Southern Hemisphere Growing Season 22/23

[Tyrone]

This morning there is nothing but blue sky and sunshine and a bit of an easterly wind. Definitely a summer pattern coming our way. 

It will be a stinker in Perth today. 

[Phil Petersen]

11 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Perth is going for 37C tomorrow and is the hottest southern capital so far this season. Down here will be a mild but sunny 22C. 

Albany sounds like the place to be. 37C is not good for growing unless soil moisture is ok. I spent 1.5 years in WA and always preferred the weather in the cooler parts down south. You must still be getting good growth at the moment on your Rhopies etc even with lower than average temps so far this spring? Its been colder here but mine seem reasonably happy. 

[Tyrone]

11 hours ago, Phil Petersen said:

Albany sounds like the place to be. 37C is not good for growing unless soil moisture is ok. I spent 1.5 years in WA and always preferred the weather in the cooler parts down south. You must still be getting good growth at the moment on your Rhopies etc even with lower than average temps so far this spring? Its been colder here but mine seem reasonably happy. 

Yes the Rhopalostylis are loving life and don’t slow down much if at all in winter here. Even the Archontophoenix have kept going well. 

Agree that 37C is too hot. 29C tomorrow after an overnight low of 16C. Just perfect really. Perth is going from a min of 24C to 35C tomorrow. Then on Thursday we go from a min of 18C to 25C. We haven’t had an 18C min in a long time. We also let the fire go out last night. Don’t need it anymore. 

[Foxpalms]

7 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Yes the Rhopalostylis are loving life and don’t slow down much if at all in winter here. Even the Archontophoenix have kept going well. 

Agree that 37C is too hot. 29C tomorrow after an overnight low of 16C. Just perfect really. Perth is going from a min of 24C to 35C tomorrow. Then on Thursday we go from a min of 18C to 25C. We haven’t had an 18C min in a long time. We also let the fire go out last night. Don’t need it anymore. 

I wouldn't worry about archontophoenix not growing fast there, even here they are still growing in less than ideal weather. The cunninghamianas still are growing moderately fast but the other archontophoenix types have slowed down significantly. Today was only 8.5c with a low of 7c tonight so that's not very surprising.

 

[Tyrone]

31C and this is what happens. Lightening strike.

[Tyrone]

It got to 32.8C today. Around 9pm it’s still 23C. The fire looked ominous and was about 2km away. The water bombers went back and forth about a hundred times and it’s now contained. The neighbour had all his roof top sprinklers going too. Summer hit us with a bang. 

[Tyrone]

Looking over my neighbours property. I was expecting it to leap over the ridge but it didn’t happen thankfully. 

[UK_Palms]

@Tyrone Yikes! Good job it’s contained now. Eerily similar to what I had here 4 months ago with a fire spreading through the paddocks at the back of my property. It came within 500 yards of my garden before water bombers contained it. We had a prolonged dry period though for months leading up to that fire, whereas you guys haven’t had much of a dry period at all yet. Slightly ominous moving forward, given that you will only get drier and drier now.

[Tyrone]

19 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

@Tyrone Yikes! Good job it’s contained now. Eerily similar to what I had here 4 months ago with a fire spreading through the paddocks at the back of my property. It came within 500 yards of my garden before water bombers contained it. We had a prolonged dry period though for months leading up to that fire, whereas you guys haven’t had much of a dry period at all yet. Slightly ominous moving forward, given that you will only get drier and drier now.

Yeah it’s always concerning when the bushland burns near where you live. However lightening strikes and bushfires are the norm for Australia. All the Australian plants (except rainforest species) need fire to regenerate. So this will be good for the bush in the end. The trouble is we put houses and infrastructure in the way of this natural process. Back pre the 1950s and 1960s to the east of me there was no civilisation and when the Stirling Ranges were hit by lightening and burned they just let them burn right to the southern coastline. Now those areas are full of farms, small townsites, caravan parks and roads and the main highway. They can’t let it burn that way now. Too much damage to property. 

