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sugi_c

Summer solstice!

Thank heavens, too. My poor southern balcony will begin receiving sun INSIDE the balcony again soon, and my sun-loving plants but "forced to live in bright shade" specimens will make it.

You've no idea what I had to do to give equal sun-time to all, haha.

Grace

Comments (15)

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    and for me - the opposite . the sun will be stopping less and less in my only sunny corner :(. I swap plants periodically to give them a boost, but it's barely enough.

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    See, now my happy message is a bit less happier. :-/ Bummer. This has been really frustrating to SEE sun right there but not have it hit your plants. But you probably planned out your plants better than I did? Shopping for them in Jan and Feb, I totally misread the amount of sun I get, which was the bigger problem.

    But this experience has taught me one thing: if I do not get a yard on my next move, I am making sure I have a balcony that gets sun year-round with no cover on top. No sun, no rain, no bueno.

    Just for kicks (and because no one I know in real life is all that interested haha), here are my toms (Maskotka) in shade. (The sun is RIGHT THERE behind it.) Poor things....they've made do with morning sun and 65 degree weather. I really need summer to arrive already.


    Grace

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    guess, you never had a southern window? 'cause balcony with overhang is just like that.
    I had e-s-w windows so I knew how hot it gets in winter/summer in the room/balcony. without overhang it's a total killer. even now in my NE corner it's 100F at 7am in august. it's much harder to keep plants in summer on open southern/western balcony: they need enormous amounts of water. and if there is no breeze they just fry. and in winter it's a thaw/freeze every day - most of them won't be able to take it.
    so, it all depends... for me actually NE turned out to be really good: nice and cool just when I want to sit there and all my houseplants have it just right. even though I was disappointed that I couldn't get southern exposure it turned out really well. in the future i'll aim for NE + E/SE to catch some winter sun/coolest summer sun but not fry.

    This post was edited by petrushka on Tue, Jun 25, 13 at 9:57

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    Happy (belated) solstice everyone!! What a nice post, solstice gets no attention and it's such a cool event, IMO.

    The roof over my porch (facing south) sticks out almost a foot beyond the edge, and even though I watch it happen every summer, it's still shocking to see how little sun gets in there at this time of year. Plants have gone from back by the wall to almost hanging over the edge to try to stay in the "right" amount of light. At this point, it's just morning vs. afternoon. I guess you'd just want everything to be as low as possible right now, no tables or risers. That should help catch as much as possible.

    About the toms, when you see them being grown in southern Italy on TV, they usually have netting of some type as the naked mid-day sun can be overwhelming if they're anywhere near dry. The last time I grew toms in OH, they were along a fence that went west away from the house, on the south side of it. There were 3 plants and the one farthest from the house, that got the sun first (so for the most total time,) was the smallest. The one that didn't get in the sun until about noon was waaaaay bigger and made many more fruits. I've had similar results with them here in AL also. The ones that get mid-day shade get much bigger, yield more.

    Because plants in mid-day shade need less supplemental water, I wonder if they are sensitive to tap water chemicals like some house plants. Seems like they would be, they're sensitive to anything else a plant can be sensitive to. Once I learned to wash my hands before touching them (because I smoke,) I had much better results as well.

    Your plant looks great, I'd love to have some green toms that big!! Can't let them stay outside anyway, squirrels will taste each one as soon as it starts to turn pink, and fried green is my fav thing to do with toms. YUM!

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Purple!

    I'm surprised you don't grow tomatoes. I would have guessed you'd have a couple beasts!

    Anything hanging outside my balcony is loving life. But that is about 7 feet of a rail off of which they hang. On the inside, they all get about an hour less, and I figure with the Bougainvillea, tomatoes and peppers -- five or six hours will make a difference? I definitely noticed that my basil and chives, which grows on the inside rail, is not as happy. They're healthy enough but nothing I'm all teary and proud about, haha.

    Then again, I suppose OH summers are drastically different than mine here where real summer (90 plus) is about 5-8 days fall in October usually. Growing anything where "August is our coldest month" becomes quite an adventure!

    The last time I planted tomatoes was at my old house that had these two gorgeous walnut trees. Putting aside not being able to grow even weeds anywhere near these trees, the bigger problem was the squirrels. It was full on war between them and me. (They won, but that's another story.) Anyway, they wreaked havoc on everything but the tomatoes. But I had three tomato plants hovering at 8 feet in height, and producing more than any human family could consume. I drove tomatoes all over town to get rid of them, and then I wanted the squirrels to eat them, but nope --- I guess in the face of two walnut-filled trees, tomatoes lose all of their appeal.

    All of this just to say --- perhaps you should plant walnut trees and join me next year in tomatoes, haha.

    Grace

    Ps - where ya been!??!

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    Well that's an interesting entry! Toms are supposed to be quite sensitive to juglone, thus known to NOT grow well in close proximity to walnut trees. Pecan trees also produce some juglone, and I've never been able to get a tomato plant to grow near the giant one in this yard.

    I do have some Toms here but haven't had the chance (or should I say gumption) to repeat the more shade vs. less shade experiment. I usually buy a few plants in Feb. but it kept frosting this year, I never did get any but do have some purposely-sown seed plants, and some volunteers from compost. No signs of any fruits or even flowers yet, usually harvesting by now.

