The monsoon brings lush greenery everywhere, but for home gardens and kitchen plots, the same season turns into the toughest test of the year. Constant rain, standing water, gusty winds and fungal attacks can destroy months of careful planting within days. Taking a few essential precautions right at the start of the season, though, can keep everything from climbing vegetables to leafy greens, root crops and fruit-bearing plants healthy through the entire monsoon.
Sudha Patel, the horticulture development officer for Sohawal block, says that protecting plants during the rainy season comes down to three things, proper drainage, organic methods and timely care. According to her, farmers and home gardeners who stick to these basics can protect their gardens while also getting a better yield.
Sort out drainage before anything else
Sudha Patel explains that the biggest damage during monsoon comes from excess water collecting around the roots. Plants should never be grown on flat ground, they need to be planted in raised beds instead. Every bed should have channels or furrows alongside it so that surplus rainwater drains away immediately instead of pooling near the roots. Beds should also be built slightly higher than the surrounding ground, in other words as raised beds, which stops excess moisture from sitting around the roots and keeps plants healthy.
Give plants strong support against wind and heavy rain
Strong winds and heavy downpours during monsoon can easily snap the stems of plants like tomato, chilli and brinjal. These plants need a sturdy stick or bamboo pole driven in nearby and tied with rope, a technique known as staking. Along with this, the older leaves near the base of the plant should be removed periodically, so that fungus lurking in the soil cannot spread directly onto the leaves, and air can keep circulating freely between the plants.
Train climbing vegetables off the ground
Climbing vegetables such as bottle gourd, ridge gourd, bitter gourd and pumpkin should be trained onto a trellis made of bamboo, wire or plastic netting rather than being allowed to spread across the ground. This keeps the fruit from coming into direct contact with wet soil and standing water, which sharply cuts the risk of rot and fungal infection. It also keeps the fruit cleaner and improves its overall quality.
Root vegetables and leafy greens need different protection
Raised beds work best for root vegetables like potato, sweet potato, carrot and radish. Deep drainage channels should be dug between them to ensure water doesn't collect, because waterlogging makes the tubers rot underground. Leafy vegetables such as spinach, coriander and amaranth, on the other hand, get damaged quickly by direct, heavy rainfall. Covering them with a temporary shade net or transparent plastic sheeting can protect them and considerably reduce the impact of heavy showers.
Don't let water pool around fruit tree roots
For fruit-bearing plants like lemon, guava, papaya and pomegranate, the single most important thing is making sure water never collects around their roots. This calls for building a raised ring of soil around the main stem, known as the ring method, so that water never touches the stem directly and any excess drains away easily. This significantly lowers the risk of root rot and weakened plants.
Organic ways to control pests and fungus
Fungal and pest attacks rise sharply during the monsoon. To tackle this, five millilitres of neem oil mixed with a little shampoo per litre of water can be sprayed on plants, which helps control sap-sucking insects and caterpillars. In case of a severe pest attack, homemade dashparni extract and agniastra are also considered effective. To guard against fungus, Trichoderma viride or Pseudomonas fluorescens can be dissolved at five grams per litre of water and sprayed on roots and leaves. Copper-treated buttermilk and Bordeaux mixture prepared in a copper vessel are also useful as organic fungicides.
Getting the timing right on fertiliser and weeding
According to Sudha Patel, only well-decomposed cow dung manure or vermicompost should be used during this season. To give plants quick nourishment, a solution of jeevamrit, panchagavya or waste decomposer can be prepared and added to the soil every 10 to 15 days. However, fertiliser should not be applied right before heavy rain is expected. It's better to apply fertiliser and organic pesticides only after the rain has stopped, once the soil still holds a little moisture. Alongside this, weeds growing in the garden should be removed regularly, since they rob plants of nutrients and also encourage disease. Regular hoeing keeps air circulating through the soil and helps plant roots grow stronger.
