July 21, 2016

Good morning, I start this week with a recent comment from the NOAA weather service in Midland. It really helps explain plant issues.

 

.CLIMATE...
How hot has it been this month? When we considered the average
monthly temperature (average of daily high/daily lows) Midland
Intl is on track to be the hottest on record. As of yesterday
morning the average daily temperature was 89.5, about 7.6 above
normal. So far the average high temp for July is 103.1 and in
2011 the average high for July was 99.8 and July of 1998 was
100.2. The record of data goes back to 1930.

 

(this was written during last weeks “warmth”) I am so grateful for my drip system! Keeping the garden hydrated through the summer in 2011 when there was maybe 5 inches of rain really beat the tar out of me. I do not think I could do that again (this is where we stand with precipitation this year).

We normally do not get too many days of triple digits but we do seem to be getting our fair share this year. I have not recorded any 100 degree days yet but 99.5 is only splitting hairs. Try telling Deb's dogs or the chickens its not just flat out hot.

Strange as it would seem I have not noticed any slow down in the garden. This could be due to most everything being covered with fabric. This week may be the week when slow down occurs. (yes the brick wall arrived and harvest quantities have diminished)

The cucumbers do not seem to be slowing much either but I am sure they will be bitter due to the heat. Cutting off the stem end and peeling them should rectify this. Bitterness is not genetic, it is in the skin.

(with the heat it has been difficult keeping the cukes hydrated and yes even though it has cooled, the cuke harvest has diminished)

Confusion with a number of my solenacea continues. I am thinking this is all heat related and once there is long term cooler, the unexpected moralities will stop.

This year is another extreme lesson in what is called the evaporation / transpiration rate. Evaporation is soil moisture loss due to solar radiation and heat. Transpiration is the amount of water that is pulled through the plant by capillary action. This is the water that is used for all plant processes.

Depending on the readily available water, this will determine plant size. If a plant is used to more water and the plant is of size and then this water availability declines: the plant may die back to compensate for this discrepancy or it could just die.

As the evaporation / transpiration rate increases by heat, wind and solar radiation, water MUST be increased or decreased evaporation with mulch. With luck this will maintain the size of a plant until more favorable growing conditions return.(this does not mean you are watering less, it means you have to water more. I have bumped my drip run time from 4 hours up to 5 3/4 hours. It seems to be working)

There is a lady in South County that emailed me last week and briefly described what she is doing to be able to grow veggies in her area. By trial and error she is learning how to adapt to her environment. She will be able to teach us some very important ways to adapt to adverse conditions. I look forward to future emails from her.

One last note, NOAA and Weather Underground are predicting that the conditions in the Atlantic will soon become more favorable for storms to develop. Not that I wish it on the coast but oh what I would give for some hurricane moisture not to mention cloud cover!!!.

Anticipated harvest:chard, kale, carrots, lettuce, chilies,squash (yellow and green), cukes and toms. Please ask about quantities.