Tons of rain in NJ

[madskye]

It has rained (poured) almost every day for the last three weeks here in NJ. Very little sunshine.

We put our garden in kind of late (Memorial Day) but it looks ok--I have some peppers sprouting. The tomato plants aren't too yellowy. My lettuces and cukes do look yellow. I just put some seeds in last week and have carrots, kale, brussel sprouts, radishes and beans coming up.

Is there anything I should do with all this rain that could help? If it doesn't stop soon do you think my tomatos are doomed? (Or will they grow bionically once the sun comes back?)

Mostly just curious if anyone has had experience with gardening in this much rain--I love our veggies and want them to flourish.

[Owen'nZoe]

We had catastrophic flooding through June last year, so I was in the same boat. (Har! har! ) I don't know that there is anything you can do, but just wanted to give some reassurances. It was not a good tomato year for me, but I did get some. All of my sunflowers died - they hated it. I replanted in late June (we had planned a sunflower house), and the second crop did OK (not great, but at least we had our playhouse). Strangely enough, the peppers LOVED it, and as soon as things dried out, I got the best pepper crop I've ever had in my life. Hang in there; your plants may just surprise you!

[serenetabbie]

OMG Owen'nZoe, you are so punny!

Rain, rain, rain here too in NEPA. My sunflowers are looking horrible, but with the last 4 days of a little sunshine and dryer weather they seem to be perking up. The look weird though. My tomatoes seem to be frantically catching up with what they were missing. Everything else that seemed to stall is doing the same... soon I will be innudated with peas since with the warm up they are setting like crazy.

[SagMom]

I had things in the ground by Mother's Day. Everything is green and growing, but I have no flowers yet on the tomatoes or peppers. Just this week, I noticed some flowers on the cucs, but everything else is just leafy.

I'm hoping when the sun returns everything will grow like crazy--we'll see, it's thundering right now.

[janey99]

I'm in NJ too, and most of my things look OK - I wonder if drainage has something to do with, not so much the lack of sunlight?

We planted in raised beds this year using "mushroom soil," which seems to be like finely reduced mulch with chicken manure worked in - it drains very well.

Everything I have looks pretty green despite the recent lack of sun, and I have walnut sized one-ball zucchini, pumpkins and patty pan squash, 2 inch long regular zucchini, teeny cukes, and several set vines of cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes. We also have a ton of peas. Some flowers were knocked off the tomatoes, but I overplanted so I'm not too concerned. Flowers on the soybeans look OK. My lettuce didn't fare too well, but I think it just got battered to a pulp.

Good luck!

Jane