And, Here is Why: the Growing Season

[digitS']

My growing season is coming to an end :/. The WS predicts 34f for Friday morning and we have failed to hit 60 in 5 out of the last 7 days. That is supposed to continue. We won't even come close to 70 over the next week. Lows in the 30's and highs, maybe, in the low 60's. Ripening, that is about all that can be hoped for. Lawn grass might be able to grow a little.

Here's my season: Total Growing Degree Days, March 1 through September 28 (link) Hopefully, you can find your season on there, too. The nearest WS office for me is Spokane Washington. You can see that it was considerably warmer than usual for these variables of what is seen to be good corn growing weather. Of course, I didn't have any sweet corn planted March 1st but there the WS was, counting the warm days & degrees for me, anyway ,

You can see that it has been quite a bit above average for warmth in Spokane! Just look around a little and you can see why the number deserves an exclamation (!) point. Might be some kind of record warm summer for Seattle - where gardeners often have to grow tomatoes under plastic. Spokane compares fairly well to Wisconsin and Wyoming this year. (What gardener wants to have Wyoming growing seasons?) Go the other way in the alphabet and see how the warm growing season compares to the rest of the nation. (Those -9999's means the WS doesn't have enuf data for that location.)

Dang ! Looks like pretty close to a tie with Fargo! Of course, we can see some places that ol' Steve won't be packing up his hoe and saved tomato seed and moving to . . . Also, some places where he'd probably just end up a puddle of sweat by September 28th!

Steve :coolsun

 

[897tgigvib]

I can't tell what those numbers mean Digit.

 

[digitS']

They are just adding the average daily temperature above 50 and below 86, for corn. It won't grow much outside of those temperatures. I believe those same numbers are used for tomatoes.

For example, if the low for the day was 55f and the high was 81, then the day had an average temperature of 68. Corn has that temperature base of 50, so that day counts as 18 Growing Degree Days.

Day after day, it adds up. Of course, you might not get much in March but the numbers are building quickly in July.

Really, it is just for comparison. One can get an idea of when things will happen with varieties, plant species, even animal species - like insect emergence. Just for comparison of what has happened before and what can be expected to happen when. Like, a variety of beefsteak tomatoes will need 2,200 GDD's to ripen a tomato.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Okay, we have a desire for fall gardens - how that might not work just because of temperatures:

Five light frosts and the zucchini are mush, the cucumbers toast . . . don't want to upset your breakfast . Dahlia garden is dead from 3', up. However . . . under the peach tree (& the neighbor's overhanging locust ) there are dahlia blooms in my yard! Oh, yeah! I could take a picture!

The weather has warmed slightly. It is very foggy at 37f this morning, the Weather Service says. It may yet freeze here at home but I don't think so. Highs for the next few days might be 60. Not gonna do it . . .

Warm weather plants: the WS uses a 50 average temperature base (37 to 60 :/). If the average isn't that high thru the day/night, those plants really aren't gonna grow. Maybe a millimeter . . . Cool season things like lettuce, probably not either. Maybe they will make that millimeter. Of course, any earlier frost was a shock to the plants. No plant would choose to be frozen :/.

Nuthin'. Even those dahlia blooms don't seem to want to open any further. I'll try to get a picture today.

Steve