As gardener’s we are all aware of just how tricky growing conditions were in 2012. As I’m a bit limited in what I can do at the moment and the fact that the weather’s pretty miserable too I decided to mess around with some weather data to see if 2012 was really that bad. The easiest comparison to look at is high and low temperatures throughout the year. I decided to compare 2012 with 2011 to see if there was any noticeable difference.
The key months on the plot for me probably start mid way through March to June when lots of seed are sown directly into the plot or young pot grown plants are set out in their final positions.
I've added some dotted lines to help comparisons. In April and May in 2011 night time temperatures remained mostly above 5°C whereas in 2012 most night time temperatures were below 5°C. If we use 15°C as a day time comparison then once again 2012 was much colder through this 3 month period than 2011.
Then of course there was lots of rain in April too. It fell on dry ground but with double the monthly average it got the growing season off to a cold wet start that it never really recovered from.
Lets hope for something much better in 2013.
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Happy New Year, Martyn. I wish you healthy, happy and prosperous 2013.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Jo.
DeleteThanks for all the comments in 2012. Lets hope 2013 turns out to be a great growing year.
It gives you a new respect for nature, doesn't it!
ReplyDelete