Spring/Summer drought in southern England and northwestern Europe.

[sipalms]

@greysrigging Hahah good spotting.

Maybe we can start a thread called, 'From where you'd rather be", and users can upload spoof photos purportedly showing their own area but with photos from elsewhere that look like how they would prefer their area looked e.g. UK>>Turkey or Italy >> Thailand.

On another thread, the OP of this thread was found out posting pics of washingtonias supposedly in their own town/area but they were actually from Arizona and New Zealand and goodness knows where else!

[greysrigging]

8 minutes ago, sipalms said:

@greysrigging Hahah good spotting.

Maybe we can start a thread called, 'From where you'd rather be", and users can upload spoof photos purportedly showing their own area but with photos from elsewhere that look like how they would prefer their area looked e.g. UK>>Turkey or Italy >> Thailand.

On another thread, the OP of this thread was found out posting pics of washingtonias supposedly in their own town/area but they were actually from Arizona and New Zealand and goodness knows where else!

See, I have a theory.....antipodeans such as you and me have highly tuned BS meters......after all Aussies and Kiwis grow up with being fed BS, so we become attuned to it.
Now speaking personally, I'm a renowned BS artist myself, although I prefer to call it 'creative storytelling', ie never let the truth stand in the way of a good story,
And it is hard to BS a BS artist.....

[UK_Palms]

15 hours ago, sipalms said:

@UK_Palms It's amazing how you defer the point about terrible sunshine stats that the UK gets by swinging the conversation over to vineyards and blasting photos out there.

You were the one who brought up grapes and vineyards out of the blue, not me. You specifically said that vineyards are rare in the UK and that grapes don't grow well here as they require sun and heat, but it just so happens that I am growing them here perfectly fine and there are multiple wineries in Surrey, one of which is just down the road from me. So I am at liberty to post photos of my own grapes, as well as the Surrey vineyards. How am I swinging the conversation by replying to you... about something you brought up? Plus we had previously discussed the issue of sunshine hours at length before in this thread, not too long ago. You are reiterating and re-posting what has already been said...

 

15 hours ago, sipalms said:

@UK_Palms Did you know just about anyone can grow a grapevine. There are vineyards in the north of England as you say. But they're generally just for looks. Even in southern Ontario, Canada where they get lows down to -20 or more, there are some amazing vineyards. But they get a heck of a lot more sun which is why they yield more which makes them commercially viable. Other than the Novelty factor of cellar door type boutique wineries like the ones you've uploaded pics of, the UK just doesn't get the sunshine to make the refined wines at scale, that people actually want to drink. 

We might not produce the same volume as other warmer, sunnier countries, but the quality of the grapes grown here in the southeast of England is right up there. The resulting wine is very palatable. I have tried bottles of professionally grown Surrey wine and you cannot tell the difference when compared to French or Italian. And if there is a difference, it really is minimal. The issue is not the quality, but the quantity. There is definitely enough sun and heat from April - October here to grow good quality grapes, just as we are doing! 

I would imagine the comment I highlighted above would genuinely enrage the vineyard owners over here who are putting a lot of time and effort into pioneering quality and quantity grapes in these northern latitudes. Just like the palm growing exploits over here, wine growing is also getting bigger and better every year. Quality and quantity is improving year on year. Things will be very, very different 10 years from now, in part due to climate change. At least give us credit for growing what we are up here at 51N, come on man...

 

15 hours ago, sipalms said:

@UK_Palms Anyhow, London and most of Southeast England, at 1600-1650 hours of sunshine per annum is pretty crap to be honest. Definitely not Med/Subtropic.

What do you want me to say, Simon? That my climate here is utter crap? That I barely get any sun at all here and that it is freezing cold year-round...? I'm starting to feel like that is the only acceptable answer to you now. I feel that whatever I say you're going to challenge. I suppose all those CIDP's and Washies around the south of England must be made out of plastic. Funny how you don't see CIDP's or Washie's in other regions that are supposedly Mediterranean or 'subtropical', such as Portland, Seattle and New York. Just saying...

You know full well that our annual sunshine hours look as bad as they do due to how short our days are in winter and how low the sunlight intensity is during winter at this northern latitude. I am not denying that winter here is bleak, dull, wet and on the cold side. Trust me, I hate winter here. But on the flip side, it is generally speaking pretty warm, sunny and dry from May - September here. Comparable to other high latitude Med regions. Warmer than some actually. 

