'November Rain'

[Kris]

Dear friends

Last month,during the final weeks of November'08 we in chennai experienced enormous amount of rainfall..i have observed that basically chennai(madras) was drought prone region for years togather.but after the Tsuanani & earthquake in southeast asian region,whole of south india is experiencing heavy & abnormal amount of rainfall for the past 3 to 4 years.and the ground water level is high past 2 years now.And the result the water from the monsoon rains seem to stagnate everywhere.and the last week of november month was really miserable for chennaites.no power supply,no drinking water supply,seweage water flooting on the streets,etc.most of the people living in lower regions had to be vacated to near-by govt schools & colleages.and the local reservoirs were full,so water had to be sent out to the sea.And basically tamil nadu is a flattened plain region with most areas having predominent clayee soil which had fecilitated in rice(paddy cultivation)for ages ! And the state goverment estimate of the cultivable lands flood damage is around 1000 crores as of now.

And our entire city looked flooded.

In the following post i will upload stills for you to see what it has done to our palms,and most of the regulars to my threads would have known that i have dug huge pits inside our garden to fecilitate easy rainwater drainage.but inspite of it water did stagnate here for around 2 full days,while in our neighbours garden the rain water stagnated for around 5 to 6 days !

I think i have spoken enough,shall we have some visuals showing waterclogging & its effect on our palms...

Love,

Kris

[Kris]

Here are some visuals taken from our Kris Garden(my home)...

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[Kris]

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[Kris]

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[Kris]

By the way friends,it appears that our climate is most suited for lipsticks & nypha fruticas... And is not sutiable for the deasert palms or the phoenix species !

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[Kris]

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[ruskinPalms]

Hey Kris, i hope everything makes it through OK. On the bright side, you could grow some really neat water loving palms. I know you love phoenix and the other desert palms out there but there are so many really cool palms that you could grow where you are. AND I bet with your dilgence and your attention to detail, you will bbe able to find a way for the desert palms to thrive in your garden.

[Kris]

Dear Bill

Thanks for dropping by ! and those comments are really warm boosters,at this wet season here...

More stills are just comming your way friends !

Lots of love,

Kris

[BS Man about Palms]

Wow Kris, thats amazing! Maybe you can keep your desert palms inside!

[Kris]

Now shall we move on to the terrrace garden region.. But things have not improved here too,since all pots & barrels were loosing porous soil quite soon ! even some of which are yet to host some palms in them...

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[Kris]

These pots were bought around 2 years back,all small to medium sized terracotta pots..but after really growing some palms over a couple of years,i realised that they are virtually of no use to grow palms..since i feel that they are no match to the big industrial barrels since they accomadate the palms roots better and need no repotting often..

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[Kris]

the cardboard palm(Zamia)Do not seem mind this wet weather at the moment,and its putting out new flush of leaves...

The cactus section...i have some agaves,yuccos,adeniums & some prickely pears too amoung them..

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[Kris]

Now a still for true 'Phoenix' lover... And while taking the following stills it had started raining heavily onceagain !

Some close-ups for you all to see where those baby palms are all situated ?

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[Kris]

A long shot for you to see the water stagnating here & there...

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[Kris]

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[rozpalm]

Kris, I know all this standing water is horrible and I really feel for you having to endure what you described. On the flip side I would say your plants appear to be loving it. I know your intent was to show the standing water, but your plants look great.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Wow Kris! And I thought WE got a lot of rain here! I hope the water subsides soon.

[Ken Johnson]

Loks likemore on the way. A tropical strom is about to hit South India

[FRITO]

Kris, may thee water retreat soon.

I started loving cactus before I got into palms about 4 years ago. I realized the clay soil and are relatively heavy amount of rains and not having full sun wasnt a conducive climae or enviroment for me to grow the plants. I have a few yuccas and agaves and a couple cactus.

I since love palms much more and have found hardy varieties I can grow here to make the best of what mother nature lets me grow.

That Ravena (rivalrus) Majesty would love to be grounded and out of the blue barell on your rooftop. I cant overwater mine and even in winter conditions here it growns new fronds.

[turfpro01]

Couldnt you grade the soil and add drainage to move all the water to the street?

[M@ximus]

Kris, look at it positively!! You don't need to water your garden!!!!!!

Joke apart, also here in Rome we having heavy rain!!! Many trees have fallen, with strong wind that came with the rain!!, The streets are like river, and my humor is very bad with this weather!!

Anyway, the sun come back always, sooner or later!!

A big embrace . your brother M@x

[Gileno Machado]

Hi Kris

I've heard of the heavy monsoon you guys are having in southern India on CNN...I feel sorry for the trouble it has caused to Chennai. How many mm of rainfall have you had there for last few days?

