How long do I have to wait to plant after rain?

[kylie77]

I am all set to plant some of my stuff out, did some yesterday. I wanted to continue today, but we had a big rain overnight. Is it a bad idea to go ahead and continue planting today? More rain is expected tonight as well. The weather is nice right now though, a bit of sun through the clowds. I've never heard of people planting in wet soil, but wondered if it was just because it's messy!

[tfoals]

My mother grew up on a farm and is insisting that we "mud'em in". Aparently plants will do ok, but seeds will not. I have no idea myself. Still waiting for a dry spell.

[kylie77]

Hmm, ok. So maybe worth a try? I have a pile of small raspberry plants that aren't planted just sitting in a bucket (was given them yesterday) and I am worried they'll die if I leave them for long. Also my leeks that are planted are doing so much better than the ones that aren't so I want to get them out too.

Good to know I shouldn't plant seeds in these conditions so I'll hold off on those at least.

[James282]

As long as your soil is loose and well drained, planting in rain shouldn't be a problem. You usually want to water after transplanting anyway, so i think planting should be just fine in the conditions you describe. I myself have planted several times in the middle of a downpour and never had any problems...I would expect that something as hardy as a raspberry bush would be okay.

[jal_ut]

Since my soil is quite heavy in clay, the problem I have with planting when the soil is wet: The soil wants to clump together and you can't get any fines to cover the roots or seed. I did put on my boots and go push some onion sets into the mud the first weekend in April. That planting turned out good, they are up and looking good. I usually wait for drier conditions to plant.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Mud 'em in (Mom always knows best)

I hill my veggies and plants so there is never too much moisture; get's those early roots above grade...

HG

[kylie77]

Great! Thanks everyone. My kids are napping so I'm off to get to work! lol

[Gary350]

We are having some crazy weather this spring. We had a whole month of rain then the sun came out and we had some 88 deg weather for a whole week. The dirt was dry enough to till after 3 days of no rain so I planted my whole garden. A week later we had another week of none stop rain. We had 6" of rain Friday and my garden was under water for 2 days. It has rained every day for the past 4 days since Friday and rained today too. My potatoes are up and doing fine I planted them a month ago. The tomatoes and peppers seem to be doing fine too. My corn came up in the rice patty that totally freaks me out I figured I would have to replant. My beans are coming up too. The only thing not coming up is the squash and the herbs I planted from seed.

If your dirt is dry enough to till then it is probably ok to plant but it has not been very warm yet. You really need some warm sunny days for the seeds to sprout. Farmers won't plant until the soil gets warm. If the sun is not warming up your soil then I would not plant.

[Charlie MV]

i guess it really comes down to soil. Ours is sandy and it can almost be tilled in the rain. We can and do plant in the rain.. Last year we over planted and thinned a few weeks later. This year we planted one seed per hole. After everything came up, we had a few missing teeth. We did the fill in planting in a rain storm and they all came in so we're happy.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Tidy up some when things dry out, but it's warmer, and plenty of moisture and not too much sun for new plants. What better time?

HG

[kylie77]

Thanks so much for all the replies! I didn't end up being able to get out today because of a non sleeping baby! lol Will try again tomorrow. Great to know it's not a problem though.