Darn the torpedos!! Planting in the rain

[navajo]

Hello all!

I am sure a lot of you are in the same boat (we NEED one!) as me here in Northern VA. Non stop rain!

My tomato and pepper plants that I started from seed are way too big for their pots currently so I really need to get them in the ground. However, the weather service is calling for thunder storms for the forseeable future (at least through Wednesday).

My question is, will it actually hurt anything to transplant them into the garden between rain? They will be going into holes I prepped in late winter by digging about 1.5' down into red clay and ammending with peat, compost, rabbit manure, vermiculite, and a bit of lime (if that matters). They will also be mulched with old straw.

I don't have any bigger containers to up pot into and they are WAY too big for the cut off milk cartons they are in.

I am planning on setting them out and going ahead and sowing the rest of the garden crops this weekend if possible since it is getting pretty late in the year and I am strapped for time.

As always, thanks for any input!

Tom

[hit or miss]

Git er done! I'd plant anytime I could if I were you.

[navajo]

Git er done! I'd plant anytime I could if I were you.

Yeah, I got to thinking that if I had planted them last weekend like I should have, they'd be getting hit with this weather anyway. After all, the raddishes, lettuce, kohlrabi, etc are doing fine out there.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Tom

[navajo]

Well, for better or worse, the tomatoes and peppers are in. It's been heavy fog and light rain here for the past 3 days or so but the temps are in the 70's during the day and high 50's at night. The looked very sad but dark green and very healthy. Wish me luck!

At least I got them hardened off last week during the pretty weather. I didn't plant any seeds today though as the beds are pretty gloppy (scientific term! HA!) maybe tomorrow if the heavy rain holds off.

[wordwiz]

Navajo,

It's water over the levee at this point but I'll work clay only when it is dry or there is absolutely no other choice. It tends to get rock hard but if your holes are filled with a mix, that may not be a concern.

When I was a kid we use to reset tobacco plants - plants that did not survive transplanting or when we missed a plant. Our favorite way was in-season - that is when the ground was wet. Used an Army Pick to make the hole and stuck the plant in. Fortunately, the ground was not clay.

Mike

[navajo]

Navajo,

It's water over the levee at this point but I'll work clay only when it is dry or there is absolutely no other choice. It tends to get rock hard but if your holes are filled with a mix, that may not be a concern.

When I was a kid we use to reset tobacco plants - plants that did not survive transplanting or when we missed a plant. Our favorite way was in-season - that is when the ground was wet. Used an Army Pick to make the hole and stuck the plant in. Fortunately, the ground was not clay.

Mike

Hey Mike, I hear you. I don't like playing in the wet clay either and you're right about it setting up like concrete when it dries

I am hoping that since I dug the holes long ago and heavily ammended that it will work. I dug the mix out of the holes by hand today to set the plants and it was pretty nice looking. Not slimey like clay. My only real concern is them acting like a bowl and holding water too long but I dug them a lot deeper than needed originally so hope that won't happen. But I pretty much HAD to get them in the ground this weekend because they were SO BIG they were laying over the sides of the milk jugs and I have nothing bigger to up pot to to wait for another week. Planted 25 tomato plants and a dozen or so peppers. Got a little carried away this year!

Ah well, gardening is lots of experiementation for me up here trying to find what works best.

Thanks for the input.

Tom