Weather question.

[kentishgal]

Given that last month (and it sounds like this month too) was very grey and wet what sort of effect will this have on anything trying to grow in the veggie patch/etc?
Its my first year growing anything so I really dont know what to expect!! I mean my strawberries are flowering well, the fruit bushes look a little weedy (do they spring to life later or just not grow much their first year??), also got some little seedlings (salad crops, beetroot, spinach, plus brassicas) coming up but Im not sure what I should expect....
The only thing that seems really happy in the garden is the slugs!!

[donnakebab]

All you can do is wait and see really.

Cover your strawberries though if there is frost forecast in your area this weekend. Mine are quite bushy now but this is their second year and they have lots of flowers on so I'll be putting some fleece over them tomorrow.

[Thelma Sanders]

Things usually catch up when we have some warm/sunny weather. If we don't get any of that - I don't know what'll happen............................we're all doomed

[Kaiya]

I think we're all just waiting and seeing. I think the plants most likely to be affected are newly sown seeds and potatoes (may rot or get washed away), fruit in full blossom (may get blown off or be finished by the time the pollinators come back) and newly planted seedlings (may get flooded as they aren't well rooted yet). Anything that is big enough to hold it's head above the water I would expect to generally survive.

Slugs drown too, so it may not be all bad. If you see a load out though, dispose of them! The small black and snot coloured ones are the naughty ones, the big black or brown/orange ones are less interested in plants.

I only have fruit bushes, very damp and offended asparagus (only just rearing it's head again after getting frosted last month), potatoes and the carrot/parsnip/celeriac/fennel/spring onion bed sown, and some overwintering shallots, onions and garlic. The potatoes seem ok - about a 1/3 are just showing their heads, the asparagus is in it's first year anyway so it has to sort itself out, the fruit bushes and overwintering aliums don't seem to care (I believe the aliums are in their water hungry phase so should be fairly happy-ish), and the root/spring onion bed is a puddle - I will probably have to re-sow the celeriac and fennel as that's the flooded end, which is ok. Everything else is in modules at home waiting to go out, and it will all continue to wait until the water level drops (clay soil is horrible when wet), the wind drops (my leggy brassicas don't want to be blown around) and there is at least occasional sun.

This weather has drove it home to me that I need to mulch a lot and raise those beds up - and never ever walk on them.

[kentishgal]

Well, I think I am better off then some people then! My gardening attempts are limited to raised beds at the mo and containers so I dont have a drainage problem. Add to that the fact that my garden is flat but on a slope meaning that 2 sides are built up several feet, turning the whole thing into a giant raised bed!!LOL
I might move the strawberry pots into the empty blowaway this weekend though, just to be safe...

[Kleftiwallah]

"When the wind doth blow and the rain doth flow, the plants stay below". Just thought of that one.
Could become a classic ? ? ?

Cheers, Tony.

[pauco]

"When the wind doth blow and the rain doth flow, the plants stay below". Just thought of that one.
Could become a classic ? ? ?

Cheers, Tony.

Nice one Tony, & Ooooh so true



paul.