Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Scared by the forecast of tonight ( freezing -2), I started taking almost all my precious musa's and some palmtrees inside. Because the collection grows every year, and have grown exponentially last year, I'm facing some serious problem to stack this big collection in my house.
It doesn't look very neat, ( frustrating my wife :goteam:). I even took over the basement to make some kind of "musa-refugee-shelter-place".

Moments like these you start to have some doubts about your mental state. Following lines are passing trough my head : ... Is this really worth it ? let's sell them ... It will only get worse next year...I have to get professional help :0517:

Is the proces already started in your home country ? or are you the type that will just buy new ones next year and never look back ?

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Same here, hehe.
But it is worth it. And true is that next year that will be even bigger problem but its nothing I didnt know :).
On other side better choice is to sell some than waste them. Some extra money is allways welcome and your wife can found that part of gardening very interesting ;).

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Hang in there and keep warm!!!!!:waving:

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Night frosts have been here for a couple of weeks now. Been unseasonably cold all around :( It's noon now and it's +0.7c.

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Friends, if i compare with you at this very moment:

myself : 9 degrees is actually warmer then

Dalmatiansoap 7 degrees (zone 9)

ilmr -2 degrees ( zone 5 ! )

justjoan 5 degrees ( zone 4)

How is the climate in Finland ? I guess I can't complain comparing to overhere.

I think minneapolis ( justjoan ) isn't too shabby too ?

dalmatiansoap : you should have a better climat then over here in belgium zone 8 ?

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Hi there
dont look at my sticker, it is showing Imotski constant for last few weeks now. Its city on other side of Biokovo mountain some 60km north from here. U can look at Google Earth :). Mine temp. are between 10-17C last few days. Biggest problem was strong north wind that blows here (aprox. 100-120kmh) and cold feeling is much whorse than.

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

El Nino is coming & will warm us up this winter!!!!! Maybe more snow though:(

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

The weather in Finland is great until it's crap.
Here's something from the local weather service.
FMI - Weather and Climate - Climate in Finland

"The main factor influencing Finland's climate is the country's geographical position between the 60th and 70th northern parallels in the Eurasian continent's coastal zone, which shows characteristics of both a maritime and a continental climate, depending on the direction of air flow. The mean temperature in Finland is several degrees (as much as 10°C in winter) higher than that of other areas in these latitudes, e.g. Siberia and south Greenland. The temperature is raised by the Baltic Sea, inland waters and, above all, by airflows from the Atlantic, which are warmed by the Gulf Stream.

When westerly winds prevail, the weather is warm and clear in most of the country due to the 'föhn' phenomenon caused by the Keel range. Despite the moderating effect of the ocean, the Asian continental climate also extends to Finland at times, manifesting itself as severe cold in winter and extreme heat in summer.

Since Finland is located in the zone of prevailing westerlies where tropical and polar air masses meet, weather types can change quite rapidly, particularly in winter. The systems known to affect Finnish weather are the low-pressure system usually found near Iceland and the high-pressure systems in Siberia and the Azores. The position and strength of these systems vary, and any one of them can dominate the weather for a considerable time.

According to Köppen's climate classification, Finland belongs wholly to the temperate coniferous-mixed forest zone with cold, wet winters, where the mean temperature of the warmest month is no lower than 10°C and that of the coldest month no higher than -3°C, and where the rainfall is, on average, moderate in all seasons."

For past n years the winters have been relatively mild and the start of winter has been happening sometime mid-december. I guess it's payback time now. My plants are situated 140km inland while I'm located by the sea so it's a few degrees warmer here during this half of the year than what my weather sign tells. There's still a good chance that the weather will recover to +10 or so for a couple of months so it makes winter protection quite difficult now with this early cold spell (that and the distance to where my plants are).

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

October is coming to an end, and we have to notice that it hasn't been bad till now.

We even had 17 degrees today. I think the end of november will maybe bring the real cold and frosts.

Let's all hope for a very mild winter.

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Sounds warm to me! The high for today is about is 12 (55F) nightime lows about 3C . We still get up near 18 or so on many days. Only the basjoo's are left outside though at this point. Hoping for a mild winter here as well:nanadrink:

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

We have 15-25C (n/d) last few days. Wish that will last longer ;).
Now is 10PM and 19C in my balcony. Wardrobe greenhouse keep 23C at this moment.
:woohoonaner:

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Well if you live at the Dalmatian coast at 43 degrees latitude there is not much reason to complain about the weather I guess. Maybe a lack of rain, but to grow exotic stuff should be no big problem with a long hot summer...

Alexander

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

still no frosts here yet in southern England

but lots of Atlantic storms

heating system in polytunnel working a treat, minimum 10 degrees C

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Had a couple of mild frosts here, but i live next to a wood so its a bit open. Temperature dropping from 7c to 1c overnight next week so i think winter has finally arrived in the south east :(

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

Not to mention the amount of time per year, when girls wear only bikinis, which is much more important than plants (as far as male population is concerned)! :ha:

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

no frosties yet ;)

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

We had a heavy frost last night, and most of my plants are 'melting' now.
:2141:

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

We have been having the warmest autumn for a years, excluding one winter episode in September, there is no frost in here and this is zone 6 :goteam:

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

We still didn't had any frost in Belgium till now. They predict frost for next week. But shamefully i did already lost some musa types due to rot.
The low temperatures and the moisture in the containers made them rot.
I learned some lessons again. I lost a Musa basjoo red already, and a very small seedling of ensete glaucum. I have a sikkimensis darjeeling that is looking very bad too.

Re: Finally loosing 'it' - the big cold
 

we took a hit last week but to be fair it is early December. Daffodils are well on their way up. Look on the bright side spring is on the way :ha: