leaves off the bottom foot OR should I wait a few days until they are taller? I trimmed the bottom most leaves yesterday so there's maybe 1/2 ft of stem before the leaves start right now.....

I will spray with milk as soon as the rain is predicted to stop for at least one day. I think it's supposed to rain today and tomorrow and then stop for 2 days. Sigh.... I wish the sun would at least come out in between rain showers but there hasn't been much sun at all.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Just keep taking off bottom leaves at a rate you and the plant feel comfortable with...


And see how polite y'all are; you said you wouldn't call me a crazy Yankee but not a mention on what you are thinking...some northeners would mistake that for a clean bill, but I was stationed down south and know the unspoken part of sentences mean way more below the Mason Dixon...

I was a few weeks into being stationed in Charleston SC back in the day and a lady in a convenience store asked me " how was I finding the South?" (a critical difference in North/South culture right there, that the lady in the convenience store actually conversed and seemed to care how I was; northern convenience store help never cares how you are doing and often can't speak to you due to piercings or a complete lack of English). When I told her that I liked how polite the people were, but occasionally had trouble with the accent, she comes back sweet as pecan pie, "And what accent would that be, yankee?"

I still smile about that twenty five years later...

Try the milk. You are going to be suprised...

HG

HG

[jdelliott317]

Question regarding the milk spray...do I spray it on the leaves, stem or the ground?

[rainbowgardener]

All of the above, especially the leaves, top and underside.