Luckily for me and my neighbour we live on a swamp. Yesterday he was telling me that he couldn’t mow his firebreaks in time because they were in 100mm of standing water. Water is a pretty good firebreak. The problem at my place is I have about 50 dead Pinus radiata trees that were killed by last years flooding. An ember shower into them could get interesting. I’m trying to take them all out. 

[Tyrone]

It got to 23.8C yesterday so this week just gone had some warm temps and the place is drying out nicely. We are now going into some mild weather with some clouds and light showers. Not much different to North Island NZ weather over the same time but just a little drier. 

[cbmnz]

Perfect morning here, a SW flow is keeping the temperatures a littke below average only reaching 21 in exposed sites. However the sun makes it feel warmer, UV will exceed 12 today.  This one has always struggled the most of my 3 planted small in 2018 Rhopies,  it just will not hold more than one frond at a time. So I tried just a month back building the shade cloth stand much higher and drop down to just one layer of light shade - the previous version may have been keeping the rain off too much and soil underneath was dry. Is my best theory anyway. So far, so good.

Edited December 3, 2022 by cbmnz
Word missing.

[cbmnz]

19 hours ago, Tyrone said:

It got to 23.8C yesterday so this week just gone had some warm temps and the place is drying out nicely. We are now going into some mild weather with some clouds and light showers. Not much different to North Island NZ weather over the same time but just a little drier. 

Sometimes you seem to have a NZ like climate there then suddenly you have 27C in September or 37C in summer which is alien here.

[Tyrone]

5 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Sometimes you seem to have a NZ like climate there then suddenly you have 27C in September or 37C in summer which is alien here.

That’s very true. Most of the time we have an easterly or westerly wind direction which brings moisture and cool air off the ocean, just like NZ. But that big dry tropical land mass called Australia is sitting just to the north of here and when we get a heat trough down the west coast it just funnels in hot dry weather for a short period. Once it goes east, we get a warm humid flow from the west, then the temps drop off and we go back to moist cool air off the ocean again. Right now it’s cloudy with strong gusty easterlies and actually cold outside. It’s trying to drizzle. 

[cbmnz]

40 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

That’s very true. Most of the time we have an easterly or westerly wind direction which brings moisture and cool air off the ocean, just like NZ. But that big dry tropical land mass called Australia is sitting just to the north of here and when we get a heat trough down the west coast it just funnels in hot dry weather for a short period. Once it goes east, we get a warm humid flow from the west, then the temps drop off and we go back to moist cool air off the ocean again. Right now it’s cloudy with strong gusty easterlies and actually cold outside. It’s trying to drizzle. 

It's lucky that Rophies and other species from cool to mild year round environments can tolerate the heat for short periods, otherwise would limit what you could grow there.

[michael]

How are you getting rid of the radiatas, Tyrone? Are they fully grown? This may sound like a stupid question and it probably is one, but would anyone come and cart them off for timber?

[PalmCode]

17c here and cloudy with light showers after some overnight rain. Plants are looking green. We could do with some dry, sunny weather now though.

Noticed one of my small banana bunches had just ripened on the tree. And they are very nice, got to be happy with that. 

[Tyrone]

On 12/5/2022 at 12:47 PM, michael said:

How are you getting rid of the radiatas, Tyrone? Are they fully grown? This may sound like a stupid question and it probably is one, but would anyone come and cart them off for timber?

They're about 30m tall. Was thinking something similar to you, but they need to be tended throughout their life like cutting off branches etc so they don't create knots. Mine have just been let go. Some of the wood is rotten and then I have access issues for log trucks to come in. I don't know why they were planted in the first place. So I'm cutting them down myself and sectioning them up by chainsaw. 

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, PalmCode said:

17c here and cloudy with light showers after some overnight rain. Plants are looking green. We could do with some dry, sunny weather now though.

