Southern Hemisphere Growing Season 22/23

[Tyrone]

You guys can’t get a break over there. What a year so far.

[cbmnz]

Feels that way, but Northwest WA apparently has a cyclone coming and Southern USA had more terrible tornadoes the other day so everywhere gets damaging weather at times. Overnight another tornado did more damage with sadly one seriously injured this time.

On a more positive note, check out this growth since 13th Jan, less than 3 months.

 

 

[cbmnz]

This one too, since 28th December.

 

[cbmnz]

On 4/10/2023 at 9:50 PM, cbmnz said:

Photo taken and posted by member spwill on the NZ Weather forum. Damage was very localised but two tornados struck in last 24 hours adding to the events of this year. What I'm wondering is where is the rootball on this CIDP?

 

 

From news footage, sure was shallow rooted.

[greysrigging]

The Wet season is just about over...done and dusted for 2022-2023.
I was up on my roof yesterday and took some pics of a neargy storm ( so nearby I bailed out as the thunder and lightning was uncomfortably close. 
The backyard jungle looking good after 2000mm rain this season.
















An oddity in my garden; a QLD Black Palm ( Normanbya normanbyi ) that has branched....

And looks like it might do so again....

Edited April 12, 2023 by greysrigging
addition to post.

[tropicbreeze]

So you're one of those that've been hogging all the rain. I always hope for a better spread of the rain throughout the season. This year has been better than a lot of the recent years, but still could improve. Would be nice to have a late drenching so we start off May with ground water fully recharged and water tanks full. Not necessarily to 2006 standards, but a lot more than we've been getting.

Interesting that Normanbya, have never seen one branching, not even in the wild.

[Tyrone]

Well winter is moving in. Had storms overnight and hail last night and today. Have had two dead pine trees crack and come down (one leaning against another) but no real damage. They have to be dropped anyway. Had 20mm since midnight and at 10am it’s about 11C. 🤢

Luckily the temps rise after this goes thru and we even have a dry period which will be good as I can get things done. We’ve already had our average April rainfall. 

[Tyrone]

On 4/11/2023 at 6:50 PM, cbmnz said:

From news footage, sure was shallow rooted.

It looks like it put some roots out around the original container, then decided to give up and put surface roots in instead, which would be fine in a rainforest, but not in the open. 

[PalmCode]

Its a mild 19c cloudy day here and little bit windy. Lots of oak and poplar leaves falling down here from neighbors trees now its autumn.

Just noticed my archontophoenix cunninghamiana has put out its first flower. It must have enjoyed this wet summer.

[greysrigging]

On 4/13/2023 at 8:51 AM, tropicbreeze said:

So you're one of those that've been hogging all the rain. I always hope for a better spread of the rain throughout the season. This year has been better than a lot of the recent years, but still could improve. Would be nice to have a late drenching so we start off May with ground water fully recharged and water tanks full. Not necessarily to 2006 standards, but a lot more than we've been getting.

Interesting that Normanbya, have never seen one branching, not even in the wild.

Something I have found interesting... do the Green Tree Frogs know something we don't ? Still calling the mating call, laying eggs and producing tadpoles in mid April ?
Seems unusual to me.... now I have observed in the past that late season tadpoles stubbornly refuse to turn into frogs and given a deep container ( ie in a 25 litre plastic  bucket they might just survive as a mature tadpole until the first storms of the following season prompts them to turn into frogs.

[Phil Petersen]

Got out to Glenfalloch Gardens today on Otago Peninsula and visited the mature Nikau located in the bush area up the back.

It is actually volunteering seedlings now. This may be the southern-most example of self seeding R sapida - unless the one on Bluff Hill on the edge of Foveaux Strait is also. 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Phil Petersen

[tropicbreeze]

On 4/15/2023 at 1:21 PM, greysrigging said:

Something I have found interesting... do the Green Tree Frogs know something we don't ? Still calling the mating call, laying eggs and producing tadpoles in mid April ?
Seems unusual to me.... now I have observed in the past that late season tadpoles stubbornly refuse to turn into frogs and given a deep container ( ie in a 25 litre plastic  bucket they might just survive as a mature tadpole until the first storms of the following season prompts them to turn into frogs.

I think today they might have changed their minds. Drammatic difference between yesterday and today, the dry surge finally broke through. Although, Nhulunbuy got 304 mm in the 24 hrs to 9am this morning. But the rain during the past week might have lulled the GTFs into a false sense of security. Now you're going to have to look after all those babies and feed them.  You're lucky they won't need nappy changes as well, LOL.

 

[Tyrone]

Well a still night where the clouds cleared away with a 1030hPa pressure around dawn created a 3C morning. The forecast min was 10C. A bit too cold for mid April. It should be a crisp clear day though.

[cbmnz]

On 4/16/2023 at 9:02 PM, Phil Petersen said:

Got out to Glenfalloch Gardens today on Otago Peninsula and visited the mature Nikau located in the bush area up the back.

