Friday was a cloudy but mild. Throughout the day we had a few sprinklings of raindrops now and again. By the end of the day they’d added up to 0.2mm of rainfall.
We decided to have a third attempt at getting some carrots to grow this year. Our first sowing germinated well but was devastated by slugs. We re-sowed some seeds but these germinated poorly and the slugs seem to have hoovered up any surviving seedlings. We’ve sown a third batch in another part of the plot. We chose some quick maturing varieties Early Nantes and Amsterdam Forcing due to sowing this late in the season.
The ground is now very dry and it could do with some good steady rain to improve things. Watering with tap water never seems to have the same effect as a decent amount of rain. When sowing the carrots on Friday each drill received a can full of water before sowing then a couple of can fulls over the bed to settle the seeds in once they were sown.
The chart above shows the rainfall for the last couple of months. May had a little bit above average rainfall but it mostly fell in the first few days of the month. Since then we haven’t had any decent spells of rainfall and as a result the plot and garden are very dry. I’m not sure what will happen if we do have the forecast high temperatures through the middle part of next week.
These potatoes planted rather late on 30 May look like they good do with a good drink. I’m not into watering potatoes though they just have to make the most of the conditions. Who knows I might produce the exact conditions for a Smith period and blight by watering especially in warmer weather.
The Interpretation of Smith Periods. Smith Periods for blight control are calculated from hourly temperature and relative humidity values. The weather records on which the post coded Smith Periods are based are supplied by the Met Office.
A full Smith Period has occurred if, on each of 2 consecutive days:
- the minimum air temperature was at least 10°C, and
- there were a minimum of 11 hours with a relative humidity of at least 90%
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We were just talking about what will happen to everything this week if the temperatures soar as well. We haven't had any "useful" rain for ages, but you're right, when we did everything looked so much better than when it was watered with tap water. Good luck with the carrots, and well done for persevering!
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this morning (Sunday) that the weather models are not so sure about that hot weather now. Maybe high twenties for a couple of days but the 30's have disappeared. Just need some rain now!
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