What's your weather right now? 2024 Edition

[Meryl]

No comment.

 

[dragnlaw]

Poor you, not even a little breeze?

 

[Meryl]

Poor you, not even a little breeze?

We have a bit of a breeze today but it's a very hot breeze! I suppose it's similar to putting your head in a ventilated oven - seeing as we are "discussing cooking" !

 

[caseydog]

It felt hotter today than it should have. I went to the store around noon, and walking across the parking lot was brutal. But, it was a big concrete parking lot, and that radiant heat easily adds a few degrees near the ground. Here's the actual numbers in Temp and Heat index.

I live between Denton and McKinney.

CD

 

[pepperhead212]

That's why I always say on days like this, when I'm out there, it could be worse! It "only" got to 94° today, and a 99° HI! Getting worse as the week goes on, with triple digit heat indexes, but one good thing - when I'm out there later in the day (that's when the shade is back there), on these "possible thunderstorm days", it's windy, even when the rain doesn't get here, making it a little more bearable.

 

[caseydog]

That's why I always say on days like this, when I'm out there, it could be worse! It "only" got to 94° today, and a 99° HI! Getting worse as the week goes on, with triple digit heat indexes, but one good thing - when I'm out there later in the day (that's when the shade is back there), on these "possible thunderstorm days", it's windy, even when the rain doesn't get here, making it a little more bearable.

Having lived in Texas for 50 years, I'm used to that kind of heat, although it has definitely gotten worse over those years, even here. I was born 15 miles from Woodbury, and don't remember anything near that hot. Air conditioning was almost non existent then, when I was a kid.

I worry for the next generation.

CD

 

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday the first of August got to 97° here, and a heat Index of 102°. Right now, it's only 94°, but the humidity is even worse, so the HI is 105°. I don't know what the HI was when I was out at 10 am, but the actual temperature was already 90°; I only went out there because the peppers are in the shade then, and didn't go out back later, except when I harvested a couple of things for the dishes I made. It is windy again, and the clouds come and go, but still no rain.

 

[caseydog]

CD

 

[pepperhead212]

Here, it was only my heat index that got to 105°! Yet it was 3° cooler than yesterday - only 94°, so the humidity was even worse. It rained very briefly - only .02", and the temp dropped to 80°, but the humidity went to 76%. Not sure what that "feels like", since I didn't go out since much earlier! But I know it would not have felt good - the wind was only 3 mph. I think that would have felt worse than that much higher HI, with 25 mph winds, gusting to 40!

Update: it is finally raining here! Not just more humidity, but I hear hard rain hitting, and hear a lot of thunder, and saw some lightning, but I'm just on the edge of it.

By 11 pm I had gotten .82" of rain, and a little bit left.

 

[caseydog]

Here, it was only my heat index that got to 105°! Yet it was 3° cooler than yesterday - only 94°, so the humidity was even worse. It rained very briefly - only .02", and the temp dropped to 80°, but the humidity went to 76%. Not sure what that "feels like", since I didn't go out since much earlier! But I know it would not have felt good - the wind was only 3 mph. I think that would have felt worse than that much higher HI, with 25 mph winds, gusting to 40!

Update: it is finally raining here! Not just more humidity, but I hear hard rain hitting, and hear a lot of thunder, and saw some lightning, but I'm just on the edge of it.

Hey, question for you and other avid gardeners. I planted a new rosemary bush this Spring, so it doesn't have really deep roots, yet. It is showing significant signs of stress. Should I cut it back, or will that put even more stress on it? Maybe just prune off some stalks?

The oregano I planted at the same time is fine. That stuff is amazingly hardy -- heat or cold. The thyme is doing okay, too. Well established rosemary does well in Texas summer heat, but I don't think mine has the root system it needs at this time.

My potted basil gets watered twice a day, and is a monster.

CD

 

[pepperhead212]

CD, It sounds like it hasn't developed the roots deep enough. What type of soil is it in? If it is the type that holds water fairly well (which it probably is, since others are doing well), and not a sandy one, that drains, fast, you might want to try watering it deeply, then waiting a while - sometimes watering frequently makes to roots grow outwards, rather than deep. If the soil seems to drain quickly, maybe dig it back up, and mix some compost, humus, or other type of soil that would help holding onto the water.

Good luck with it! Once they get established, you only have to worry about cold!

 

[caseydog]

CD, It sounds like it hasn't developed the roots deep enough. What type of soil is it in? If it is the type that holds water fairly well (which it probably is, since others are doing well), and not a sandy one, that drains, fast, you might want to try watering it deeply, then waiting a while - sometimes watering frequently makes to roots grow outwards, rather than deep. If the soil seems to drain quickly, maybe dig it back up, and mix some compost, humus, or other type of soil that would help holding onto the water.

Good luck with it! Once they get established, you only have to worry about cold!

Texas soil is awful. Where I live, it is mostly black clay. I have tilled a whole bunch of compost into my garden, but I can only go so deep.

Watering deep is hard in that kind of soil. But, we had so much rain in the first five months of 2024, that it did go deep. But then, as usual, Mother Nature shut off the spigot, and 100-plus heat is drying everything out before the roots got deep enough.

Maybe I can run a hose out to the garden and let it run on a very slow trickle for a long time close to the rosemary, and see if I can get some targeted depth. Trying to water the whole yard would cost a fortune, get me in trouble with the city, and do bad things to my house's foundation. But, a very slow trickle near that plant might work.

Thanks. CD

 

[pepperhead212]

That's exactly what I have on that rosemary of mine, and the sage in front of it - trickle emitters. I have 6 butternuts 4 ft apart, down the row, and those I have slightly higher output emitters on, though early on, I have to water more often, but less at a time. And the timer I have on it has a feature that I can set for it to water 3 minutes, then pause a minute, so it can soak into the soil, instead of running off so much.