It is actually volunteering seedlings now. This may be the southern-most example of self seeding R sapida - unless the one on Bluff Hill on the edge of Foveaux Strait is also. 

It seems that the often quoted statement that natural range West of the alps extends as far as Okarito is based on a few historical anetdotes, if there were natural groves South of the Kumara area where they peter out today, they unfortunately were destroyed pretty quickly after colonisation. So actually today the natural range extends further South on the East side and as this shows if birds were able to spread the seed far enough then it could continue to extend further, into Otago.

[tropicbreeze]

Nothing says dry season more than temperatures below 20C. We've finally dropped below that barrier, first time since August last year. Although, it's forecast the minimums will be back to the low to mid twenties for the coming week.

[Phil Petersen]

Approximately 7 months of growth in the shade 'house' between 1 Oct 2022 - 20 April 2023. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Phil Petersen

[Tyrone]

A nice fine 25.8C today after a 4.9C minimum. We’ve got good weather until Monday where the temps drop and we get high teens and rain. One site is saying 46mm on Monday. 

[greysrigging]

On 4/19/2023 at 11:17 AM, tropicbreeze said:

Nothing says dry season more than temperatures below 20C. We've finally dropped below that barrier, first time since August last year. Although, it's forecast the minimums will be back to the low to mid twenties for the coming week.

After that 2 days of dry season weather I scored 3.5mm last night....

[Tyrone]

Min of 2.7C and max of 27.4C. Beautiful sunny day today. A wide diurnal temp swing.

[Tyrone]

Min of 4.9C and a max of 26.4C with peak dewpoints of 18.6C. Very muggy for this far south in April.

Forecast is a min of 14C and a max of 28C then lots of rain and cold. Goodbye warm weather for about another 8 months. 

[Tyrone]

5.4C minimum and 29.1C maximum, but the clouds are now rolling in.

[cbmnz]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:05 PM, Tyrone said:

Min of 2.7C and max of 27.4C. Beautiful sunny day today. A wide diurnal temp swing.

That's a huge swing, never see one that large here, about 20C would be the absolute max.
Had a long run of highs low 20's and overnight lows well above average, many 15-17, although very cloudy. Big drop in dewpoint tomorrow, then first cold night, hopefully will just avoid a frost then warms again.
Once calendar hits May however, the risk starts, will have to start watching forecast and have protection ready. Sigh, perhaps should've just planted down one zone then never would need to worry. The Alexandre put out a really large frond last one, now is doing the bronze thing.

[cbmnz]

Min 2.1C, no damage. Some ice on neighbour's roofs. Wish this was all ever saw during the whole winter.

[Tyrone]

Well so much for a dry April. We are looking at going past 130mm where the average is 61mm. The water tank is overflowing and the lakes here are filling up again. Good Rhopalostylis weather. 

[cbmnz]

Stuck in a saturated sub-tropical flow for the next 7 days by the looks. Only upside is it will be warm for the time of year and extend the growing season, but sun is going to be in short supply.

[Tyrone]

April gave us 134 mm of rain vs the average of 61mm. The min temp was 2.7C and the max 29.1C. So it was winter style rainfall but with autumn like temps. The whole growing season this time lacked any extreme heat which was good. Hopefully on the flip side winter will lack any extreme cold that last year did have. At the moment everything is cool and damp. 

[PalmCode]

17c here at 8.30pm, cloudy and dry at the moment but more rain forecast for the rest of the week. Overnight lows could be around 16-18c. Havnt been able to do much star gazing with this recent weather. 

Repotted  a Hedyscepe today - 50 liters.  Going to move it  back in full sun now for winter and spring. The other one I put back in a pot last year is doing fine as well. 

 

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, PalmCode said:

17c here at 8.30pm, cloudy and dry at the moment but more rain forecast for the rest of the week. Overnight lows could be around 16-18c. Havnt been able to do much star gazing with this recent weather. 

Repotted  a Hedyscepe today - 50 liters.  Going to move it  back in full sun now for winter and spring. The other one I put back in a pot last year is doing fine as well. 

 

That’s an awesome Hedyscepe. At first I thought it was a droopy leaf form of Dypsis onilahensis. 

[PalmCode]

7 hours ago, Tyrone said:

That’s an awesome Hedyscepe. At first I thought it was a droopy leaf form of Dypsis onilahensis. 

Yeah this ones very droopy. I keep it in the shade over summers but it gets sun through out the rest of the year and it keeps putting out the droopy new leafs. Makes a great pot plant with this look.

[cbmnz]

Somewhere between 60-80mm  yesterday but no damage done. Water was starting to pond for the 1.5 hrs or so that it was falling at about 30mm/hr but soon drained away. Hope Palmcode's place did ok, nothing like Jan 27th but there was more flooding around Auckland yesterday.

A run of 0C to 1C lows is coming .I'm really lacking motivation to protect everything to the paranoid extent that did the last two winters -  I think it's time for a reality check. Will save manual protection for if something beyond what is normal in winter is forecast, say if -4C was forecast, which has not happened since 2009 and IIRC 2015.

