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Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.
Cooling down a bit
- Thread starter Rich Z
- Start date
35.1 degrees the overnight low last night (Saturday).
Guess we need to be preparing to cover some of Connie's more sensitive plants when the temps drop below freezing. We use bamboo as stakes, put them in the ground extending above the topmost levels of the plants so the tarps don't lay on the branches and leaves. Sort of creating a tent. We did that for a few of the younger citrus trees, but that have since gotten too big for that, so they will be on their own from now on. But Connie's pineapple plants are doing REAL well, so we want to keep them protected over those cold spells. They have gotten MUCH larger than we thought they would, however. One actually produced a fruit this year, but some varmint got it before Connie could harvest it. Now you know, nothing around here has EVER had a pineapple to eat before, but that didn't stop them from eating it.
I use an auger bit in one of my drills to create a 2" diameter hole about 2 ft. deep, which works well. Just have to select the appropriate diameter sized bamboo to cut down and cut to length. They usually last a few years before the bottom rots off.
Guess we need to be preparing to cover some of Connie's more sensitive plants when the temps drop below freezing. We use bamboo as stakes, put them in the ground extending above the topmost levels of the plants so the tarps don't lay on the branches and leaves. Sort of creating a tent. We did that for a few of the younger citrus trees, but that have since gotten too big for that, so they will be on their own from now on. But Connie's pineapple plants are doing REAL well, so we want to keep them protected over those cold spells. They have gotten MUCH larger than we thought they would, however. One actually produced a fruit this year, but some varmint got it before Connie could harvest it. Now you know, nothing around here has EVER had a pineapple to eat before, but that didn't stop them from eating it.
I use an auger bit in one of my drills to create a 2" diameter hole about 2 ft. deep, which works well. Just have to select the appropriate diameter sized bamboo to cut down and cut to length. They usually last a few years before the bottom rots off.
Both weather.com and weather.gov are calling for a low of 36 degrees tonight. It is already 35.8 from my weather station. We have the pineapple plants covered, so hopefully the temp won't drop down low enough to damage the citrus fruits on the trees.
Had a low of 28.6 degrees last night. :ack2:
Only plant damage I have seen is on some very small crepe myrtles on the east side of the house that grew from seed dropped by a larger tree nearby. But sometimes it takes a day or two for damaged leaves to become evident.
So, hoping none of the citrus fruits got damaged.
Looks like a couple of nights of high 30s in the forecast for the next week or so, so hopefully the national weather service won't be as off the beam as they were for last night's forecast.
Only plant damage I have seen is on some very small crepe myrtles on the east side of the house that grew from seed dropped by a larger tree nearby. But sometimes it takes a day or two for damaged leaves to become evident.
So, hoping none of the citrus fruits got damaged.
Looks like a couple of nights of high 30s in the forecast for the next week or so, so hopefully the national weather service won't be as off the beam as they were for last night's forecast.
85vette
Active member
Just got back home from 7 weeks on the road. We dodged the worst weather (so far) this year, but we'll be back out in January so I'm sure the snow and ice are waiting for us.
Not terribly cold so far. Some teens but we haven't encountered the single digits yet. We have avoided I-80 like the plague so that's our only saving grace.
Wyoming is brutal this time of year. The weather warnings said to get off 80 before Wednesday this week or you might be spending Christmas there!
Merry Christmas to all!
Not terribly cold so far. Some teens but we haven't encountered the single digits yet. We have avoided I-80 like the plague so that's our only saving grace.
Wyoming is brutal this time of year. The weather warnings said to get off 80 before Wednesday this week or you might be spending Christmas there!
Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Christmas to you, too!
I sure don't envy you driving up north in the Winter months. I am sure the scenery covered in snow is beautiful, but I'll settle for just seeing it in pictures.
Drive safe in your travels.
Oh yeah, it got down to 34.5 degrees last night (Thursday). We left the pineapple plants covered all day on Thursday because we drove over to Destin so Connie could visit with her sister. It was too cold in the morning when we left to uncover them, so what the heck. I am sure they didn't mind the tarps being on them all day long. And when we got back, it was starting to already feel cold again. Of course, with this Florida blood we now have, mid 50s feels like well below freezing to us.
