can plants drown?

[ckfe]

it's been hammering it down for almost a week now and i was wondering if all the rain can drown my plants or damage them some way?

i'm thinking specifically of my potatoes in containers and tomato and pepper plants.. everything is very well established and i know water is good for them but surely there's got to be a limit??!!!

[zazen999]

Yes they can; 2 summers ago many potato farmers lost their whole crop as when they picked the spuds they exploded in their hands.

[Incy]

2 summers ago my poor OH could be found dragging grow bags to higher ground to try and save the poor tomato plants. Sadly they then succumbed to blight
We now have raised beds to help with drainage but.......I have my doubts as to whether even that will be enough with the volumes of rain we've been having.

[ckfe]

Yes they can; 2 summers ago many potato farmers lost their whole crop as when they picked the spuds they exploded in their hands.

that's not good, might have to see if i can find something to cover them with

[Incy]

If they are in pots with good drainage they should do better than if they were in the ground.

[ckfe]

If they are in pots with good drainage they should do better than if they were in the ground.

i might go and have a rummage in the spuds tomorrow to see if they're ready.. they've been in for about 15 weeks and the foliage has gone all skinny and floppy.. does that mean they're done?

[Incy]

I have harvested some of mine in pots. Got 1.5 kilos from one pot 2 days ago
Are the leaves yellowing? If so then chances are they're done.

[ckfe]

I have harvested some of mine in pots. Got 1.5 kilos from one pot 2 days ago
Are the leaves yellowing? If so then chances are they're done.

not sure if they're yellowing or not, it's too wet to go out and look!!!

they were yellowing at the bottom the other day but i just thought that was cos they weren't getting any sunlight.. did the foliage on yours start disappearing?

[Incy]

did the foliage on yours start disappearing?

That would be the slugs and snails dining out on it. They loved eating my potatoe leaves but the benefit is it seems to have helped keep the numbers down a bit on the other veg

[ckfe]

That would be the slugs and snails dining out on it. They loved eating my potatoe leaves but the benefit is it seems to have helped keep the numbers down a bit on the other veg

they're not being eaten, just shrinking before my eyes.. the stems used to be about an inch in diameter and now they're about a third of an inch

[kevnsue]

Our second earlies are being washed out of the ground and are going green.

[Incy]

they're not being eaten, just shrinking before my eyes.. the stems used to be about an inch in diameter and now they're about a third of an inch

Sounds like they're ready then although I am not an expert on spuds so experienced spud growers, please feel free to contradict me.

Our second earlies are being washed out of the ground and are going green.

Sorry to hear that kevnsue. You must be gutted

[SueA]

If you've got veg. in containers or growbags & they look like they're drowning take a large screwdriver or similar & punch a few more holes around the bottom of them about an inch up to let the excess water out.
If your potato haulms are skinny & keeling over I'd lift the potatoes as they're probably not going to get any bigger now as they need the foliage to feed them.

[SlugLobber]

I had some spuds in one of those large buckets last year (no holes in the bottom). I had to dig them up as they were swimming with all the rain. This year I've had some pansies give up and they were in the ground!

[SarzWix]

I've found that my potatoes in containers still need to be watered, even with all this rain! It hits the foliage and runs off and doesn't even make it into the container!