We're bone dry at the moment up here in Northeastern coast of Brazil... but in Santa Catarina, in the south, they've had terrible flooding rains just a few days ago that paralyzed the region and caused severe damage too.

Your plants all look perfect though. Loved the Chamaerops, looks a lot like one of mine...

Your garden looks like a quiet perfect place for meditation. Hope everything is fine with your family and hopefully the rain has given you a break by now...

[cfkingfish]

For some reason November Rain brings along sad connotations.

[iamjv]

Kris, try to keep your desert palms dry during all this... hope you and your palms are ok! Jv

[Kris]

Dear Friends

Once i finish uploading the stills i will speak to each one of you...Now here are few more stills,this time lets see the casualities..like always the washy filifera was purposely kept out in the open to see what happens.And here are the results !

By the way this palm is recovering very fast since its not planted in the ground where the situation is still wet & sticky ! like the marshy land.

[paulgila]

i hope you have a boat

how is the drainage there? will it soak in fast or is the soil already to water-logged?

as others have said the plants all look great & you have a marvelous collection!

[Kris]

As iam typing this,it has started to rain heavily once again...hope this spell does not last too long...

Now lets see how the P.Sylversteris is doing..

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[Kris]

Cont..

Now lets zoom closer as to see the condition of this baby.. 2 New spears from the recent flush of leaves have rotted,of which one spear has landed in the ground,while the other is still sticking with bunch of new flush..?

Now shall be examine the other spear that has fallen off without blooming into a full grown leaf...

Lets closer examine it do anyone know what is happening,is it fungus attack or some bugs breading in the heart of this P.Sylversteris ? Please explain !

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[Kris]

I can see no visible worns or beeltles in that leaf shaft,then any idea as to what this is due to..?

[arashi]

hello

is there a new spear growing?i think the core has rotten, it is certainly due to much water in the top of the palm

it is very common here in cool and wet climate the spear come easily and the growth often continues without problem after fungus treatment

Edited December 11, 2008 by arashi

[Jeff Searle]

Hello Kris,

I'm sorry to see you have so much rain at one time. It can cause some problems. I believe almost all your palms still great and will pull through this period of tragic rains.

I would suggest when the rains start to subside, if you have any palms that look like their suffering a bit, give them a good drench of a fungicide to treat for any fungus or bacteria you have in the soil that could cause root rot and lead furthermore to the palm dieing. Keep good air circulation around your palms too.

Has the rains started to let up today?

Take care,

007

[Kris]

Dear Friends thanks for those kinds words & for enquiring about the condition of our weather here.

At the moment the water has dried from our garden and from the city roads and last week we did have a gentle spell of rain but not heavy but today morning weather report is that few mild showers are expected in days to come.

And dear 007 i have not though about giving mild fungicide treatement to plams that are looking weak or battered by the rains..thanks for the reminder i will soon starting working on that.many be this would reduce the damage on my entire palm collection that is building gradually over the years..

I will keep you all informed about the progress we are making in this regard !

Kris

[Gtlevine]

Thats beautiful Kris, nice garden. If the area stays wet it will be perfect to plant Ravenea Musicalis.

Gary

[Kris]

Dear Gary

Thanks for visiting & your suggestions taken..even i was thinking of trying nypha fruticas,Mauritia Flexuosa,Ravenea,etc.And the top soil though visibly appears wet & sticky in some shady regions of the garden but soil will remain soft & wet for next 4 months,after which we will experience hot summers & sometimes even in our summers we will have moderate rains with high humidity !

Thanks & Love,

Kris

[Kris]

Dear Friends

I must say that just a couple of days back i noticed that one huge grown Med Fan palm that you can see in the above stills,in a big blue barrel has started shrinking and started to die.i want to know are these as delicate as desert fan palms ?

i will post those stills soon ! And by the way i have given all the needed treatment to this palm..

Love,

Kris.

[Kris]

Gentlemen

Here are the visuals !

by the way these stills were taken a week ago,now every morning we experience mild dizziling with heavy mist.and the drying of leaves is rapid in the main stem or trunk section.but the side sprouts seem to be okay with no drying of leaves as of now.i will post stills of the present stage soon.By the way is this guy(Med Fan too a dry region palm or desert palm ?)it does not seem to like winter rains...

Kris

[Kris]

The phoenix sylversteris has reacted well for the rains,its native to this region..

The following stills were taken the following morning,while previous night we had good rains..

This CIDP Red fruticas,is planted in soil ammended region yet the rain water is seen clogging its root & trunk region !

While the Brahea Armada Palm area looks neat & tidy,no severe water clogging in this soil ammended region with raised planter seems to work well !

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[Kris]

Here lets see some damages due to rains...

And iam surprised that even the Rain Gods don't seem to like my taste for desert palms ? As you can see the near by bogainvilla has snaped its trunk and has fallen on the washy Filifera..

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