Thunderstorms are what's good for the garden!

One quiet evening recently, I was laying in bed listening to the katydids, an insect that makes a very unique sound that is soothing in its repetition. A sound sure to put me right to sleep were it not for another sound off in the distance. The occasional ‘boom’ that indicated a storm was approaching and that soon the quiet of my night would be shattered with the flash of lightening, crack of thunder followed by the inevitable downpour.

That’s exactly what happened, but thankfully like most summer storms, this one was of short duration and soon had moved off to do its thing over someone else’s head. Yet, as things once again quieted down for the evening with just a slight dripping sound coming off the eves, sleep would not come. I had started to think about all the elements a summer rainstorm brings to living plants. I mean I knew that rain was a good thing, but I knew from reading that there were other aspects that were also beneficial. Take lightening for instance.

Lightening is a rather cool, or should I say, a very hot deal. The temperature inside a large bolt can reach 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit which is six times hotter than the surface of the sun. That’s hot enough to cause some interesting chemical reactions in the atmosphere when and where it occurs. One of these involves nitrogen. Normally, the nitrogen found in the air is very stable and non-reactive. Converting it to other chemical compounds requires considerable energy. A lightning bolt provides more than enough to do the job, causing some nitrogen and oxygen in the air to form nitrogen oxides which are very beneficial to the growth of plants. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that rainfall adds about 10 pounds of nitrogen to the soil per acre per year. The nitrogen oxides and ammonium that are washed to earth are formed during electrical storms like the one that just occurred over my home. The nitrogen is then available through various metabolic pathways to the plants so that they might grow and produce food. If you garden, like I do, then that is a very important thing.

So, the next time a thunderstorm passes overhead, be thankful for the nitrogen that is raining down right along with the water. Blogger's note: No, that drawing up there was not done by me. I hired a five year old to do it.