Noticed one of my small banana bunches had just ripened on the tree. And they are very nice, got to be happy with that. 

Your bananas went way better than mine. All my bananas shrivelled up on the plant and the whole stem rotted and died. The young ones coming up now look fine though. Hopefully we don't see another frost like last winters for a good while and I might get a crop. 

[Tyrone]

It got to a humid 27C in Albany today. Was only expecting 23C.

[Phil Petersen]

First warmish day of Summer. Nice to have higher temps and sunshine after such a glum and below average Spring. Official temp in town is lower at 22deg.

[Tyrone]

Well after some warmish mid twenties to high twenties weather, it’s back to drab high teens to a few days around 21,22 with a peak at 24 for the next 14 days. It’s about 14C just before 8am and trying to drissle. Going for 18 or 19 today. 

[Bennz]

1 hour ago, Phil Petersen said:

First warmish day of Summer. Nice to have higher temps and sunshine after such a glum and below average Spring. Official temp in town is lower at 22deg.

Hi Phil, what part of Dunedin are you in? I was a student down there over 30 years ago and I can't remember the weather ever getting to 27C, I mostly remember frost on the floor in July in my bedroom on Leith Street. Is it true air temperature or a microclimate reading?

[Tyrone]

Had a Perth winters day today. 7.1C min and 18.4C max and mostly cloudy. 

[Phil Petersen]

7 hours ago, Bennz said:

Hi Phil, what part of Dunedin are you in? I was a student down there over 30 years ago and I can't remember the weather ever getting to 27C, I mostly remember frost on the floor in July in my bedroom on Leith Street. Is it true air temperature or a microclimate reading?

Hey there, this is a local microclimate reading in the shade. Was only 22deg officially in town. I'm at Andersons Bay near the base of the peninsula. It can get slightly frosty in North Dunedin near the university on places like Leith St in winter for sure.

[Bennz]

10 hours ago, Phil Petersen said:

Hey there, this is a local microclimate reading in the shade. Was only 22deg officially in town. I'm at Andersons Bay near the base of the peninsula. It can get slightly frosty in North Dunedin near the university on places like Leith St in winter for sure.

Utilsing those little microclimates can make all the difference. I recall when I first got interested in palms and tropical fruit I set up a thermometer and recorded it for a year, then realised I'd recorded a temperature range slightly warmer than Newcastle NSW... which was in no way an accurate reflection of reality for the rest of the farm. Thermal mass and wind protection is our friend in cooler climates. In my case the passion for trying new plants (which usually died) got suppressed by the costs of running a farm and raising a young family, but as we've only got one left at home now I might get back into it. There is a lot to be said for growing the climate-adapted palms like Archontophoenix that can be planted and left and relied on to survive on their own.

 

I have not been back to Dunedin since leaving university over 30 years ago, but my recollection is that Andersons Bay is all flat? I would have thought there would be frost through there.  A friend had a home on the N side of the Peninsula just above the road (Portobello Road??), built into the side of the hill in a total suntrap position. I recall a July beer and BBQ session out there where we managed to get sunburn (in July!) while across the harbour the S-facing suburbs still had visible frost on the ground all day!

[PalmCode]

18c and raining again here today after thunderstorms yesterday evening. Its been a wet spring and start to summer. 

[Bennz]

10 minutes ago, PalmCode said:

18c and raining again here today after thunderstorms yesterday evening. Its been a wet spring and start to summer. 

Can you put some good weather on for us next weekend please? Will be my first visit to Auckland for over a year. What's the best palm-viewing location these days?

[greysrigging]

Been ya typically brutal Top End 'build up' so far in December.  Heatwave conditions in the inland regions and sauna like heat and humidity along the coast.
Darwin and Districts this morning 10.00am....


And let me just say, a 'feels like' temp of 100f at 7.30am  is just outright awful !!

