I'm going to be starting my first outdoor grow experiment and I was curious if too heavy of rainfall could destroy plants? Where I live we get a couple big downpours over the summer and if it is going to cause problems I'd love if you guys could tell me a way to keep the plants safe.
Well, I can tell you from past experience that too much water, whether it's rain or not, WILL drown the plant if it's too young. Right now I've got a couple that are only a few weeks old and with the rain we're having I'm having to pull em under the edge of the roof at least while it's pouring.....but I'd say once they've got a decent stem developed, as long as the soil drains well they should be o.k. as long as it's not some kind of hurricane. And of course if they were flowering already the rain would definitely not be good for em.
Just stake them and they'll be fine. Don't put baby sprouts in strong rain. Not a problem if they're flowering because trichomes are almost waterproof. As long as the seun comes back after a week or so. However, heavy rains and cold weather with no sun for several weeks will get you mold in the late season.
It would have to rain a lot for your plants to get hurt from getting too much water. But...if water is able to pool around the base of your plant, it might get stem rott if it continuously pools or if it never goes away. Little plants can drown. And if your plants are in flowering stage, the buds can also rott from being wet for too long (if it rains for 3 days straight, your buds are at risk, one day of rain usually won't hurt). I've actually been trying to think of a good way to keep flowering plants dryer during heavy rains. I live in Washington so it can get pretty wet come the end of summer. If anyone can think of something let me know.
