Rare August rain could arrive Friday; be ready for a 25-degree swing in high temperatures
The cooler weather this week should allow tomatoes to set new fruit, before a return of triple-digit temperatures. Kathy Morrison
Here’s something you don’t often hear in August in Sacramento: “Keep your umbrella handy.”
According to the National Weather Service, an unusual and strong weather system will blow into Northern California on Thursday night along with the possibility of thunderstorms. This cold front will drop temperatures as well as some precipitation.
As this “uncommon” weather system moves through, Sacramento has a 48% chance of rain on Friday afternoon and evening, says the weather service. The highest probability of rain is north of Interstate 80 including the possibility of cloud bursts and small hail.
Wet or not, Friday (Aug. 23) will seem downright chilly. Sacramento’s high temperature is forecast to be only 75 degrees – almost 20 degrees below normal for that date. Cloudy conditions will keep temperatures cool on Saturday (with an expected high of 81) before the heat returns.
And that warm-up will be fast; the expected high in Sacramento next Tuesday is 100 degrees.
Enjoy this cool streak while it lasts – and keep an eye on your tomatoes. If they had flowers bloom during recent cooler days, they’re likely setting fruit now. Fertilize them with some tomato food high in phosphate and potassium (the second and third macro-nutrient numbers on the fertilizer bag). That will help those baby tomatoes grow.
Also, deep water tomatoes before and after feeding. To help those vines hold onto their fruit, make sure their soil stays evenly moist during next week’s rapid warm-up.
Yo-yo temperatures can confuse flowering plants, especially roses. Blind shoots – stems with no terminal bud – are common on rose bushes after sudden temperature drops or increases. Blind shoots will never bloom; they just keep growing more leaflets. Snip them off (pruning about a half inch above a five-leaf leaflet) to prompt the bush to push out new shoots with buds.
While you’re at it, remove spent blooms on bushes, too. That removes a source of fungal disease as well as cues the bush to push out more flowers. Expect the new roses to open in six to eight weeks – just in time for fall bouquets.
For more on Sacramento weather: https://www.weather.gov/sto/.
Comments
0 comments have been posted.Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Local News
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of Sept. 8
Temperatures are headed down to normal. The rest of the month kicks off fall planting season:
* Harvest tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.
* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.
* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.
* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.
* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.
* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.
* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.
* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.
* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials.
* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.
* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with “eyes” about an inch below the soil surface.
Powered by California Local