Edited December 11, 2022 by greysrigging
spelling

[Foxpalms]

I saw Darwin had some nights the other day with a feel like of 40c at the coolest point of the day.

[greysrigging]

3 minutes ago, Foxpalms said:

I saw Darwin had some nights the other day with a feel like of 40c at the coolest point of the day.

I generally take 'feels like'  temps with a grain of salt....but the last week or so has been pretty bad.

[greysrigging]

1.30pm at Darwin Airport...
I'll admit I'm suffering a bit today in the heat
We've peaked at 35.3c, but its not so much the air temp, its the Dp of 26.6c thats come with it....atrocious outdoors in the sun atm

[greysrigging]

Top End in December 
( pic by Shelley Mottram )

[PalmCode]

11 hours ago, Bennz said:

Can you put some good weather on for us next weekend please? Will be my first visit to Auckland for over a year. What's the best palm-viewing location these days?

Hopefully it will be dry again next weekend, Good luck with that.

Only know  a couple of native habitat trails and private gardens I dont really know of any public, viewing places for more uncommon, rarer palms , sorry.  The Devonport area has some nice palms around from what i recall  driving around  there.

[Tyrone]

Western Australia had some diverse temps today. 4C min in Jarrahwood. 49C max in Mandora. Something for everyone. 

[Phil Petersen]

21 hours ago, Bennz said:

Utilsing those little microclimates can make all the difference. I recall when I first got interested in palms and tropical fruit...

I have not been back to Dunedin since leaving university over 30 years ago, but my recollection is that Andersons Bay is all flat? I would have thought there would be frost through there.  A friend had a home on the N side of the Peninsula just above the road (Portobello Road??), built into the side of the hill in a total suntrap position. I recall a July beer and BBQ session out there where we managed to get sunburn (in July!) while across the harbour the S-facing suburbs still had visible frost on the ground all day!

Hey again, 

There are some small flat areas near the inlet but most of the suburb is in a hill and facing NW. Im at 40masl on a slope so get direct sun till 445pm on the shortest day of the year, and cold air runs away on a clear, calm winters night. Definitely trying to take advantage of the microclimates here for fruit etc but am more needing to create shade and shelter for establishing Nikau in the landscape. The peninsula and surrounds is generally  milder than the city in the winter with much less frost due to water bodies, more air movement,  generally gets more sun throughout the day due to aspect, and gets less isolated showers off the local mountains than the city on patchy days. We are pretty exposed here to SW and NE wind though so growing/placing some shelter in the right places is a big part of successful growing. Cheers 🌱👍

[PalmCode]

22c here, feeling hot and humid in the sun today...

Photo of my biggest kentia looking happy in this weather.

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, PalmCode said:

22c here, feeling hot and humid in the sun today...

Photo of my biggest kentia looking happy in this weather.

You've got a beautiful garden going there. I love that shot. 

[Tyrone]

Last night was cloudless and dead still with a chill in the air. I lit the fire because it felt more like winter than summer. Glad I did. It went down to 5.3C last night and then up to 19.7C. Too cold for December here. Luckily the days are really long now because the same temp drop in winter would have led to frost. If I get frost in summer here I'll probably have a breakdown and run for the wet tropics. 

[cbmnz]

First real "summer" day with high of 27C and still was a sunlit  22.5C at 8:30pm with no wind.

[Bennz]

10 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Last night was cloudless and dead still with a chill in the air. I lit the fire because it felt more like winter than summer. Glad I did. It went down to 5.3C last night and then up to 19.7C. Too cold for December here. Luckily the days are really long now because the same temp drop in winter would have led to frost. If I get frost in summer here I'll probably have a breakdown and run for the wet tropics. 

You'll have acclimatised to the South Coast and find the wet tropics unbearable! And then miss all your cool climate palms.

 

The microclimates that allow summer frost are weird. When I live it' reliably frost-free all year, but just 10km away a guy I know can lose his tomatos to frost in January semi-regularly.