Discouraged by rain and cool weather

[pepper4]

Is anyone else getting discouraged with all this rain and cool weather My plants look relatively healthy but it seems as though some has shown little growth and some are showing a tint of yellow. We have had quite a bit of rain and considerably cool weather with little sunshine or time to dry up some. I don't want to loose them but I don't know what to do to Is there anything that can be done to aid them until drier-warmer temps come?

[!potatoes!]

my town had all-time record rainfall in may, after a fairly wet april...after a two-and-a-half-year drought....it all evens out...have patience, it's only just june.

[applestar]

My carefully planned succession planting is not working. Some cool weather crops are still hanging on -- going strong, even -- leaving warm weathers stranded in their pots. Eggplants are yellowed and droopy, though peppers are looking good with some flower buds. Cukes are lighter in color than I like but the ones I did manage to find places for are starting to bloom. Some of the broccoli and cauliflower have fantastic looking leaves but have not headed. As of this weekend, the forecast is going to be 80's/60's. I'm ready to give up on them and just eat the leaves like collards....

A good thing about having become caught up in concepts of Edible Landscaping and Permaculture since last year is that I'm no longer fettered by the pre-conception that edibles HAVE to be planted in the VEG garden. So I've been popping a sweet pepper plant here, an eggplant there. Since I don't use chemicals ANYWHERE in my garden, and haven't for over 10 years, only toxics I have to worry about come from the neighbors and I can plant where I want. I'm starting some summer squash on trellis along the SW wall of the Family Room to help cool down that side of the house, and I'm eye-ing up yet another section of the back lawn that I could sheet mulch....

So take heart! If you can't plant, PLAN!

[cynthia_h]

I won't bore you with details about *our* weird weather this year. Suffice it to say that I had to water my plants in January !!! to keep them alive, much less thriving. January is usually very rainy, but we hit the 90s then...and again in early April. 97 degrees early April (yes, before Easter). My roses never did go dormant for major pruning...Then it rained just last night, when rain has usually stopped by the end of April at the very latest.

So it's just been weird. My tomatillo is just sitting there, waiting for the heat, along with my tomatoes. The remnants of my chard, however, are quite happy...

My carefully planned succession planting ...Some of the broccoli and cauliflower have fantastic looking leaves but have not headed. I'm ready to give up on them and just eat the leaves like collards....

I didn't want to allocate *any* of my precious 96 square feet to things like broccoli, which head only once, until...my girlfriend said, "You know, you can eat the leaves, too." Duh...

So I applied the "one-third" rule and harvested broccoli romanesco ("fractal" broccoli) leaves along with kale, rapini, chard, spinach, and komatsuna last fall/winter and treated them like the others.

OMG. They were soooooo good.

So go ahead and cut those broccoli leaves off, close to the stem, using the one-third rule.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[applestar]

Cynthia, do you know if it's OK to take the younger, more tender, and unblemished leaves as opposed to the older ones further down -- with slug and cabbage butterfly caterpillar holes? I'd jump up and go out and get some NOW, if I hadn't just eaten a bowlful of cooked greens AND if it hadn't rained a short while ago, making the post-sunset dusk perilous with mosquito hordes.

[Gary350]

I have had the same problem 3 months of rain almost every day. Finally last week the sun came out and the plants shot up like a rocket. I guess the plants were just setting there waiting for sun. Feed your plants some 15/15/15 and an equal serving of nitrogen too while you want for sun. Don't give up yet.

[BrianSkilton]

yeah the weather can be a bit nasty this time of year. Last night I had temps dip to 40 degree's even and a dew point of 34 degree's. Covered the plants just in case. We got temps in the 80's on Thursday and Friday then back to the 60's again for a few days, ugh so inconsistent.

applestar, keep me posted on how your squash is doing. I have layed some landscape fabric in the back of our acre and stretched it all across the back...right now I have 9 different varieties of squash growing (Kuri, carnival, fairy tale, pumpkin, summer squashes etc). I wasn't using the space so I thought why not. Also have some melon plants back their

[cynthia_h]

Well, don't tell DH, but I *did* harvest some large, older broccoli leaves--the ones toward the bottom of the stalk. (After all, new leaves will become old leaves in a week or two...) And...there were occasionally...hmmmm... "flaws in the structural integrity" of said leaves.

I didn't scrutinize those flaws for source(s), but did use a paring knife to trim away the margins *and* soaked them in warm water for a while to lift out any sand or other material from the pores of the leaves.

Cynthia

[brownsfan62]

Is anyone else getting discouraged with all this rain and cool weather My plants look relatively healthy but it seems as though some has shown little growth and some are showing a tint of yellow. We have had quite a bit of rain and considerably cool weather with little sunshine or time to dry up some. I don't want to loose them but I don't know what to do to Is there anything that can be done to aid them until drier-warmer temps come?

I hear you about this weather--it stinks! My peas and lettuce are very happy, though. Rumor has it that the temperatures around here are supposed to hit the 80's next week, though, so help is on the way!

I know my peppers will be happy.