Rain is a double-edged sword. And I feel the blade getting way to close my sensitive parts. Almost 8″ this month, close to a record for the county, more coming down as I write this.
I’m not the ungrateful sort. Right now it’s making most things very happy in the garden. The tomatoes are green and leafy, the potatoes are tall and proud. The beans and corn and cole crops are robust.
But I can smell it lurking around the corner. Disease. It’s great to be absolved of watering duty, but I have a sense that we’re just a couple of showers shy of virus and fungus problems.
I noticed spots on the cucumber and squash leaves. I can see the anxiety in the cantaloupe plants’ eyes.
It looks like anthracnose to me, but that’s just internet doctoring. I’m pretty sure it’s a fungus, so I’m going to try to check it early by conscientiously misting the leaves with Neem oil spray. Once these things get a decent foot in the door, they can rip through the cucurbits like the plague. Especially when it rains like this.
It’s raining,
It’s pouring.
The old man is snoring.
zzzzz.
vegetablurb 
I hope nothing serious develops. We’ve been getting frequent rains here, too. Apart from disease, my other concern is that I’ll just plain forget to water if it ever stops. It’s happened before.
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We are still pretty dry here on the east coast . I wonder if that wet pattern is on its way. Good luck with dodging the fungus and all the other issues that a wet season may bring
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My sister in St. Louis was complaining about the never-ending rain last week. I kind of said ‘that’s too bad’ and forgot about it until it showed up here. You could be next!
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I hope the cues are ok – we never seem to have an average of anything!
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You’re right about that! Mother Nature seems to have forgotten the meaning of moderation.
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Good luck! Sometimes I use a weak solution of baking soda for that.
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Hmm thanks Deby, I think I’ll try that if it ever stops raining.
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Hey dan, no guarantee, but try a host of things. Garlic is antifungal, spray with seaweed fert it will change the pH, I use a raft of treatments .. Auckland is humid, in summer. Ny friend had anthracnose in her olives. Damn!
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Thanks Julie! I didn’t know about either of those options. It’s good to have friends in the biz 🙂
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My squash and pumpkins always get white mildew mid summer. What’s an organic way to treat that?
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Sometimes I think there are just times when you can’t do anything about it. But I’ve used Neem oil with (I think) success at keeping mildew away. Hard to prove a negative. I’ve also heard of using milk and baking soda.
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Thanks!
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