Preparation for high temps???

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by spyfferoni

I am dreading our next electic bill!!! I've even been conservative and kept the thermostat around 80, and it still seems like it is running all of the time. Atleast here it cools down nicely at night we usually get dowm to atleast 68 at night, so our AC isn't running constantly all night long. I remember Vegas a couple of summers ago. We were walking the strip in the middle of the night and it was still in the high 90s. I keep saying to myself---it could be much worse! Atleast we have dry heat. I hate the heavy feeling of the heat we experienced last summer in Puerto Rico. It could be only in the 80s and I was dripping with sweat---then when you take a shower it feels like you never completely dry of, and then my in-laws are so used to the heat that they don't have AC, nor do they ever plan on getting it, so I told my DH the next time we visit we are buying an AC unit for them, so we don't feel like we are melting the time we are staying with them. Its hard on my kids---they don't feel like eating, and get heat rashes.

Some random comments. Feel free to ignore.

Have an A/C repair guy out and make sure your Freon is topped off.

If you buy your parents an A/C unit, make sure it's a 220 volt unit. The 110 volt units use something like 3x as much electricity for less cooling.

[Vince]

CoronaBarb,

Yeah we live very close. Are you going to nurse your plants along through the heat or plant a new fall garden?
Well maybe in the future when we have toms in their prime we could check each others gardens out(now mine are more or less done till fall, all of the very large ones are off the plants). Do you stake or cage your TomsZ? Although I am no expert it seems that pruning to one main stem reduces foliage and there for water loss. At the end of last month when we had milder temps(95-100+) I really only needed to water my plants one time every 5-6 days, that is with a half hour soak with a regular hose on each plant. The only reason I started watering more often(but with much less water) was to avoid fruit splitting problems that I was having. Well good luck with your crop Corona today(12:08am now) it is supossed to reach 110degrees! Cheers.

Vince

[coronabarb]

It was a record-breaking high yesterday...113!!! I've never seen it this hot in the 22 yrs I've lived here. My sis, Pam, in Sacramento called and said it was 120!! Unbelievable!!

I still have green tomato plants with green and ripening tomatoes on them. (covered with baseball caps as suggested by somebody here...I think it was a down-under guy...grub?) I would never prune as it leads to sunscald. We need all the greenery we can get. I didn't cage this year's toms, as I just didn't get around to it (hence, the baseball caps)

Cloudy, thunder, lightning, smattering of rain drops last night and today...I guess that's normal for most of you guys, but just plain weird for this part of the country.

[QAGuy]

Spritzes of rain here in Glendora too. Some thunder
rumblings to go along with it. Never been through this
type of weather in SoCal before. It gets hot, but not
like this!

I think it's raining harder than it is, but the rain is evaporating
on it's way to the ground. Raindrops dry up in about 30 seconds
after they hit the ground.

About all it's doing is raising the humidity. Muggy like Chicago today.

[tylenol]

Same story here in Chatsworth of the SFV. Day after day of 100+ temps with 115 yesterday. And, I too, don't remember the heat EVER being this bad and I was born in Glendale in '53. A brief inventory this morning of still ripening fruit, showed over 100 tom's in a sunscald or "just cooked to death" look. Glad I was able to get fruit off most of the plants and still have the energy to start some F2 seeds of the Dwarf Project this AM. Sorry for the rant !

Rob

[coronabarb]

"A brief inventory this morning of still ripening fruit, showed over 100 tom's in a sunscald..."

ty, get those babies covered! I'm trying baseball caps.

[Vince]

I have only had maybe 5 fruit with sun scald and only in the last two weeks. The plants shade each other because they are very close together(2 feet apart at most). Stakeing to one main stem allows for close packing of plants, and I prefer this since I am limited on space and like to grow several different varieties. But, my peppers have been getting fried pretty bad. Hope we get a break from this heat soon. Cheers.

Vince

[spyfferoni]

All of you California folks are really getting the brunt of this heat wave. Your temps make our high temps of 105 seem like nothing. You would probably welcome that. I hope we all get a little bit of relief soon.

Take care,
Tyffanie

Feldon, Thanks for the AC tips.

[landarc]

Hey, at least up north, it looks like we may be getting a break soon. Drop down from the 100 to 115 temps to a more normal range. Hope it lasts and this is the last of the heat. I keep hearing reports of peoples pets dying. I haven't heard of any people yet. but, the break is much needed.

[coronabarb]

bob, I haven't heard of anyone dying either, thank goodness...but I keep thinking of pets (I'm keeping mine in as much as possible). Supposed to be 106 today. I really need to see a long range forecast...

And I can barely believe this...I had two different people tell me there was hail with the thunderstorms that have hit in various places. One happened in O.C. yesterday.

[keithaxis]

all I can say about this heat...(at least west coast heat this past couple weeks...) is that in my zone 4/5 garden it seemed to just love this past week. We hit 98 for four straight days (only 95 today) in the foothills here in western WA and all I can do is love the site of the finally setting tomatoes. Just two weeks ago I posted a thread about all the nice looking plants with no fruit set...well the heat seemed to do the trick..I must have 50 Black krim set when there was not even 1 set fruit two weeks ago..all 30 something varieities are showing fruit like crazy for the past few days..Of course up here when we get to 98 it is only from 2pm til 6pm and then we drop to 70 or 65 in the early morning..

anyway, I had to hide inside during the day the past few days but boy was it fun to walk the garden and see all the new fruit set...

I think us on the west coast lose the massive heat tomorrow..

Keith

[landarc]

I gotta admit, it is times like this that I think moving to Humboldt County and living near the sibs makes a lot of sense. There is that pesky 'work thing', and that pesky 'earning a living' thing though.

Every time I am up there hearing people complain about a 80 degree heat wave and 20 minute/30 mile commute, I think about moving up there and living under my sister and brothers generous and giving nature.

[Worth1]

What!!!!! WORK!!!! Earn a living!!!!
Balderdash.

Worth

[coronabarb]

bob, I forgot...Pam told me there was a nursing home in Stockton that had the a/c go out...two people died and the rest were transferred to other places, 8 to where Pam works in Sacto...a long ambulance drive for them! There's an investigation into possible owner negligence. :-(

And, yeah, where can we go that's cooler...but NOT excessively rainy like H. county! forget S.F.

[landarc]

That is terrible about the older people and there should be an investigation. I understand that the A/C failed, but, they should've done something before people died.

Actually, my sister lives in the mountains and gets 8 months of really good weather and 2 of temperate rain. Then there is the 2 not so good months. But, she did keep a sungold and another unknown tomato going 11 months up there.

Worth, you come home in a mood, don't you. Sittin' around, beer in one hand, old dog in the other, pokin' at us that are at work...