Re: [gardeners] Rain!!
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 25 Jun 1998 20:34:15
At 09:31 PM 6/25/98 +0000, you wrote:
>Kay wrote:
>
>> *AND* it's not supposed to rain more than a couple of
>> times between May and September here. Mediterranean climate and
>> all that.
>
>I think we all agree that all of us are experiencing truly wierd weather.
>At the risk of sounding even loonier than I usually sound, I will pass on
>a comment made by a commercial grower friend of mine that I am beginning
>to think may not be so off-the-wall.
>
>Anyway, we were having lunch last week and the grower and her husband both
>said that greenhouse crops are just not acting "right" this season. I have
>heard the same type of remark from several growers. While you can't
>control the environment in a greenhouse 100%, it is a lot more stable from
>season to season than field growing conditions. Growers stay in business
>by being able to count on consistent results from their crops year after
>year. If you are growing tomatoes for sale to nurseries, you gotta know
>that if you plant on date X that on date Y, they will be ready for market.
>Etc. Etc.
>
>This isn't happening this year. Some crops are maturing way too soon. Some
>are languishing. Availability lists are a nightmare to prepare. Odd
>diseases. Plants that just don't look "right." I've heard these sorts of
>comments from many growers.
>
>Well, this one grower friend has a theory. Simpy put (hah!), she and her
>husband think it's the result of solar flares. The proverbial sun spots.
>They say they are convinced there is a correlation and asked if I knew if
>anybody had documented the "evidence" that would back 'em up. Heck I
>dunno, but I said I'd ask. Anybody "into" electromagnetic field theory or
>do I need to call agents from X-files for my friends <bg> ?
>
>Catharine
>
There may be some data out there on the effect of sunspots on crops. I
vaguely remember a report that surfaced about 6 years ago. Will start a
search tomorrow and see what turns up. Since sunspots affect communications
wave lengths and tend to "bend" the color spectrum there may indeed be a
correlary. Hmmm, interesting postulation. What say ye, oh scientific guru's
of the list? Me and Catharine are just ordinary old oil field trash.
George