Beware of Vegetable Gardening in a Wet Area

Plants need water to survive and thrive, but there can be too much of a good thing. Vegetable gardening in a wet area is hard on plants and hard on the gardener. Boggy soil is unpleasant and hard to work with, can be a breeding ground for bacteria and pests such as mosquitoes, and tends to diminish a plant’s chance to flourish.

How Wet Is Too Wet?

When it comes to vegetable gardening in a wet area, you have to decide if the ground is salvageable. If the ground is moderately moist you have the makings of rich soil that can be a great place to plant vegetables. If the ground is so wet that you are digging in mud planting there can be risky. If you place your seeds in soil that never seems to dry out, chances are they will rot before they can sprout. If you try to grow transplants in boggy soil they can suffer root rot.

If you are interested in vegetable gardening in a wet area, you need to decide if it is feasible before you waste your time and plants in an area destined to fail as a garden. To test the soil, simply place your hand in it and pick up a handful of dirt. Does the dirt crumble in your hand or does it ball up? Vegetable gardening in a wet area that has crumbly or clay dirt is entirely possible.

If the soil in the area you are interested in gardening is just damp, you can amend it with sand or coarse organic materials that will help the water to not over saturate the roots of your plants. If the soil in the area you want to plant is muddy or drips from your hands, it is probably too wet to plant vegetables in that particular spot.

Work With What You Have

If you are interested in vegetable gardening in a wet area and feel that your soil, while wet is still workable, choose plants that adapt well to wet soil. Root crops should never be planted in soil that doesn’t dry, because they will rot instead of growing under the surface of the soil.

If you plant watermelon, pumpkins, or other vegetables that vine in wet soil, make sure that you plan for a way to elevate the fruit once it emerges. Letting your watermelon sit in wet dirt will cause it to rot. You can combat this by placing pumpkins and watermelon on top of a piece of cardboard or you can train your vines to climb a trellis and then support the fruit by tying it up as it grows.