I don't have television and thus watch news/local stations, but if the internet is sufficient news enough, I assume that many of you heard about the crazy storms/tornadoes in Mississippi and Tennessee. I'm just glad that I don't live in Nashville, I had no idea that so many houses there were in such close proximity to creeks and rivers that could just overtake them like that.
Best to you who live there and have had to endure those storms and I hope that no one else gets hurt.
Now that I feel like I won't have to water for a few weeks (though the forecast seems to predict a couple of showers over the next 10 days) the amount of rain has me worried about fungus, as it will take forever for all this to dry out.
All my vegetables/fruit plants are in raised beds, and though they drain relatively well, I think, my strawberry plants have been quite happy in them... and now I am kicking myself for not having thinned the plants out more (avaricious for strawberries, I have been). The leaves, though off the soil/ground are lush and there's probably less air flow going through than I like and because the leaves are such a great canopy over the soil they're in, they are preventing light to reach beneath and dry things out faster.
Good for when it's drier out, when moisture needs to be conserved, not so good when things need to seriously not be soaking. Well, I'm glad diatomaceous earth is like those gel packets and absorb moisture, maybe I'll just dump it all around and it can soak up a few gallons per bed! (I wish).
After strawberry gathering yesterday I did find fuzzy gray moldy fruit and stems and am now keeping a close eye on the strawberries. Last year it was slugs, this year let it not be mold that takes my strawberries down! Luckily they're everbearing so I get more than one crop, but still... fungus needs to go so I can keep continuous clean crops.
Unfortunately the organic treatment of molds like these is sulfur-copper sprays, which are not reliable compared to their inorganic brethren, and it would be yet another expense to the garden list. *sigh*
Neem is supposedly a fungicide too, don't know if they affect all fungi though and I hate the idea of spraying more liquid on my already damp plants.
Will just have to watch and wait (unless it all goes down hill quickly, then I'll just be annoyed).
Hope that your gardens are doing relatively well despite the ridiculous rains and that mold/fungus (unless it's the good kind) stays away from your plants!
LINKS OF INTEREST (on strawberry molds n'stuff):
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/fruit/htms/btrytris.htm
http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/fruitpathology/organic/strawberry/fruit.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_life#Mycorrhizae
3 comments:
not much of a solution for the soil but the best thing i know is the solution of baking soda and water trick, sprayed on leaves.. and fruit would probably be fine too. Alters the pH on the surface just enough that makes it difficult for a fungi to live... nature has a narrow tolerance range for pH.. worth a try if you're really worried. Luckily around here our storms just cooled us down (from 90 to 80s) and the next one isn't expected till the weekend. Although I have to start spraying my roses, almost lost them last year (it's more the humidity around here than the actual rain in the soil).
Good luck
Anna, I just put up a little more info on the fungus/Na2o3 thing. THanks for your info!
Cripes, my chemistry is pathetic, I mean NaHCO3
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