On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 09:58:30 -0700, MinimumDong wrote... [snip
We have 5 inch diameter beefsteaks that are luscious!
This ain't Ohio. We had a week of temperatures over 100 peaking at
106 a few years ago - with humidity in the 80-90 percent range.
Native plants begin wilting outdoors under those conditions.
[snip]
I'm puzzled. I've grown tomatoes in my front entryway... sun in the
morning, shaded from about 11AM onward, at temperatures as high as
115°F.
They certainly don't "wilt" in a greenhouse either, which is what I
suggested.
Also, greenhouse temps can be significantly lower than the temp
outside them with simple ventilation, and even water mist cooling, if
needed. Basic physics.
Misting only cools if the water can evaporate - that's what
evaporative cooling is all about - only works with dry air. Misting
an already hot humid greenhouse only has water dripping off surfaces
it coalesces on promoting the growth of mold, slime and algae.
It isn't temperature it is the combination of temperature and
evaporation rates.
My wife and I were down in Puerto Rico on a particularly hot day - for
PR - temperature went to 110. The locals were advising us to stay
indoors or go to the beach it was "unhealthy to be outside it was so
hot." We walked 10 miles to and from a beach with no distress
whatsoever - after imbibing several ounces of 20 year old rum.
Likewise no distress in Death Valley at 120 degrees - at least not
while driving a motorcycle - 100 degrees in the Everglades is a lot
more uncomfortable on a bike.
Here we don't see a "blue" sky in summer - they call it Carolina Blue
- a kind of white with slight blue hue in it due to moisture in the
air. That same humidity causes the temperatures to stay high at night
- 101 during the day is often 89-90 at night. Montana has a blue sky.
In contrast: you could freeze your ass off in Death Valley at night -
a pan of water a few feet off the ground may freeze into ice with a
combination of evaporative cooling and low night time temps.
And like I said we have mold and insects to contend with. The
tomatoes are hit by a black mold that kills off the leaves before the
fruit can mature - cherry tomatoes will ripen fast enough to actually
get fruit - beefsteak tomatoes won't get close. You might get a good
crop the very first year, if you find a place where tomatoes haven't
been grown and far enough away from those places. The second year
will be dismal but worth the effort. Crop rotation might work if we
had that kind of land.