SU2
Omono
Wanted to bring this up, both to find what others can tell me and to share it if anyone's not making-use of something they could be... This of course only applies to growth during the times where the midday heat & UV is so intense that broadleafs are wilting (a protection mechanism IIRC) since they cannot transpire enough to adequately function. This is the norm here for me, it's "spring" but today hits 85deg and few clouds overhead.
It's really struck me in the past year when seeing progression albums, and seeing the growth of my own stuff (not going to do a pictures/numbers contest lol), but have seen other FL growers' pictures of 2 and 3 years' growth on a leader-primary that they're trying to close a full trunk-chop wound with, and they'll have what I can get in half a year! I know part of that is a walter pall style mindset for feeding & flushing substrate (and hosing crowns!!), and part is using rainwater & correcting pH when using tap-water (both via acidic fortification, and choosing more acidic substrates & top-dressings), but I now know for sure a very large portion of my growth is coming from the midday irrations my trees typically get..
If I come home at 3p and nobody watered my trees for me, they are wilted so hard...have heard the term "midday senescence" for this before...at any rate I don't have hard-#'s but "eliminating" this senescence by hosing-down the trees a couple times during the height of the afternoon seems to have as big an effect on growth as any other important aspect does, all I can reason is that their wilted midday 'senescence' when the sun is too-much is a period they're "retreating" instead of "growing" and that you're effectively eliminating that -- this isn't just more hours/day of growth, it's allowing the hours with the highest UV rates to be hours the plant can stand strong, leaves turgid, sucking-in all that sweet UV ;D
Think that's enough on it, am very curious what others have found in this area, or think about it! Again I'm guessing this phenomena isn't nearly as strong in, say, GA or MA.
It's really struck me in the past year when seeing progression albums, and seeing the growth of my own stuff (not going to do a pictures/numbers contest lol), but have seen other FL growers' pictures of 2 and 3 years' growth on a leader-primary that they're trying to close a full trunk-chop wound with, and they'll have what I can get in half a year! I know part of that is a walter pall style mindset for feeding & flushing substrate (and hosing crowns!!), and part is using rainwater & correcting pH when using tap-water (both via acidic fortification, and choosing more acidic substrates & top-dressings), but I now know for sure a very large portion of my growth is coming from the midday irrations my trees typically get..
If I come home at 3p and nobody watered my trees for me, they are wilted so hard...have heard the term "midday senescence" for this before...at any rate I don't have hard-#'s but "eliminating" this senescence by hosing-down the trees a couple times during the height of the afternoon seems to have as big an effect on growth as any other important aspect does, all I can reason is that their wilted midday 'senescence' when the sun is too-much is a period they're "retreating" instead of "growing" and that you're effectively eliminating that -- this isn't just more hours/day of growth, it's allowing the hours with the highest UV rates to be hours the plant can stand strong, leaves turgid, sucking-in all that sweet UV ;D
Think that's enough on it, am very curious what others have found in this area, or think about it! Again I'm guessing this phenomena isn't nearly as strong in, say, GA or MA.