Allsup: Wet climate gardening | Backyard & Panorama

KELLY ALLSUP for the pantagraph

Rainy weather confuses the gardeners. Traditionally, Illinois people prepare for a very hot and very dry late summer and I would encourage consistent watering as the key to a good harvest. However, with the flood of irrigation from the sky, there are some other landscaping tasks that must be performed to combat overwatering.

1. Recognize and prune diseases in vegetables

White powdery mildew reproduces in damp and humid weather and can completely consume vine plants, but it also affects ornamental plants in your landscape such as peony or zinnia. At this point, remove infected leaves or increase air circulation. Avoid fertilizers as new succulent growth is more susceptible. The harvest is usually not affected by leaf removal.

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Gardeners may notice disease in their otherwise healthy tomato and pepper plants. Symptoms of the disease usually include leaf discoloration and spots. At this point, it is best to remove diseased leaves and leaves less than 8-12 inches tall. Septoria leaf spot disease is one of the most common diseases in tomato plants and bacterial leaf spot disease is one of the most common diseases in peppers. Both diseases overwinter in garden waste, so be sure to remove the plants after harvest time. Never go into your garden while the foliage is wet and disinfect your secateurs between the plants to prevent further spread. Fertilize after pruning to initiate new growth that will result in more fruit.

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2. Prevent mosquitos by fighting stagnant water

Half an inch of stagnant water can be the ideal breeding ground for the mosquito, the visitor most loathed by gardeners. It is important to know that mosquitoes are not very far from their breeding site, less than a mile. So if you don’t want to be bitten by the female, this water container should be cleaned and emptied every week. Many mosquitoes breed in the still, putrid water of gutters, so cleaning gutters is one of the best things a homeowner can do to prevent uninvited guests from coming to their backyard soirees. The larvae of these mosquitoes love to clean stagnant water from bacteria, algae and fungi.

3. Fertilize yellow plants

Sometimes the leaves turn yellow because there are no nutrients in the soil. The microorganisms that normally break down organic matter into forms of nutrients that can be used by plants may not be present in wet soil. Eventually, microorganisms will repopulate the soil to break down organic matter, but the fertilization treatment would give the plants their green color and improved growth.

Kelly Allsup is a horticultural instructor at the University of Illinois Extension in Livingston, McLean, and Woodford Counties.

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