GOOD EARTH
The freak January rain event – which saw up to 150mm of rain dumped on parts of southern Tasmania – left many summer soils in farms and gardens sodden.
The surface damage – inundated garden sheds, washed-out seed beds, scoured down gravel drives and piles of mulch at the end of mini flood lines – are soon put right.
However, long-term consequences of the rain dump may not show themselves for a few weeks.
The first signs of trouble to watch out for now are brown rot in rain-split ripening cherries, plums, peaches and apricots and early signs of mildew on the foliage of food crops. You need to inspect your fruit trees daily, removing all rain-damaged fruit, plus any ripening fruit showing any signs of rot and spoilage, as the mould can spread like wildfire if spores escape from the first few fruits affected.
Part of this essential post-rain garden hygiene is the removal of all fruit dropped onto the ground, for the fallen fruits are a great source of infection for the good summer stores left hanging on the trees.
The first few weeks of heat after the rains also increase the chance of humid conditions and sustained humidity can increase the disease risk to plants.
When it stays damp and warm for a cycle of days or weeks, you really do need to start a daily garden morning watch, or evening walk, being ready to remove any lower leaves from plants showing the first signs of mildew. Plants most at risk are peas and beans, silverbeet, squash and zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and hearting lettuce.
Prompt action now can save the plant, with a sacrifice of just a few affected leaves. However, if up to half of the leaves are affected on one more susceptible plant, while the rest remain clean, promptly remove the whole plant, to protect the rest of the crop. This is not a good time to be piling up great masses of damp straw and wet steaming hay around the base of your zucchinis, cucumbers, beans, capsicums and tomatoes.
If you had laid out a heavy belt of mulch around your plants before the rains, take it all away for hot composting and leave the soil clean to air and dry until this patch of sustained, warm, damp weather has cleared.
Preventive action includes thinning out the beds, removing any smaller, weaker plants, plus one in three of any crowded plants, to improve air flow and sun penetration down to the soil. Prune older leaves that are yellowing and sagging down onto the soil, and trim any overhanging, shading foliage from neighbouring trees and shrubs.