{"id":8256,"date":"2021-08-02T15:02:46","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T19:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=8256"},"modified":"2021-08-02T15:02:49","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T19:02:49","slug":"gardening-wet-and-wetter-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardening | Wet and wetter still!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandale
mail@floridanewsline.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d already had in the previous few weeks. Overnight, on a couple of occasions, there were three inches of water in the rain gauge, and lesser amounts almost every other morning. Now our flourishing tomatillo plants are showing signs of overwatering, with yellowing, dropping foliage \u2014 despite growing in a fairly well drained raised bed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not unusual for some plants to perish after being overwatered, particularly if it happens often and their roots can\u2019t dry out sufficiently to take in enough oxygen. Whether they\u2019re in pots or in the ground, if they aren\u2019t adapted to wet conditions their roots can\u2019t cope, and rot can set in. Wilting and yellowing leaves in this situation doesn\u2019t mean a plant needs more water, but is a strong indication that its roots aren\u2019t healthy and can\u2019t take up adequate water. \u201cMelting\u201d leaves can be a clue to disease, and in the case of perennials with a central growth point, once the crown of the plant is affected there\u2019s very little hope of survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve recently had some native plants installed in my front yard and the \u201cmeadow\u201d is mulched with pine straw to discourage weeds. I\u2019ve chosen drought resistant plants: dwarf Simpson stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans Compacta<\/em>), flowering perennials, and clumping grasses to attract more birds and insects, but not surprisingly, mulching the soil has meant that they find the area less useful. Certain birds like to gather fallen seed and insects from bare soil, which is now covered, and insects that nest in the ground, like some native bees, have also been denied easy access. This, along with my positive experience growing Asian long beans \u2014 allowing predatory insects like ladybugs to come in and clean the vines of black aphids, rather than resorting to pesticides \u2014 has shown me that trying to uphold the esthetics of a tidy, attractive-to-most-humans yard is not necessarily best for wildlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is clearly something I need to get in better balance. Once the plants are established I will lighten the mulch and resolve to get out there regularly to pull weeds, which I find can be somewhat therapeutic, depending on the weather. Adding a very light layer of homemade compost will also add to the variety of microbes and small invertebrates, but I\u2019ll take care to ensure the compost is thoroughly finished, so as not to risk introducing more weed seeds into the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For inspiration, I enjoy reading \u201cThe Neighborhood Gardener\u201d (https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/vxmcpes7). The July issue has advice on cleaning up the summer vegetable garden and also how to deal with houseplants if you are planning a trip. The advice is wide-ranging. Our local Extension newsletter, \u201cA New Leaf \u2013 Yard and Garden,\u201d can be found here: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/wk6djv6s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re considering a cool season vegetable garden, now is the time to get started. Check the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide for recommended planting times, and the Gardening Solutions website for a host of useful articles: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yj55bbt4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to sow everything yourself, but some vegetables don\u2019t transplant well and you will have more success if you direct sow into the garden. Buying transplants will usually be more costly than a pack of seeds, but there\u2019s the cost of potting soil to consider. If you only want a few plants of a given vegetable, purchasing good quality starts may be your best choice. Since mature collards are large, I found that four plants supplied enough greens for a meal for two, once a week, and I could probably have picked more. Don\u2019t grow what you don\u2019t enjoy, but do experiment with something you\u2019re curious about. I tried kohlrabi and enjoyed them. While I didn\u2019t grow many, a few plants added variety to our table and I will probably find room for some this next season. Happy gardening!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d already had in the previous few weeks. Overnight, on a couple of occasions, there were three inches of water in the rain gauge, and lesser amounts almost every other morning. Now our flourishing tomatillo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[12],"class_list":{"0":"post-8256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-creekline-st-johns","8":"category-mandarin","9":"tag-gardening"},"yoast_head":"\nGardening | Wet and wetter still! - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gardening | Wet and wetter still! - Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-02T19:02:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-02T19:02:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/\",\"name\":\"Gardening | Wet and wetter still! - Florida NewsLine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-02T19:02:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-02T19:02:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\"},\"description\":\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gardening | Wet and wetter still!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\",\"name\":\"Florida NewsLine\",\"description\":\"The Newspapers Everybody Gets\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\",\"name\":\"editor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gardening | Wet and wetter still! - Florida NewsLine","description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gardening | Wet and wetter still! - Florida NewsLine","og_description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d","og_url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/","og_site_name":"Florida NewsLine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/","article_published_time":"2021-08-02T19:02:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-02T19:02:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@floridanewsline","twitter_site":"@floridanewsline","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/","name":"Gardening | Wet and wetter still! - Florida NewsLine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","datePublished":"2021-08-02T19:02:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-02T19:02:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc"},"description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLineBy Master Gardener Volunteer Lesley Arrandalemail@floridanewsline.com While waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa, I had to reflect on how much rain we\u2019d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Gardening-1024x1024.jpg","width":1024,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/gardening-wet-and-wetter-still\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gardening | Wet and wetter still!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/","name":"Florida NewsLine","description":"The Newspapers Everybody Gets","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc","name":"editor","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8257,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256\/revisions\/8257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}