August 30th, 2022

Enough is Enough!

Okay, this is not fun or funny anymore.  Stop the rain already.  I have lived here ten years and I can never remember so much rain every single day without a break.  Send it to Massachusetts where they are having the worst drought in recent history.
So, what can we do in the Lowcountry with all this water?
 
Well, the first thing seems simple, but people apparently do not “get it.”  Turn off your irrigation.  It should be a simple on or auto switch.  You are all smart folks, surely you  can figure it out.  Nothing makes me sadder than to see irrigation running full tilt while it is pouring rain.  Water is too expensive down here to waste.  Turf grass in your lawn needs one inch per week in the summer.   We have gotten much more than that during these past weeks of rain.

Looking out the window at another rainy day

Another thing to do is check the drainage in your containers.   The holes in the bottom should be free draining and not clogged.  Use a screwdriver or pencil to open up any drainage holes.  If you have placed a plastic pot inside a container without holes, you had better be emptying out the standing water or your plant will drown.
When I pot plants up, I use either perlite or vermiculite mixed in my potting mixture to aid in draining.  Perlite is a type of volcanic glass that has a high water content and can help to retain water when mixed in potting soil.  Ironically, it also keeps soil porous and aides in drainage.  Vermiculite is a mineral that also retains water, but again it helps to aerate the soil and keep it open to drain freely.
 
You may start to see mold on plant stems.  My Salvia have white mold all long the stems and on the leaves.  What to do?  I simply cut the damaged plant material off even if it means cutting the plant to the ground.  Chances are, it will come back later.
There are chemical fungicides, but I have never had much luck with them.  I avoid spraying anything in my garden if I can.
 
If your house plants have any mold, try sprinkling Cinnamon around the plant on top of the soil.   Cinnamon is a natural fungicide.  Now I would not use my Penzeys spice for this, but go to the Mexican spice section in your grocery store and you can get a giant container of Cinnamon for a little money.   A few years ago, Basil was susceptible to downy mildew and Cinnamon came to the rescue for many of us.
 
I wish I could change the weather, my yard is beginning to look very much like a tropical jungle.  We will just have to wait it out and hope that the current pattern changes and is not replaced by something worse.
 

Sarracenia or Pitcher Plants love this weather since they are bog plants