It's so sad .. all the lawns in my neighborhood are turning brown! I keep watering mine in the front once a week so it doesn't look as bad as all the rest, but you can tell its suffering. The back yard is really looking ratty. Hopefully this drought is encouraging deep roots. I've been training my plants to only expect water every other day. They seem to be holding their own, but look really sad mid-day on the waterless day. Thankfully they bounce back in the evening.
The 10 day forecast for my area is predicting rain next week. I won't hold my breath, but I can certainly hope so! How is everyone else coping?
X
This message was edited May 27, 2007 10:16 AM
Time For A Rain Dance - Part 2
X: I hadn't seen the chance of rain next week. I hope, I hope it happens!
My neighbor across the street has the most beautiful green lawn, but he runs the sprinklers every day. I've only watered my lawn about once a week, too. I planted grass seed 6 weeks ago when we put down new topsoil, and I'd say only about 25% of it sprouted and it's struggling.
I can soak the beds one evening and the next they are bone dry. Even down several inches, there's no moisture. I'm really worried about when I leave for a 10 day vacation in a couple of weeks. Crossing my fingers that we'll be getting some more normal rain by then.
Deb
Well they are calling for isolated and scattered at the beginning of June .. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
For your really vulnerable plants check out the DIY drip irrigation systems at lowes and home depot .. they aren't all that expensive and very easy to assemble and get a timer to have it water in the early morning.
X
I swear by drip systems too but use them primarily for the plants on my deck. Out in the garden we have some huge old trees and they are really slurping any water I put down. Soaker hoses have helped a bit in the unusually dry areas.
I usually try to follow the Carolina Yards and Neighborhoods recommendation of 1" per week to encourage deep roots, but in the area with trees I have to add more, a lot more.
Starting to see some salt damage too; I hate this!
I tried soaker hoses one year and my water bill tripled! They put out lots more water than you realize. When I do my walkabout watering plants I water twice .. the first time is a quick splash, enough to get the soil wet. I do a whole line of plants that way then start at the beginning again and give it a deeper drink. By wetting the soil around the base first and letting is soak in, you don't get as much runoff on the second watering. With soaker hoses too much ran off before it would start to soak in. I can see where that would do for trees though.
X
Sorry your's did not work out. Fortunately, my soakers just "sweat" and I have never seen a drop of runoff. There is a flow restrictor thingy. perhaps that helps. I have at least 6 - on flowers, veggies, trees, etc. Got them at Costco a couple of years ago and just love them. They work well when using the irrigation system would waste too much water. They just moisten the soil for me.
I have solved the thirsty lawn problem by getting rid of my lawn.I didn't do it in one day but little by little it's almost all gone.Our last rain was a week and a half ago during biker prime time.One more day to go and they will all be gone.
Ardesia I remember that last year you were looking for a day lily farm outside of George town to the west.Today they advertised in the local newspaper that they are having a sale 13th annual open house on 6-2 and 6-3.The name is Browns Ferry Gardens 843-546-3559 www.brownsferrygardens.com
This message was edited May 27, 2007 4:43 PM
Well, go girl go, and buy lots of daylilies. :-))))))
I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday and bought some species alstromeria and a couple of hardy bromeliads. Other than that, I am on a plant fast; we'll see how long this lasts. LOL
same here, but today at home depot, they have huge pugmy dates for $199 phoenix sylvestris for $349 and 10 ft washingtonias for around $100 and also some livistona chinensis for i forgot how much. im gonna have to break fast to get one of those pygmys!
I'd have to break more than a fast. LOL
With those kind of prices I'll have no trouble fasting.
Well, I had a lot of plants in gallon pots that were drying up way too quickly so I decided to plant them. It is not the right time but there was no choice. It was amazing, no matter how deep I dug the soil was bone dry. The irrigation system has been running 3 times a week but it sure doesn't show; there is not a drop of moisture in the soil.
