planting out this weekend N Dallas

[My Foot Smells]

hopefully they will survive this big storm. had some 70 mph straight line winds rip up a bunch of stuff and it is raining cats and dogs; likely to continue for next 5 days.

had friend in dallas say there was a tornado down there. storm is rather violent....

[OzoneNY]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

hopefully they will survive this big storm. had some 70 mph straight line winds rip up a bunch of stuff and it is raining cats and dogs; likely to continue for next 5 days.

had friend in dallas say there was a tornado down there. storm is rather violent....

I covered mine and glad I did. High winds yesterday and we had small amount of hail, enough to at least damage all the plants if not kill a few.
The cover worked. No damage (whew)

[framer]

Here in northeast Louisiana (zone 8A) we need to teach our plants to swim. Looks like we will get about 5 inches per day starting yesterday & continue thru Friday. Lots of flooding.

[Worth1]

Rain water from thunder storms contain natural nitrogen without all of the other nasty stuff.
Not only that it is flushing out the calcium my raised beds have accumulated for the last year.
Things should explode when the sun comes out.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

One of the advantages/purposes of raised bed is to cope with excess rain water. That was the MAIN reason I plant everything in raised beds.

Another way to cope with too much rain is to cover tha beds with black plastic, sloped so that rain water runs. Then if too much heat is a concern, cover it with some kind of mulch (hay, straw, pine nuggets )
Here is what I do starting 2 months prior to plant out.

When I want to plant out I will cut a small (+) shape and plant, keepin the bed covered till mid july.

[pauldavid]

Originally Posted by framer

Here in northeast Louisiana (zone 8A) we need to teach our plants to swim. Looks like we will get about 5 inches per day starting yesterday & continue thru Friday. Lots of flooding.

Hey Framer! We are swimming up here too. Stay safe!

[charley]

Well we had a bad couple of stoms move threw the lasy couple days .i only lost one plant but its the one i wanted to try the most Cherokee lime stripes

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by charley

Well we had a bad couple of stoms move threw the lasy couple days .i only lost one plant but its the one i wanted to try the most Cherokee lime stripes

It isn't lost put a stick next to it prop it back up and pile dirt around it.\Or just pile dirt on it where it sits it will take root and continue to grow.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

I would put a pile of soil as far up as possible. It will grow roots beyond the broken point..

When I plant , initially tie them to a pencil thick bamboo to keep the plant's balance. The main stake goes in the ground bit later.

Gardeneer.

[charley]

thats a great idea thanks alot both of you.i knew there had to be a way to save her

[Worth1]

Keep the soil moist and she will be fine.
Looks like a victim of the dreaded oscillating tomato in the wind they start going round and round till they snap off.

[charley]

thats what i think happened worth .but just in case ive been looking for caterpillars.how did your plants do in the storms?ive ben thinking about ya your plants are much bigger than mine

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by charley

thats what i think happened worth .but just in case ive been looking for caterpillars.how did your plants do in the storms?ive ben thinking about ya your plants are much bigger than mine

They came through unscathed.
Today a bird plucked at a leaf or two out of boredom or maybe it saw a bug.

Worth

[charley]

All my plants drowned and have dirt all over the leafs so i pruned the lower leafs washed off the dirt on the top leafs the best i could and now alfalfa to keep it the water from splashing back on them.half way there.what else can i do ?im afraid that they will break out with blight with all the dirt that got on them