gumbo2176
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Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:01 am
Location: New Orleans

Rain, rain, rain

I have a feeling my tomato plants are going to suffer if we don't stop getting so much rain. A few weeks ago I had to toss out several nice tomatoes due to a lot of rain over a weeks time as they sucked up so much water they split open and bugs had a field day.

I went out to pick some okra this morning and sunk up to my ankles between the rows. Good thing I was barefooted. A simple washing off with the hose took care of me not tracking mud in the house. My tomato plants must have 50 tomatoes the size of baseballs that are turning light orange heading to the ripening stages. Hope I don't lose most of them.

PaulF
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Posts: 910
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:34 pm
Location: Brownville, Ne

Lots of rain here, too. It delayed planting tomatoes here by at least a week and every day there has been rain. So far the plants enjoy the moisture but they will need sun and warmth sooner or later.

erins327
Senior Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:21 am
Location: Houston, TX

Same here.

We got 5" of rain at our house yesterday. And that was just yesterday! We just surpassed the wettest May...ever. I'm pretty sure its rained close to everyday this whole month!

We have a creek in the back of our house that started coming into our backyard. Had about 2-3' of water in the garden before it drained. Pulled the onions and garlic last week immaturely just because I was afraid they were going to rot.

I hope I can keep the tomatoes from any fungal issues! Only time will tell!

gumbo2176
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Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:01 am
Location: New Orleans

Fungal issues are a given here in S.E. Louisiana with all the humidity we have. I've not had a tomato plant last longer than mid July in years. Between the heat and some fungal issues, they are ready to come out of the ground by then and I don't plant new ones until late August/early September and hope they can survive that months heat.

gumbo2176
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Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:01 am
Location: New Orleans

It's raining again today, now as a matter of fact. I picked 6 tomatoes and had to toss 3 that were split on the bottom and had bugs in them having a field day. My cukes are easy to get to and I picked another 9 today. I have 2 varieties, one for pickling and one for slicing. I put up 5 quarts of pickles just a little while ago from what I've picked the past 3 days.

I wish some of this rain was in California where they are having a tough time with little to no water in reserve. Funny how that works out. We're getting way too much and other parts of the country are dry as a bone.

Susan W
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Posts: 1858
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:46 pm
Location: Memphis, TN

Gumbo, we're getting some of the leftover moisture in this long weather pattern. 400 miles up river (Mississippi), still another week out predicting daily chance and scattered showers. I don't want to complain too much as next we could get days and weeks of no rain!

gumbo2176
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Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:01 am
Location: New Orleans

I don't know how much more the ground can take. It poured for over an hour earlier today and the streets in my area all flooded with many cars getting water in them that were parked along the curbs.

My garden looks like a swamp with my mulching material floating between the rows that are barely visible. Looks like more tomatoes will be heading to the compost pile straight off the plants from splitting open. Such is life.

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Gary350
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Posts: 7396
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

The Rain State Tennessee typically gets 300 days of rain every year in Middle Tennessee Nashville area is not getting the flooding we typically get. We have had a lot of daily small sprinkles and small rains but no flooding. In the past my garden has been under 6" of water for sometimes 3 days but not this year. It is raining today but its just a slow easy rain.



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