Underwater Tomato Plants

[pete]

Saturday MN blessed? me with 5" of rain in 90 minutes. Living next to a creek is great for gardening but...

So a few of my plants were completely underwater for about 45 minutes, the raised bed plants were fine.

Oh Yeah, my firewood for next winter is on its way to the gulf. Even big heavy logs float.

All the plants seem ok now, what a mess.

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Pete

[kath]

Wow-sorry about your deluge, Pete. Hope your tomatoes don't suffer as a result. Losing all that firewood is the worst! Had you chopped it all yourself?

[pete]

I only lost about 3/4 of a cord and it was not split yet.
I really lucked out that we were home to move our horses and giant turtles to higher ground. I can always cut more wood-where the ibuprofen for my back???

DO NOT MESS WITH MOTHER NATURE

Pete

[carolyn137]

Pete, 45 min should not be a problem at all.

I had two low spots in the field where I used to grow my tomatoes and from time to time after a rain deluge the plants in those areas were under water for several days. I'd try to dig trenches to drain it off but that wasn't always successful.

I'ts just awful watching the leaves turn yellow and then brown and then the plants would die. It happens b'c of waterlogged soil and the inability of the plants to take up oxygen and nutrients through the roots.

But there were always some varieties that did better than others and I suppose that it's b'c their water transport systems were different. And we know that can happen in terms of susceptibility to BER.

[OkieJason]

Thought id chime in and ask a question, we just had over 9 inches in less than 12 hours! Oklahoma has some radical weather for sure but this year so far 3 to 4 inch hail storm and now 9 inches of rain in less than a day. Kinda over the top.

I'm glad you and your family are ok though Pete. If I lived closer id sure help you split some new wood. My old maul needs a good workout.

Dr. Carolyn, please tell me how long under water can the tomatoes take it? Please tell me in your experience some varieties that tended to handle the swamp better? Thank you so much!

Jason

[pete]

9" of rain!! Man, I don't know how you deal with that, 4" hail--oooch!

Yes, I'm glad the plants can tolerate some underwater time.

I must admit, .. I bought a HYDROLIC wood splitter last fall, makes it pretty easy, but noisy.

Yes, all is OK Hank, Tank, Franklin, Darth Vader, and Nelson are OK

Pete

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by OkieJason

Thought id chime in and ask a question, we just had over 9 inches in less than 12 hours! Oklahoma has some radical weather for sure but this year so far 3 to 4 inch hail storm and now 9 inches of rain in less than a day. Kinda over the top.

I'm glad you and your family are ok though Pete. If I lived closer id sure help you split some new wood. My old maul needs a good workout.

Dr. Carolyn, please tell me how long under water can the tomatoes take it? Please tell me in your experience some varieties that tended to handle the swamp better? Thank you so much!

Jason

Jason, I've had them be under water for 2-3 days and there actually were a few that lived but were set way back. But no way can I remember the varieties that made it through that ordeal. Sorry.

[stormymater]

Pete - tell us Hank the Tank is safe & sound!!!! (still am yearning for a relative to cruise my yard of raised beds & buckets)

[OkieJason]

Pete, I'm on high ground so I am lucky. Some folks had 3 ft of water in their houses! Glad your pets are ok, do you have one named "Hank the tank" or one hank and one Tank?

Dr. Carolyn, Thanks for reply ....not like you have grown 2,000 plus varieties! I'm amazed that you rember the ones you do! I enjoyed you earlier post on recommendations for a new heirloom grower. I will defiantly add many of them to the grow list for next year. How many of each plant do you recommend to get a true representation for that variety?

[BlackThumb]

How are you and your tomatoes doing now? Part of the greater Cincinnati area just got a lot more rain and is under a flash flood warning. Hope you and your toms are okay Pete.

[carolyn137]

How many of each plant do you recommend to get a true representation for that variety?

***

When I was growing so many varieties each season I grew, usually, two plants/variety, sometimes more depending on the variety, but now that I can't raise my own plants or do much seed saving myself and have to grow stuff here at home in Gro-bags and containers I grown only one plant of each variety.

But there are others to whom I send the same seeds for plants for seed production, so there are at least two plants somewhere.

To be more precise, this year Craig in Raleigh raised all my plants and shipped them up and he's also doing seed production for three of them. Lee and Shoe in NC are doing seed production for some of them as is Melody in KY.

It's asking a lot of others to help me out so going forward now I don't know what's going to happen from year to year.

Finally, if I get a variety that doesn't perform well the first year I always give it a second chance b'c no one can predict what any given season is going to be like.

[pete]

All ok here, another 1.5" of unwanted rain. Water storage at 2000 gallons, now I am ready for a drought or extended dry spell!!!!

The toms seem unaffected.

Pete

[OkieJason]

Dr.Carolyn, thank you for the reply. I will give all the plants that I'm interested in a 2 year trial.

Pete! More rain! I'm glad your plants seem being doing ok. I think mine are going to die. out of 72 plants....... I think maybe 3 will make it. I guess 11.26 inch in 24hrs will do that to them. All that work!!!!! . Fall garden maybe??

[Red Dirt Farmer]

I've had some success with poking holes around the root zone with a root feeder and removing the mulch. Of course if it rains soon after, the plants will be toast. If they are going to die anyway, it's worth a try. Success depends on how heavy your garden soil is and the post flooding weather.
Ken

[OkieJason]

Thank you Ken! I don't know what a root feeder is but poking holes around the root zone and removing mulch I understand. Soil is kinda heavy but like you say if they are toast any way it cant hurt much. We scheduled for clear sky for the next 6 days with a 20% chance of rain today so I am off to poke holes! If holes fill up with water right after I poke them I'll take this as a sign of to heavy a soil. Thanks again.

Jason

Edit: all mulch removed and holes poked all around the root zone. It's hot out there! lol Thanks again for the tip Ken.