By EDDIE GLENN
Tahlequah Daily Press
June 20, 2007 10:12 am
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It sure seems like it’s been raining a lot lately, but according to OSU Extension Educator Roger Williams, we’re still a little low.
“We’ve had a lot of rainy times,” he said. “But we really haven’t had that much moisture. We’ve had 3.49 inches for the month, and that’s no record.”
In fact, Williams said, the area has had less-than-average moisture this year. Even with the ice and snow back during the winter months, and the almost daily showers of recent weeks, we’re still about 5 inches low for the year.
“When it does heat up and everything starts drying out, we may not have the ground moisture needed to keep things alive,” Williams said.
But for now, the problem isn’t lack of ground moisture. It’s an abundance of moisture in the air, which leads to an abundance of mold.
And that tends to have a negative impact on plants, unless they’re actually fungi themselves. Then they really flourish in this kind of weather.
“The big thing right now is the humidity,” said Williams. “We’ve had 76 percent average humidity for the last month, and that’s the perfect condition for fungus. I just visited with a lady whose squash is completely covered.”
Williams said fungicides are available that will keep fungi from attacking a plant, but they have to be sprayed on before a fungus actually shows up.
“[Fungicides] will protect a plant, but they don’t help after the plant’s already infected,” he said. “For roses and tomatoes and other plants that have fungus on the leaves, the best thing to do is just pull the infected leaves off and get rid of them.”
The leaves should be hauled away from the plants, not simply tossed on the ground nearby, as this only exacerbates the infection.
Swimming pool owners may notice a greener-than-usual tint to their water, a condition also caused by heavy rains. Regular use of algaecide and vacuuming the pool can alleviate the problem.
Contact Eddie Glenn at eglenn@tahlequahdailypress.com.
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Photos
A fungus by any other name. ... The high humidity the area has experienced lately has a lot of plants infected by mold. The best remedy is to rip off the leaves and discard them well away from the affected plant.