Same deal here, ardesia. I recently got a Hydrangea that I'd been looking for, and went to plant it with some others along the woodline. I dug down a full 2 feet, and there was nothing but dust! And the site was under a (huge) drip system. I'd been running the drip for 2 hours every other day (1200 gallons directly into the soil each time) apparently to no avail. That ground was dry as a bone! The water table is so low now with this lack of rain that anything we put in just disappears laterally through the earth, and keeps the plants that we're carefully watering just barely alive! We need some real rain!! Meanwhile, my friend in Texas is absolutely drowning! Something ain't right here!
Dancing.... Not working.
Should we hire a "rainmaker"?
It's like the Oklahoma dust bowl out there.
Deb
We have a great daylily farm here in Conway called "Loretta's Daylily Farm". It is on Hwy 501 just out of Conway ( heading to Florence) on your left. Great prices.
http://www.lorettasdaylilyfarm.com/
This message was edited May 29, 2007 10:20 PM
yall know what would be so ironic? since the beginning of the summer has been SOOOO dry, what if by the end of the summer all of our requests for rain and prayers and dances all add up and we get too much like from a hurricane or something.what would yall ather have? too much rain or none?
I'm game for trying "a little too much rain" right now, diehrd...
There was a story in the paper this morning about how they expect the GA/FL fire to burn for many more weeks because the ground is bone dry for many feet deep.
No hurricanes please (we are still having traffic problems here and an evacuation would be impossible) but a nice mild tropical storm that hung around for a couple of days would be nice.
On the up side, all the big bags of mulch, etc. at Lowe's are DRY and easy to maneuver for a change. :-)
Ardesia: Good point. Time to go by giant bags o'garden soil. :)
It's cloudy here now, but nothin' falling.
Deb
Ok, now ya'll have sent the dry, hot weather here. And we were doing so well here! Where do I sign up for the dancing???
Bev
Saw on the weather that a tropical disturbance is forming in the gulf which may bring us some much need rain next week! Lets keep our fingers & toes crossed!
I still havent broken down and turned on the a/c yet .. got close, but refrained.
X
Didn't see this thread till now. I think we all need to go out and do a little jig in the yard. I can't remember going so long without a drop like this. And with temps this hot, it's murder on some of the plants.
We went out of town for 5 days this past weekend (I so could garden in Florida) and luckily I was able to find someone to water the garden while we were gone. It'd have been a mess when we'd gotten back otherwise.
Did you find some good stuff in FL?
I was shocked how cheap everything was. If I'd had a 18-wheeler... I'm sure I could have filled it. We rented a SUV just for the trip and came back with:
6' Traveler's Palm
4' White BOP
3' Bottle Palm
Three 3' Christmas Palms (all with trunks)
4' Christmas Palm (with a nice trunk)
Six Orchids
Philodendron Carl Marx
Philodendron 'Xanadu'
Pothos Cutting (huge one at that)
3' Alocasia odora
3' Heliconia psittacorum
I snapped these photos before we stopped back by Rockledge Gardens (on the way back up). We added the two Philodendrons and the Heliconia there. I wanted another Orange BOP, but we couldn't fit it (my DW refused to ride on the roof ... kidding.)
Another... Rear View huh?
Lol .. well you were certainly not wanting for oxygen on your way home!
Here is what the Storm Team 2 guys in Charleston are saying about the tropical disturbance in the Gulf:
Our weather pattern shift comes this weekend. We're tracking some moisture in the Gulf of Mexico that looks to move northward. It's still unclear as to how far north the moisture will reach. There is also the possibility that this moisture could be a developing weak tropical-type system, but it's still too early to tell.
Right now, we could see some beneficial rain showers from this system near the end of the weekend.
Lets think rain!!!!
X
***Thinking Rain***
X, folks say the same of the house. Now I just have to figure out how to rig the garage in winter so it's a make-shift GH.
Check out this site .. i bought the "walk in" greenhouse to augment my other one and it works great!
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/search/search.asp?r=Page%3A+%2FDefault.asp+KW+Box&s=SEARCH&a=search&k=greenhouse
X
That would definitely work for many of the smaller plants, and the price isn't bad at all.
