So there I was last week, writing about how well my spinach and chard plants had bounced back after those harsh frosts in early December. And here I am this week, writing about how the stalks have rotted through. I must have spoken too soon!
Here’s what has happened…
Whilst there were healthy new leaves coming through on the spinach and chard plants, giving me confidence that I’d continue to get a good crop from them until spring, something was going on that I couldn’t see. I think it is a combination of the stalks freezing and then thawing with the frost in the mornings for a couple of weeks, followed by heavy and persistent rain for another couple of weeks. All this seems to have left the soil very soggy, and weak, and when I’ve gone to pick a few leaves, the entire plant has just come away from its mushy stalk (as you can see in the photo.)
It’s not something I’ve come across before, and the closest thing I can think of is damping off, which often happens to younger seedlings when they seem to rot at the base of the stem, much like this. I don’t know for sure, but I’m putting the cause of death down as “severe damping off” for these plants.
Luckily, I have younger plants in place, and these seem to be doing a little better for now. Fingers crossed their stalks remain strong and keep me going until spring! It does make me think though, that I definitely would like to grow more under cover in a greenhouse next winter so that I can help make conditions a little more favourable for the plants.