I sure don't envy you driving up north in the Winter months. I am sure the scenery covered in snow is beautiful, but I'll settle for just seeing it in pictures.
Drive safe in your travels.
Oh yeah, it got down to 34.5 degrees last night (Thursday). We left the pineapple plants covered all day on Thursday because we drove over to Destin so Connie could visit with her sister. It was too cold in the morning when we left to uncover them, so what the heck. I am sure they didn't mind the tarps being on them all day long. And when we got back, it was starting to already feel cold again. Of course, with this Florida blood we now have, mid 50s feels like well below freezing to us.
85vette
Active member
We bought this house (mansion) in Georgia last January and the yard is full of pecan trees, peach trees and pears along with a Satsuma, Lemon and a Kumquat.
After we went on the road after the closing apparently the temps got cold enough to kill the graft in the Satsuma and this year the fruit is un-edible. And they were SO GOOD last year! And this was a large well established tree too, probably 30-40 years old.
It stands about 12-15 feet tall so covering it would not have been an easy task had we been home to do so. I really wonder how it lasted as long as it did. It has gotten quite cold in SW Georgia in the past few decades. :shrug01:
After we went on the road after the closing apparently the temps got cold enough to kill the graft in the Satsuma and this year the fruit is un-edible. And they were SO GOOD last year! And this was a large well established tree too, probably 30-40 years old.
It stands about 12-15 feet tall so covering it would not have been an easy task had we been home to do so. I really wonder how it lasted as long as it did. It has gotten quite cold in SW Georgia in the past few decades. :shrug01:
Hmm, satsumas are actually quite cold hardy. We haven't covered any of our citrus for a few years now and they are doing fine. Even in the earlier days we never covered the satsumas and they didn't even get any leaf burn in some pretty cold nights. How cold does it normally get there on the coldest nights?
Yeah a 15 ft. tall tree would be a struggle to cover properly. You would also need a frost cloth between the tree and the tarp, so it could be hard to do. And it would get old if you have quite a few nights you would need to do that. And with you guys traveling so much, certainly you wouldn't be able to keep up with it.
Sounds like you are just eating fruits from the graft now. Perhaps it has some branches that grew from the root stock that are the ones that survived? They are pretty nasty. They smell really sweet, but one bite will be your last.
But I guess your peach trees will like the chill hours and do well for you. Hope you don't have a lot of varmints there, because they will really tear into the ripe peaches.
Yeah a 15 ft. tall tree would be a struggle to cover properly. You would also need a frost cloth between the tree and the tarp, so it could be hard to do. And it would get old if you have quite a few nights you would need to do that. And with you guys traveling so much, certainly you wouldn't be able to keep up with it.
Sounds like you are just eating fruits from the graft now. Perhaps it has some branches that grew from the root stock that are the ones that survived? They are pretty nasty. They smell really sweet, but one bite will be your last.
But I guess your peach trees will like the chill hours and do well for you. Hope you don't have a lot of varmints there, because they will really tear into the ripe peaches.
We reached a high of 81.9 degrees already today. Then for tomorrow the high is predicted to only reach 54 degrees.
Damn, I was getting used to this early Spring weather we have been having here lately. I am even wearing shorts and sleeveless T-shirts.
Damn, I was getting used to this early Spring weather we have been having here lately. I am even wearing shorts and sleeveless T-shirts.
Yesterday (Sunday) the high temp was 81.4 degrees. Today it is not going to make it to 50 degrees. Temp got up to 49.6 degrees and is dropping. We will have to cover Connie's pineapple plants tonight as they are calling for possible frost with a low around 34 degrees. Hope the wind dies down, otherwise going to be tough keeping those tarps in place over the plants.
Temp just dropped to 48.6 degrees since I started typing this.
Temp just dropped to 48.6 degrees since I started typing this.