Sorry to get off topic... but you guys are familiar with our temperature more than some other folks I've spoken with on this.
It's the larger plants I have to worry about. I've been thinking about making a make-shift PVC structured "frame" in the garage and then covering it with plastic (leaving it open on top of covering it with a harder plastic material). The reason for the top mess is the halide lights and their heat. I plan to get either one of the 1000W lights or two of the 450W lights. I thought I'd need to ventilate them, but I don't think so - the heat will save me from needing a space heater. I'll just open the garage door a few minutes each day to circulate new air in and out.
I saw space in that van being taken up by CLOTHES! Good Grief, what were you thinking????
(BTW, that big leaf peeking out from behind the seat is awesome.)
I was looking at GH's on Costco's website the other day. WOW, the prices are NOT good. Years ago I paid less than $400 for a 14x20 GH with hard panels and ventilation. I am showing my age but it amazes me what these things cost now.
LOL, I wanted to put the suitcase on the room at one point. I cannot believe we got everything in.
Just found this too.
http://www.teakwickerandmore.com/Flowerhouse-FHFH700-XJ1010.html#ProdDetails
I might get two, zip them together and keep them in the garage under halides on the ceiling. I am not sure I could get away with putting them in the back yard in our neighborhood - due to covenants. It's my first home and I'm not quite sure how strict they are on stuff like this. I may be over cautious on what I can do in my back yard.
There might be a problem with that in that polyethylene like polycarbonate gives off poisonous gasses when heated. I don't know how hot halide lamps get, but you might run into a melting problem as well.
I learned with my greenhouse that you can keep it at "don't freeze" temps, and plants do very well. In winter I keep my greenhouse at 36 - 38 at night and haven't yet had any adverse effects on the plants inside. I use a plain old oscillating space heater and a portable thermostat and in the 3 years I've been using it, I haven't lost a plant. What might be a better and gentler heat source is one of those oil-filled radiator heaters. Coupled with a portable thermostat:
http://store.kkontrols.com/
and using fluorescents, I think it would be safer and cheaper in the long run. I also use passive solar heating in the form of 2ltr bottles painted black and filled with water, they collect heat in the day and release it at night. For plants I want to keep growing (albeit slowly) rather than go into stasis, i'll place plants directly on top of the bottles.
X
Had a little tiny tiny tiny sprinkle shower in North Augusta today about 4 pm. I am at work but I hope it rained a little tiny tiny tiny sprinkle at home cause we need all we can get.
Dance a little faster and maybe you'll get more! lol I know I'm dancin as fast as I can!
X
it didnt even hit us here in jackson. we need it so bad. my yard is becoming a desert.
X, I think that'd work great for most of the plants. In fact, I might just try my luck with the greenhouses outside and see if I get any complaints this winter.
Unfortunately I still have to put my Christmas Palm and Traveler's Palm inside the garage. Apparently Christmas Palms are very cold sensitive and need temps 60-70 degrees to be healthy. I probably would have gotten a smaller outside tree had I known that. My inside palm will be fine, but I definitely have to protect my larger one (plus all 4 smaller ones now). I am a sucker for that palm... it's my favorite. I'm in zone denial.
I myself am familiar with the zone denial phenomenon (or is it a sort of addiction?).
Hey guys! Just heard the guy on the weather channel say there would be rain in the "Carolina low country" tomorrow!!
A 60% chance. I think that's the best chance we've had in a month or so.
The dancing must've helped. Or maybe it's because I've been running the sprinklers all morning?
Deb
hopefully it will actually come true. i heard it was that tropical low pressure system thingamadoohickey.
I can't say I was familiar with a thingamadoohickey in college, LOL.
I think we have a 50% chance here... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Deb, zone denial must be an addiction. But hey, at least we don't live in a zone like 4b. Then they might call us crazy.
Keonikale: The thingamadoohickey is closely related to the whatchamacallit and the more traditionally known somethingorother. Some think is evolved from the whoseywhatzit, but research doesn't support that position.
Deb