    It really is amazing how the shadows shift. Yesterday I was moving stuff again, trying to give some plants more sun w/o actually putting them off of the porch, lowered some of the hanging pots.

    I have been gone, we took an epic car voyage - 9 days, stopping at sights in TN, KY, WV, and staying with friends in OH for a few days. We had a blast, seeing several caves, museums, hiking, water park, zoo, national monuments, even a giant pink elephant. My son (8) did his first zip line. Nice that you noticed I was AWOL! It's good to be missed.

  • AuntBarbie
    10 years ago

    Oh my yes...so glad Old Sol is moving southward again! My coleus and caladiums are squeezed into this little miniscule strip and I also have to swap their positions every other day. But on the good side of facing south, my heating/cooling bills are mitigated by the sun being in the right place during the right season!

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    well, I am glad to have somewhat less sun now - it's mid to upper 90s and very strange low humidity(40%). everything slurps up water like crazy. indoors I have 75% humidity and blissful mid 70s..., so I took my ming aralias back indoors (I just put them out 2 weeks ago). I don't remember ever having such low humidity in nyc. it's all baking...
    and I am misting...scared of mite attack, already discovered some whitefly in my petunias! I read that aspirin helps fighting pests ( 1tablet in a gallon) - misting and watering in. hope, it helps somewhat.
    are you baking too?

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    Still awaiting the stripe of mid-day sun to come back to the edge of the front porch... Tons of rain and clouds though, keeping it a lot cooler, barely touching 90 most days. Still hot enough for discomfort, but a break is a break. If it's possible for it to be more humid than usual, it is. My son's backpack from this past school year has grown mold on it. I didn't think there was anything left in the house that would grow mold, but apparently there is.

    Petruska, I watch Today show and they're freaking out about the weather up there. Even at 7 AM, it's not 83 here yet, usually. I remember when I lived in OH and it would get extra-hot, there would be little relief at night. I think that's the worst part about a heat wave up north. Have you noticed it's hotter way up north than in the SE lately? Weird indeed!

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    my fave is that Miami is less hot then nyc, mid to hi 80s; drench daily, but nites are just a little hotter: hi 70s. right now - 77 and breezy, droplets falling from the sky...
    Atlanta same as boston. I understand nyc and Washington, but boston?! not sure they have a/c there...he-he, just kidding!
    the only really good month in nyc is September. the rest I just endure. there's no spring anymore, just cold and nasty and then it hits 80s overnite. 90s in june?

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Me too. Really have not noticed much movement in where the sun hits as of yet....like, I should have noticed it moving right as I posted "solstice", haha.

    People....we're not hitting 70 today, though it is warmer today than any day this week. High of 69 to happen soon and it's very nice for me, and completely insufficient for the plants LOL. By 7pm, I wear a jacket to go outside--it's cold.

    IN JULY.

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    hey, but that's normal for SF. I remember was there late in june and it was 55F at nite! freeze-box!

  • VGtar
    10 years ago

    It's always either/ or isn't it? -When what we want, when coming to weather extremes, is really neither/ nor!
    Here winter just kept on lingering on and on (as it did in many areas in the US as well). Now we've got a heat wave, that seems to be lingering around as well. With day temps at a steady 27â / 80âÂÂ, it's far from the worst heat wave we've experienced, but it's still hot enough for delicate ME to stay inside with the windows closed and the curtains shot during the daytime. So far we have only had 2.2mm rain this July, and it just might become a record breaker (unless we get the 40mm that they say have a 25% chance on Sunday), but of course I'm not worried about a lack of rain, since I can still water the balcony. -The other day though, I forgot to water.... NOT good! Especially the tomatoes looked like they had been moved to a desolate place in Sahara far away from watering cans, or even spitting llamas! -Apart from the one tomato, that's growing in cat litter in one of the window boxes as an experiment... Well, it seems it didn't notice one bit, that it didn't get any water the previous night! -And it had even taken so much time to take off, that I've been close to pulling it! -The other tomatoes have made it though, and I'm just hoping that there won't be any damage to the fruits!

    Grace: Your toms look very happy! I most certainly did not have fruits that plump in June!

    Does anyone have experience with Livingstone Daisies,
    Dorotheanthus bellidiformis (used to be known as Mesembryanthemum criniflorum)???
    I bought some seeds at the botanical garden, and the plants I got from them have taken their sweet time to take off. -They seem bushier than I would have thought (compared to other kind of ice plants, I've grown), and have also taken their time to flower. I thought the warmer weather would be a help, but so far, I still have only one flower on one of the plants. I WANT MORE!!! -Any ideas as to what is going on? Do they need a certain age to go into flowering, or what sets them off?

    VG

  • chloeasha
    10 years ago

    Oh this is the thread where it's all at I see! Well I am in Petruska's shoes-- less sun= less sun on my balcony. I'll go from a maximum of about 3 hours to none at all lol!

    it was cool here for a bit, but then it went hot again. they are saying, though, that because of the cool spell we're going to have a poor rice season. Somehow I feel doubt as it's already 90 by 10am.

    Grace-- your tomatoes look great! A work person gave me a tomato plant. It's doing nothing!

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    This is the perfect time! The strip of sun along the south edge of the front porch is over a foot wide all day now, back to having some full sun, but still the right amount of shade on everything else. Guess I'm more of an equinox person.

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