I mean I recorded 31C here today in mid-September at 51N. It's currently 20C at midnight here and I am expecting a low of about 18C tonight out here in the rural countryside. Heathrow is sitting at 22C at the time of writing this. London and the south coast probably won't drop below 20C tonight. Then I am expecting highs of 28-29C again here tomorrow, possibly 30C. It's pretty darn dry right now as well, with no rain on the horizon. Definitely not indicative of a standard oceanic climate at 51N, not for mid September.

It's pretty obvious we are gradually transitioning towards a warm-summer Med climate. Are we there yet, no. Will it be 'warm-summer Med' in 10 years time? Who knows. Climate change is clearly happening though. We are getting warmer and drier. Are you telling me this is a normal forecast for a coastal island at 51N in mid September...? Like I said, Heathrow is 22C right now at 1am and might not drop below 20C tonight. 

 

21 minutes ago, sipalms said:

Sorry but I can't help myself.

I have reason to believe that the above grapevines are not your own and these are more false pics.

There are two reasons why, but before I bother explaining, why don't you prove me wrong by uploading a photo of the same vines with of one of your potted Queens in front of them?

Dude, it's gone midnight here and pitch black outside. Plus I'm not being ordered about by you either. It just so happens though, I was actually assessing my vines over the weekend and snapped a few pics.

I have about 15 grapevines in total now, although 8 of them are pretty small and were only planted this spring, producing one truss this year. I'm hoping for more next year off the smaller ones. I have attached photos of 3-4 of my better vines with multiple trusses. These have recovered well after a set back in spring. Most are about 1 week away from harvest now.

I have a mixture of black, red and white grapes growing here. The black grapes are by far the best producers for some reason. Some whites do okay as well. 

 

The grape vines are nothing... don't get me started on the size and quality of the tomatoes and peppers that I am growing up here too, out in the open...

Onto the tom's...

Pineapple Bomb - hands down the best tomato I have ever tasted.

Black Russian - second best tomato I have ever tasted. 

Watermelon

 

This is just a fraction of what I have going on, but I hope it gives you an idea of what I am doing in the background, besides the palm growing... whether that is grapes, peppers or tomatoes. I'll probably upload more pictures when I bring in the bulk of the crop at the end of the month. I have about 40 different peppers and 20 different tomatoes here. Everything is thriving. Got a few cross breeding programmes going on at present. 

[sipalms]

@UK_Palms that's a very productive vege garden, good work. Nice to see the grapes you have, still not sure I have seen the same plants as originally posted but that's all good. 

Edited September 16, 2020 by sipalms

[PALM MOD]

I've been very lenient with this crazy topic. BUT - I'm tired of cleaning up the profane language. Any more and this gets closed - and the author on notice.

[UK_Palms]

15 hours ago, PALM MOD said:

I've been very lenient with this crazy topic. BUT - I'm tired of cleaning up the profane language. Any more and this gets closed - and the author on notice.

I didn't think I had used much, if any profane language? Certainly not in the past few pages. Nonetheless, I promise I'll watch my language in general from here on. 

Edited September 20, 2020 by UK_Palms

[UK_Palms]

On 9/16/2020 at 3:52 AM, sipalms said:

@UK_Palms that's a very productive vege garden, good work. Nice to see the grapes you have, still not sure I have seen the same plants as originally posted but that's all good. 

Thanks. I have been growing tomatoes and peppers for several years now. Almost as long as I have been growing palms. It's a hobby that has become pretty obsessive, to the point that I have trialled approximately 75 different types each of tomato and pepper as well as bred my own varieties, to varying degrees of success. I am thinking of making a business out of it in the coming years, incorporating palms as well probably. It's just a pipe dream right now though. 

We reached 26C here today with clear sunny skies. Expecting similar conditions on Monday and Tuesday. Good weather for the veg and grapes to keep ripening up, although a cold, northerly front is moving in by midweek, brining below average temperatures. It should also bring some rainfall at least. It's abnormally dry still right now, considering we are going into late September now. In fact my last rainfall here was over 3 weeks ago now!

Here are some pictures of the original vines you were referring to above...

 

Here's one of the smaller vines as well that was planted this year. It doesn't look great but has still produced some grapes. Hopefully we will have a good season next year and I will get a lot more trusses on the smaller vines. This smaller one was actually grown on from seed from the plant above. This is the first year that it has produced grapes. Not sure how palatable they will be... 

 

It was very windy here on Friday and Saturday and some of my pepper plants have been outright snapped in half. My own fault for not adequately staking them I guess...

Harvested some more wind-ravaged tomatoes this evening as well...

My 'Yellow Mammoth' crossbreed is almost ready for harvest...

Edited September 20, 2020 by UK_Palms