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Smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada drove down air quality across swaths of the Eastern U.S. this week, a problem all too familiar in many Western states. In the New York City suburbs where I live, the air became smoggy and orange, categorized for a time by monitoring agencies as “hazardous.”
During the worst of it, I wore a mask inside my house and kept my dog mostly inside.
But my plants stood in the garden with no choice but to breathe the toxic air through the tiny pores in their leaves.
If your area is heavily affected by smoke or ash, the first priorities should, of course, be human, home and pet safety. But after securing those, you might find your plants need a little help, too.
“When they’re exposed to smoke particles for a short amount of time, plants will bounce back, but a heavy amount of smoke is different than a passing event,” according to Oregon State University Extension community horticulturist Brooke Edmunds.
“It depends on how close you are,” she said. “There also could be a localized effect, where one garden is covered in ash, and a half-mile away, there’s nothing because that’s the way the wind was moving things around.”
Pollutants and small particulate matter landing on your plants can block sunlight, which is essential for photosynthesis. Reduced photosynthesis translates to reduced energy, and weaker plants will display slow growth and diminished vigor.
Additionally, with prolonged exposure, volatile organic compounds found in smoke can affect leaves and other plant parts and disrupt the ability of plants to take up nutrients. The damage, if any, won’t be noticeable right away.
“The best thing home gardeners can do is “keep an eye on plants for the rest of the summer and give them TLC because these events can add to the general stress of plants,” Edmunds said.
“If you find more