I've proven that the likes of R. Baueri, A .Alexandre and Cunninghama can do well if covered for every possible frost. Now they are 3-4 years old and getting sizable need to find out if they can do ok just with the permanent protection of  canopy and building proximity that their planted locations provide. At this rate they will soon be too large to protect, anyway. Time for phase 2 of the experiment, for these plantings.

[PalmCode]

3 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Somewhere between 60-80mm  yesterday but no damage done. Water was starting to pond for the 1.5 hrs or so that it was falling at about 30mm/hr but soon drained away. Hope Palmcode's place did ok, nothing like Jan 27th but there was more flooding around Auckland yesterday.

A run of 0C to 1C lows is coming .I'm really lacking motivation to protect everything to the paranoid extent that did the last two winters -  I think it's time for a reality check. Will save manual protection for if something beyond what is normal in winter is forecast, say if -4C was forecast, which has not happened since 2009 and IIRC 2015.

I've proven that the likes of R. Baueri, A .Alexandre and Cunninghama can do well if covered for every possible frost. Now they are 3-4 years old and getting sizable need to find out if they can do ok just with the permanent protection of  canopy and building proximity that their planted locations provide. At this rate they will soon be too large to protect, anyway. Time for phase 2 of the experiment, for these plantings.

Thanks, yeah it flooded here again yesterday but not as bad as january 27th . Had more damage to our gravel driveway but everthing else is ok.

Lots of cleanups around where I am. The river went over the raod and into shops again. Not good.

Good luck with your palms against frosts from now on, I rekon theres a decent chance they can take it now they're bigger.
 

[Tyrone]

21 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Somewhere between 60-80mm  yesterday but no damage done. Water was starting to pond for the 1.5 hrs or so that it was falling at about 30mm/hr but soon drained away. Hope Palmcode's place did ok, nothing like Jan 27th but there was more flooding around Auckland yesterday.

A run of 0C to 1C lows is coming .I'm really lacking motivation to protect everything to the paranoid extent that did the last two winters -  I think it's time for a reality check. Will save manual protection for if something beyond what is normal in winter is forecast, say if -4C was forecast, which has not happened since 2009 and IIRC 2015.

I've proven that the likes of R. Baueri, A .Alexandre and Cunninghama can do well if covered for every possible frost. Now they are 3-4 years old and getting sizable need to find out if they can do ok just with the permanent protection of  canopy and building proximity that their planted locations provide. At this rate they will soon be too large to protect, anyway. Time for phase 2 of the experiment, for these plantings.

Yeah I saw that the North Island around Auckland copped it again. What a year it’s been for NZ. 
 

0-1C requires almost no protection for those species at least once they’ve put a bit of size on them. If you get down to minus 3C you may see some damage but I reckon they wouldn’t die just look a bit ugly for a while. You can’t protect them forever. They’ve got to do it on there own eventually. Dense plantings when young help I reckon. 

[Tyrone]

1.4C min this morning. Coldest so far.

It can stop now. 

We are right under a high pressure cell so it should be a nice day today.

[cbmnz]

9 hours ago, Tyrone said:

1.4C min this morning. Coldest so far.

It can stop now. 

We are right under a high pressure cell so it should be a nice day today.

Ended up colder than mine. Low was 3.0. Tonight should be the coldest for a whiie, forecast is 1C, I think 0 is possible. It's still early in the cold season.  Better to be under a high now than the last week of June or the first week of July.

[Tyrone]

8 minutes ago, cbmnz said:

Ended up colder than mine. Low was 3.0. Tonight should be the coldest for a whiie, forecast is 1C, I think 0 is possible. It's still early in the cold season.  Better to be under a high now than the last week of June or the first week of July.

The cloud has come back and a cold front is coming thru so it should be warmer tonight. 
I hope you stay above zero tonight. 

[cbmnz]

Low 1.5, bananas stay green for another week at least. They don't normally get browned before June.

[Tyrone]

2 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Low 1.5, bananas stay green for another week at least. They don't normally get browned before June.

I bet it will be warmer tonight.

After my 1.4C morning the temp maxxed at 22.4C. When the cold front came through this morning I got up to put some more wood on the fire and it was closer to 15C. The suns out this morning. Only a blip of rain though. 

[cbmnz]

1C forecast for Friday morning, then mild again. As has been normal the last few years, everything will stay green and undamaged well into June.

[Phil Petersen]

Lowest overnight low this year so far was 4.6deg on 11th May.  No other sub 5deg temps yet. Been sunny but cool here this week after a cool wet previous week. Looks quite settled in the long range forecast. Palms have slowed growth but still spears opening. 

[cbmnz]

Now have 2C forecast instead of 1C. Currently 19C so out of danger for sure. Have never had a damaging frost after reaching 16C or more the afternoon  before.  Weird mix of autumn colour and crownshafted palms in the mid latitudes.