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Posted on 07/15/2011 5:13:42 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. It has been another week of hot humid weather. My little garden got its small share of a 60% chance of rain yesterday afternoon. A nice pop up T-storm spent about half an hour dropping a nice steady rain on my garden. There is a 70% chance of rain today. If the percentage for rain is not above 50 the pop up T-storms seem to pass me by. I did get to harvest about a dozen ripe tomatoes this past week but they are on the small side. My replacement paste tomato plants are coming along just fine so far. I will leave them to develop in their 5 inch peat pots for a couple of more weeks before setting them out in the garden.
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I hope all your gardens are flourishing.
A "fall garden" in Texas is what most people in the rest of the country would consider a main season, summer garden for them.
We are living in an blast furnace. Ask any vegetable to grow in this heat and dryness and they'll just laugh at you before they shrivel up and die.
See the map on #11. I’m in that big brown spot in Texas.
I’m in Pa. I did mostly raised gardens this year because we have black walnut trees (poison to tomatoes, potatoes, etc.) Though it hasn’t been as dry as down your way, we have had little rain, and half of my tomatoes are dying in spite of constant watering. The beds with the vermiculite are doing well. I’ll be adding it to the other beds next year, and the plants in the ground (away from the black walnut) are doing well, but half of my tomatoes are biting the dust.
I e-mailed David Finfrock about this weather pattern, as I do on occasion, and he’s great about answering promptly. He had no answer to why low pressure storm systems and other weather mechanisms rush right on through from west to east, but these high pressure “domes” just dig in and become semi-permanent in Texas. I always thought all weather moves from west to east generally. I think there is something more supernatural about this.
I’m in Upstate New York - today I am going to pull the garlic that I planted last October...i might try to sneak in some plants for a Fall harvest (my first ever) once I get that garlic up!
Wow, running the 12 week animation on the drought monitor really does tell the story.
Did you get anything out of that little cloud a few days ago? It got dark here and the wind picked up but moments later, poof! clear hot skies again and not a drop as usual.
Our chickens are growning nicely and now are allowed out in the fenced in duck pond area where the turf war between them and the ducks reminds me of the batlle between the Pink Plastic Flamingos and the Garden Gnomes!
Watching them in an open environment, a couple of observations jumped out at me last evening. First, our single Wellsummer pullet, as old as the rest, isn't as big as the rest...obviously a bantam. Second, one of our Black Jersey Giant "pullets", has a very well-developed crown and cheeks or wattles. I have named "her" Studly Hung-Well. Despite our wishes, we apparently have a rooster.
Next weekend, we are going to rent a trencher and cut trenches for water lines to the garden, down by the water fall, and the chicken coop. I am also going to cut a trench to run a 30 amp service over to where we park our new travel trailer during the camping season. We are taking it up to Warren, ME today for the open house at the Lee-Neilsen Tool Company tomorrow.
**I think there is something more supernatural about this. **
We are in the El Nino pattern this year, and that is what the high is stuck over Texas again this year. It has dissipated, but the effects will linger the rest of the summer.
Summer is impossible, unless you like Okra, which can seem to take a lot of heat.
When I say heat, I mean lingering, persistent, burning heat. Like the sensation on your face when you open your oven door. Our highs have been in the low- to mid-hundreds, and the heat lingers late into the night. By 11:30 p.m. it's still been around 95 degrees and our lows only make it to the low 80's.
Has anyone here ever used Set Spray?
Results?
We got some high winds as well, and a few drops of rain. Most were 2 - 4 inches apart, so it didn’t even get the driveway wet. It evaporated seconds after hitting any surface.
It seems that the “El Nino” excuse is pulled out every time this happens. I don’t really think they know, but it makes them feel better if they have a name for it.
No, that is not an excuse. It is a fact this year again. We have the same pattern that we had in the late 50s and several times since then.
http://blog.friendlyforecast.com/what-is-el-nino-la-nina-weather-pattern-causes-effects-its-cycle/
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We had some wind last night and a small wet mist that I wouldn’t call rain. I never needed the windshield wipers driving home. It blew down a couple of mater plants that were already leaning due to too much weight too high on the stakes and the electric serice was down for a couple of hours.
I garden in East Central Mississippi - Meridian. Hot is constant mid 90’s to 100+.
I noticed you are north of Houston on your about page. Our daughter lives in Katy, and she said it is drier than she has seen the past two years.
We are 35 miles NW of Austin in the hill country. The news had an article yesterday that said our area is one place that could be devastated by wildfires.
If you are talking tomato blossom set spray, I have used it with fairly decent results. Of course, we have a number of bees that hang around our garden most years. This year it has just been too hot - too early.
Hey Diana, when I re-pot these, do I treat them like a tomato plant and bury the stem? They are in the tomato family. Ground Cherry seedlings
People in the neighborhood say it has been about 5 years since we had a wet year. Quite a change from the 60+ inches per year that we got in Mobile. There, 40 inches per year was considered a dry year.
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