Everything in my garden is attached in some way to those timers, except for the small, 2x4' herb bed, which is attached with a valve to the rain barrel, though eventually, I have to water those by hand, when the rain stops. But any time I rinse things, I do it over that bed, to save water, though often, that's not enough.

 

[dragnlaw]

pepper, are you saying you have a separate drip for each plant? Or for sections of plants? which may or may not have 3 or more plants together.

And do they drip on top of the soil or under?

 

[pepperhead212]

@dragnlaw Yes, there is one of those emitters near each plant, though sometimes there is more than one plant, like with those squash this year, that I had to re-plant, due to the first ones being destroyed by something. This time I put a small "hoop" of chicken wire over each planting, and a couple spots had nothing germinate, so I just planted a couple extra zinnias in them, and later, they came up, but I left the zinnias! Those emitters are the highest output I use - 2 gal/hr - because those butternuts become large plants, but in the beginning, I set them for just 8 minutes, twice a day. Eventually, I set it for higher, and once a day, and later, even longer, every 3 days. The emitters on the rosemary and sage are the lower 1/2 gal/hr, as they don't need as much, and when the seedlings are getting started, I'll water the herbs by hand, if the weather calls for it.

For the garlic, and things very close together like that, I use driplines, with the 1/2 gal emitters 6" apart. With the SIPs (sub-irrigated planters) I put the 2 gal/hr emitters in the "chimneys", and set them to where they just barely start to overflow, then set them a few minutes less. Surprisingly, those things will dry out in one day, with tomatoes and cucumbers! I learned that early on. Had to set timers for 12 hr intervals, and in this intense heat, every 8 hours - this way I don't have to overflow them.

Though no rain came with it yet, around 6:30 pm it got very windy, and the temp dropped 5°, so far. I'm hearing thunder now, so I assume it's coming, question is, how much.

And now, 7:50 pm, the temp has dropped all the way to 71° (from 91° when I was out earlier, with a 99° heat index), but still little rain - .13", so far, but more is forecast.

 

[blissful]

Bee honey extractions today, 84 deg F, humid, sunny, hot, with those bee suits on. Mr bliss had an experience with heat exhaustion, nearly fell off a picnic table seat twice before we put him on the ground. Sopping wet washcloths on him, cooled him down, hydrated him, let him rest in AC for a while. He worked more after that but with rests. He's fine now. It scared me but I'm so thankful he is okay now, thank God.

 

[caseydog]

Bee honey extractions today, 84 deg F, humid, sunny, hot, with those bee suits on. Mr bliss had an experience with heat exhaustion, nearly fell off a picnic table seat twice before we put him on the ground. Sopping wet washcloths on him, cooled him down, hydrated him, let him rest in AC for a while. He worked more after that but with rests. He's fine now. It scared me but I'm so thankful he is okay now, thank God.

Another Texas tip is to pre load on hydration. Don't wait until after you are sweating. Drink water slowly for an hour or so before you get into the heat. Don't "overload" five minutes before, drink at a reasonable pace for a longer time. Then, drink a little at a time regularly while you work to stay hydrated.

CD

 

[blissful]

Thanks @caseydog Before he went out he ate his wet oatmeal breakfast, 2 bananas, and an orange, was drinking soda. I had quarts of raspberry honey lemonade and quarts of water, glasses with ice, peach bread, set out for them first thing this morning. They were drinking that. The heat problem (aside from weather) was a combination of wearing the bee suit, in the sun, it keeps a lot of heat in it, and he tends to push himself too hard. He's always been this way, driven, to get whatever he is doing, done. I think he prides himself on his work ethic. He's merciless about it. It scared him pretty much. I'm sure he'll be more mindful of how he is feeling and take more reasonable shorter work periods with more breaks. When he was recovered, an hour or so later, he only worked 1 and 1/2 hours, took a half hour break, then we worked in the tent after that but only for 2 hours and it was cooler.
Our friend working with us, and me, we didn't notice the first signs, which for him, he couldn't grasp some frames at the hive, and then he wasn't strong enough to close the patio door. (I thought he was being a jerk...but he wasn't.) He didn't understand why he couldn't, but neither did we, but he didn't have the dexterity or strength. After that he got worse fast and couldn't concentrate on anything or answer questions, and he started losing balance. Once we laid him on the ground I grabbed a bee suit crumpled up for under his head, then a bucket of water w/washcloth I had just inside the tent (for sticky hands or messes). None of us want to repeat this ever again. We're both tired from the experience.

 

[taxlady]

Wow blissful, that must have been scary, exhausting, and unsettling. I'm glad he seems to have recovered and felt well enough to work some more, but cautiously.

 

[blissful]

Wow blissful, that must have been scary, exhausting, and unsettling. I'm glad he seems to have recovered and felt well enough to work some more, but cautiously.

Yeah I think we were a little traumatized. What's the word, it was a harrowing experience. How did we not see the signs before it got worse? We'll work on that, right? Understanding why helps us to understand it better. I hope our friend Zach is okay, he's 35ish, helped me get him to the ground. I hope he was not traumatized by it too much. I was so busy getting something under mr bliss's head, and getting a cold washcloth on him, I almost totally forgot Zach was there, somewhere, I didn't feel I had time to look up to see him. Afterwards he was insightful, about mr bliss not being able to hold 2 frames with his hands while they were at the hives in suits (he could have held 2 frames normally), so he helped me understand how it started to happen. We talked about the clues we might have seen, in retrospect. We both missed clues. What a good friend to be so honest and open about it. I'm grateful for him.