We couldn't have been happier with our Georgia collard greens this year.
They produced the largest, most tender leaves we've ever grown.
But with all the rain we've had over the past several weeks,
I worried that the excess moisture in the soil might cause problems for them
specifically, bacterial soft rot.
This is an issue we've faced ever since we started gardening 20 years ago.
Though we lose very few of our crops to pests or bacterial and fungal diseases,
soft rot has been a persistent problem with our collards
and sometimes our kale.
Fortunately, it has never affected any of our other crops.
You know your collards are infected with bacterial soft rot
if you notice that the pith of the stem has become soft, wet, and foul smelling.
Leaves will often wilt and fall from the stem as a result.
Unfortunately, the bacteria are everywhere.
They survive in soil and in water,
and can be introduced to the garden by insects and wind-blow rain.
The bacteria usually enter the plant
where leaves have been harvested from the stem,
but they can also enter through wounds created by garden pests.
Excessive moisture in the soil makes things worse,
which was why I was concerned about the nearly daily rain showers
we've had over the past 3 or 4 weeks.
The bacteria also favor hot weather,
which explains why we usually don't notice any problems until July.
We do take a number of measures to try to minimize the impact of soft rot
on our collards and kale.
First, we remove affected plants as soon as we notice them.
If caught early enough,
many of the leaves will still be healthy and can be harvested,
but the rest of the plant goes to the trash, not the compost pile.
We don't want to risk spreading the bacteria in our compost.
We also wash our hands and tools
when they come in contact with affected plants.
Second, we practice crop rotation with our collards and kale,
though this doesn't seem to help much.
Even collards grown in pots filled with new potting mix were affected this year.
Third, over the years, we've tried to identify varieties of kale and collards
that are less susceptible.
We found that Red Russian kale is very susceptible to soft rot,
while dinosaur kale is much less so.
The majority of our dinosaur kale plants are still growing strong.
Unfortunately, we've yet to find a standard collard green variety
that is resistant,
though our tree collards are still doing very well.
If they prove to be resistant,
we'll propagate many more plants from cuttings
and begin growing them as annuals in our garden.
Fourth, we grow a lot of our collards and kale in the fall
when temperatures are lower and soft rot isn't a problem.
And it may make sense to grow even more in the fall
and reduce the size of our spring and summer crop.
And, finally, we avoid over-watering the garden.
This hasn't been an issue this year, as Mother Nature has over-watered for us,
but in drier years when we do have to water, we're careful to not overdo it.
Going forward, another step we're considering is adding sand
to our garden beds to improve drainage.
Though our native soil is rather sandy,
we've added so much organic matter on top of it
that it probably makes sense to add some sand as well.
As far as organic controls go,
I'm not aware of any that are both effective and safe
to beneficial insects and soil organisms.
Though I've read that copper sulfate can be effective,
I'm also aware that it's toxic to earthworms and other beneficial organisms,
and we'd rather live with the soft rot than harm our worms.
So, it looks like we'll have to wait until the fall
before we can enjoy fresh collards from the garden again.
But in the meantime, there's so much more to enjoy.
Well, that's all for now
thank you very much for watching
and until next time remember
you can change the world one yard at a time.