Uhh, it was 85 degrees here today.

[danw]

My trees in half wine barrels are now officially woken up. The tip buds are all starting to leaf out and I see quite a number of little figs forming. My plum trees are also in full bloom. The bummer is we desperately need more rain here. I guess I am more than willing to loose all my plums in exchange for more rain! Hopefully the little figs are not bothered. I guess if we get some more cold weather and frost it could be a problem for the figs.

Also I am seeing quite a number of figs forming on some rooting cuttings. It seems mostly limited to the tip cuttings. I guess I should just cut them off. Anyone know when is the best time? Do I need to wait until they are a certain size to guarantee they do not keep growing?

Dan

[greenfig]

Dan,
I mentioned those highs recently too, a bit south of you :
http://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-ho...-a-nice-winter

[danw]

Crazy! I think we set a record high for this date. It looks like you either set one as well or got really close also. Personally I am hoping for some more winter storms! I am on a well, and just waiting for that bottom of the milk shake straw sucking sound.

[DBJohnson]

And here I am with 6" of snow and ice on the ground and the power is out. You can have all my winter storms if you want them. Free for pick up...I'll leave them by the curb.

[Altadena Mara]

I had the air conditioning in my car on medium today driving around. It was hot!
I've mentioned before how my fruit orchard of plums and apricots will be missing the winter chill to the point of not producing any fruit again this year. Also several mulberry trees of the morus nigra varieties will probably be fruitless again this year. One of my Pakistan mulberry has put out a lot of ripening fruit, but it just isn't as flavorful as the morus nigra with it's acid twang. Water shortages don't seem as desperate. Water always comes out of the faucet when you turn it on but there's no faucet for a good winter chill.

[COGardener]

I was watering my potted trees yesterday and noticed a few starting to break bud and several pushing breba. I guess the 60° temps are already waking them up.

And so soon starts the dreaded pot shuffle. I think I'm going to modify a trailer to hold them all. Then just drag it in and out. 😃

[fitzski]

Crazy temps the past few days in Eastern MA, -10 on Sunday morning, 50's today.

Looks like the 10 day is mostly in the 40's which means 60's-70's in GH on sunny days.

I might have to unwrap the figs in the GH soon.

[COGardener]

There is a good chance you will need to unwrap them and provide heat to the GH for extra cold nights and days.

[Sarahkt]

Are El Nino rains still expected for California, or have we just skipped straight over spring and into summer? We had to leave the AC on for the malamute yesterday, a first since last summer.

[smatthew]

Dan - don't cut the baby figs off. Just bend them and they'll pop off cleanly. You'll even get a little latex oozing out to seal the wound.

Sarah - i'm still hoping for more rain. Planted 16 fig trees at my farm over the weekend. Would love for some rain to help water them in.

[smatthew]

And 2 day after posting, I got about an inch of rain. Woohoo!

[Altadena Mara]

The weather report for Altadena says there's a 30% chance of rain later today, and a 70% chance tomorrow. The El Nino is supposed to last through April, so a few more sprinkles might be ahead. I planted 13 fig trees weekend before last and they could use some watering in as well.

[greenfig]

Mara,
Do you know how much rain is that going to be, 0.1 or 0.01" ? I don't expect more than that (i.e. I would rather keep my expectations low )

[Altadena Mara]

Mara,
Do you know how much rain is that going to be, 0.1 or 0.01" ? I don't expect more than that (i.e. I would rather keep my expectations low )

We get a little more rain up here against the mountains than you do south of here. I think I dumped around an inch of water from my outdoor humidity bin late last night. It's a first rain for the little newly rooted trees. Perhaps I should bring them inside and dry them up a little?
It was so beautiful driving across town last night in the rain. The dark freeways were drenched in splashes of red from the tail lights of the cars and light bursts from headlights. I love the rain!

[danw]

We got 0.78 inches here in the last 24 hours. It is still raining. I hope it keeps coming.

[Taverna78]

El Niño who ?? How tis for a temp swing?

[starch]

We hit 90 deg last week!

[don_sanders]

Since it was -4F today last year, I'm more than happy with the sunny 60F here today.

Now just hoping to much stuff doesn't wake up before the inevitable freezes that will be coming later.

[Taverna78]

How do you think tis crazy weather effect bugs? Bugs that hibernate or eggs or laid in the soil the year before

[don_sanders]

My uneducated opinion is that it will lead to more bugs if the weather stays warm. I suppose a few really cold spells might help reduce the populations some but I'd still expect more to survive this year than the last few.