How to protect potted plants from heavy rain is a worry that plant lovers are often bogged by this question. Rain can substantially damage your plants and their foliage; hence, giving them additional cover or protection is essential.
In this guide, our gardening experts will share their knowledge in a step-by-step manner on how to protect plants during rainy season.
Continue reading for additional information on the processes, ensuring they stay healthy and thrive through the wet season.
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How To Shield Potted Plants From a Heavy Rainfall?
To shield potted plants from heavy rainfall, you should place an oversized container over it, and relocate the plant, protecting it from the wind as well. Include drainage layers, and use a burlap. Additionally, set a greenhouse, use elevation, mulch around the soil, and examine the drainage holes.
– Place an Oversized Container Over
Use a large bucket or container as a barrier between the rainwater and your plant. Prolonged exposure to heavy rain can be harmful to delicate plants, and in particular, the plant’s stems and leaves. This means that when you try to cover the plant, it would be protected from any hazard that can come with the heavy weather.
As a result, if the excess rainwater is not tackled correctly, it will eventually cause the entire root system and plant to rot. By positioning a large planter on top of each plant, you can create a barrier that will protect it from the rain.
If it is anticipated that strong winds will accompany the heavy downpours, you must have the oversized planter firmly secured to the pot.
– Relocate the Plant
Moving your plants to a new location is the single and most effective way to ensure that they will be shielded from the hazards of dense rainfall. Move plants to a covered space such as a shed, garage, or porch if possible.
If you live in a zone prone to sudden, frequent rains, this is when the plant caddy may be helpful. These are simple plant holders with attached wheels at the bottom and will aid you in moving heavy plants indoors quickly.
Plant caddies are available in various shapes, including round, square, rectangular, and oval varieties. As a result of this, you don’t have to carry large plants that are in big pots to a safe location physically; instead, you can push or pull them there using this, and they be located in a proper place where they won’t be harmed.
– Place a Barrier Around Them
If moving them to a secure spot isn’t an option, then your plants that are kept in pots need to be protected from strong winds, and the best way to do that is with a barrier made of wood, metal, or brick around them.
During this time, the falling rains will not harm the plants because the overhead will shield them from the downpour. This form of rain covers for potted plants is sturdy and protects against water and wind. Basically, this barrier is a safe spot for your greens to stay secure.
– Include a Good Drainage Layer
Some plant types may survive a certain level of rain; however, a sudden lash of it may cause waterlogging. How to fix waterlogged potted plants depends on the drainage you provide it.
A water-logged plant can cause roots to rot and even the stems to lean on one side due to the moist conditions of the soil. Incorporating a drainage layer into the soil is one method that can be used to prevent root rot to some extent and keep stems in place.
You can create a drainage barrier by employing a medium such as stone, gravel, or pebbles because these would aerate the soil; hence, they would dry much quicker in the cold weather. What you should do is just select the appropriate medium with extreme caution to aid the plant in draining out the water regularly.
Additionally, it is recommended that clay pebbles be placed at the bottom of the planter, followed by peat moss, and then finally, nutrient-dense soil on top, as it would create an excellent layer. In this way, water would first filter down through the peat moss, soil, and clay pebbles before it can exit the container through the drainage holes, and there will be no standing water inside the container when it rains.
– Use Burlap
If you do not have a large bucket, pail, or planter available, the next best thing you can use in its place is a burlap wrap. This material has a long lifespan and is resistant to the adverse effects of rain, it is easily available and pocket-friendly, too.
The burlap fabric will not take in any moisture in the air but allows for plant ventilation, you are now decreasing the risk of issues that the plant would be subjected to. In order to accomplish this task, you will need to purchase a substantial roll of burlap material, some zip ties, and three wooden spikes or stakes for each plant in a pot and have your DIY rain cover for plants.
Carefully insert the wooden stakes into the ground, making sure there is adequate space between each one. Wrapping the burlap around a zip tie and securing it at one end using one of the wooden stakes as a starting point will accomplish this.
Now, continue to wind the burlap around each wooden stake, and if a knot is required for additional security, tie one. Once you have reached the bottom of the planter, you will need to fasten the burlap down to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
– Set up a Green House
Another easy way if you are concerned about how to save plants from heavy rain is to build a greenhouse where the plants would be heated and safe; in short, your plants require protection from severe weather conditions like cold winds and a blizzard of rain, and this is how they would get it.
If you do not already own a greenhouse, you should consider the idea of building one, especially if you live in a zone prone to frequent rains. Determine where to position it so that your plants will receive the appropriate amount of sunlight while also being shielded from the rains.
There is a large selection of greenhouses available for purchase online, they would be ranging in size from small greenhouses intended for indoor plants to larger greenhouses suitable for housing an entire lot.
– Use Elevation
If you live in an area prone to flooding, you might want to use raised beds by piling up mulch instead of planting vegetable seeds directly into the ground.
In these beds, you can also use grow bags to protect potted plants and shield them from excessive rain instead of planting them in the soil. In short, this would be your way out when you wish to tackle the problem of how to stop plant pots flooding, elevation works in a significant way.
– Install Stakes
Take some twine or rope and tie any plants that look like they could be blown away in the next thunderstorm. It will not only keep your garden looking nice, but it actually has the potential to save any delicate foliage from being blown over during rain and windstorms.
Moreover, this would specifically protect your plant when the weather becomes harsher, which is when there would be some storm or heavier wind.
– Mulch the Soil Around
Newly planted flowers and vegetables face soil erosion if a strong amount of rainfall results in running water, but adding two to three inches of mulch around the base will help stabilize the soft soil. In this case, you may also notice plants flattened by rain which should be taken care of by mulch.
Nevertheless, to prevent the spread of disease, mulch should be applied at least a couple of inches away from the plant’s main stem, as it wouldn’t let the roots get overly watered for a prolonged period of time.
– Check the Drainage Holes
Always ensure the drainage holes are proper and permit free flow out of water. Investigate to see no debris or stones blocking the holes, as this would mean the water from the downpour will be held in the soil causing plant damage in your vegetable garden.
If water accumulates on the plate below the pot, remove it regularly, and make sure that it doesn’t stay as such, because the plant would be in a vulnerable state.
Conclusion
You now understand how simple it is to shelter indoor plants from hard rain.
The information we gave you in this article is summarized below in brief.
- Plants in pots can be shielded with barriers, moved, or placed in greenhouses to protect them from rain. Put a big bucket or container in the rain’s path as a barrier between the water and your plant.
- Your plants that are maintained in pots need to be protected from severe winds if moving them to a secure location is not an option, and the easiest way to accomplish this is with a barrier constructed of wood, metal, or brick around it.
- A burlap wrap is the next best thing you can use in its stead if you don’t have a sizable bucket, pail, or planter handy. By using a material like stone, gravel, or pebbles in the barrier’s construction, you can make a drainage barrier.
After reading this article in its entirety, you should be able to take the necessary precautions to shield your lovely plants from rain or storms. So stop waiting and start acting before the next downpour.
