Greg-

A sprinkler system (especially on reclaimed water) is a wonderful thing. I pump my yard full of water when it doesnt rain much.

Do you have reclaimed water in NPR?

Yes, but I also have a mass of old tree roots which makes a sprinkler impossible now. The cost/labor would be incredible. It took me two hours just to plant four queen palms last year, axing and hacking away. Remember, two HUGE oaks create quite a root mass...and now the yard is sloping. Hopefully, as shade developes watering will be less! Greg

Greg-

I hear you on those treet roots.

I am lucky to have no such issues in my yard (since the neighborhood was built in 2000-2003 and on sandy fill). The builder clear cut everything before building so the soil is "rootless". But, Tarpon springs then required the builder to install 6 shade trees (Oaks, Magnolias, etc) per lot. Most of us in here have taken them out over the past few years before they get big and completely cover the entire yard. Can you imagine 6 mature trees such as these on a small new construction lot?!?!?!?

In your case, if you really wanted a sprinler system, you could probably rent a ditchwitch to cut your trenches for the sprinkler PVC. You dont need to have the lines very deep (just a few inches below the sod is enough).

Greg-
I wish I could send you some of our rain. After virtually none in July we can't go a day with out it. As we speak it is POORING out yet agian. My grass has gone from total brown to 8 inches high and completely green in the last week. My palms love it except one small roebi which seems to have browned a bit in all of the rain. I am perplexed as to why as they love rain and heat.

I'm with you Greg. Today the Heat Index was 115 with high's around 98 in north Florida, no joke it's hot. We haven't had any rain since last week. Lakes and rivers are still well below normal and YTD rain is way below normal. Rain chances seem to be on the rise for later in the week so maybe we'll get another round of showers soon.

A nice late afternoon downpour hit Tarpon Springs and dropped 0.91" despite being rather brief.

It was dang humid here today as well with the dewpoints reaching over 83F. While not as hot as north Florida or areas farther inland, the high temperature still hit 95.5F in my yard and the heat indices were terrible (and maxed out a little over 113F).

Heres a plot of how the heat index varied throughout the day.

Where do you guys get this stuff - ya'll work at the weather channel...lol. I guess I'm not the only weather fanatic here. I wonder what that graph would look like on a MAC.

cheers from the great white north

Jeff

Nyssaman-

I have a weather station at my house which grabs data every 15 seconds to my PC. So, generating such graphs is very easy.

I feel for you guys up there in N. Pinellas/Pasco. I've had nothing to complain about down here in Clearwater. Good rainfall Wednesday and Thursday. With the rain and these overnight lows in the low 80s, the growth rate of my palms has been ridiculous.

Larry, is your coconut fruiting? How about pops'?

Larry et al- I'm working on getting my aged shadehouse down. Then school starts for us (teachers) Monday so there goes the time! But, I just need some of these trees to keep-a-growin'...I'll have two shadehouses left plus a shade tunnel between! Then I landscape the open area (fun stuff). I noticed that it is 90.0F on my therm at 11am, and since my shorts were soaked after 30mins of yard work, I cant imagine the humidity. 34689 (yours) was heat index at 103F at 11am. Port Richey was 106F...and the afternoon sun is just starting. I had 4/10" of rain in a 10 minute downpour yesterday, I saw TS got the mother lode of the storm..lucky you....now Andy et al...keep wondering why palms grow so well here. Rain, hot humid, hazy strong sun etc... Greg drying out inside now

"I feel for you guys up there in N. Pinellas/Pasco. I've had nothing to complain about down here in Clearwater. Good rainfall Wednesday and Thursday. With the rain and these overnight lows in the low 80s, the growth rate of my palms has been ridiculous."

Shaun-

Dont fret too much about me......suffice it to say that I have used the reclaimed water system to its fullest! So, my yard is well soaked! But, natural rain is always nice.

"Larry, is your coconut fruiting? How about pops'?"

My Coconut has been seriously shocked ever since planting in April 2006. Right from the start, it has never grown well. Yet, my fathers, which was bought at the same time, from the same seller, came from the same field, and was dug the same day, has done fantastically! It suffered no shock from the dig at all and grew fast from day 1.

So, my Coconut has not set fruit. I will have to check my father's this weekend. Both of these palms had fruit on them when we bought them, so they are old enough to bear.

In any case, I am buying another Coconut this weekend as I was able to get a fantastic deal on one. Its got section of trunk thats flawed, so for 50 bucks it was mine. At that price, I took at and will plant some Crotons, etc around it to camoflage the flaw!

"With the rain and these overnight lows in the low 80s, the growth rate of my palms has been ridiculous."

I agree 100%!

My Royals have been growing so fast in this weather its unbelievable. My largest Royal (maybe 6-7 ft of gray wood...havent checked it in awhile) has been pumping out a new frond every 2 weeks. It has also added tremendous girth this year as well.

Why are you guys throwing a wet blanket on me (LOL) Ive had rain and rain and overnight lows in the low 70s and my palms growth rates have really spead up. Especailly my Filifera, Robusta, and my cabbage palms. You Florida guys like to steal our thunder. I'm just kidding guys, when we get these warm and wet periods it gives me at least some idea as to how fast palms must grow down there. It's fun to get periods like this even if they are short lived.

Spock
You lucky son of a gun i can't get a coco to grow for me they always stall... but i would try that one with the 50
bucks price tag nice coco !!

Topher-
I'm surprised you have so much trouble with a coconut in the summer. I am assuming you have it (them) in full sun and give them loads of water. They can be real tempermental in the winter indoors but in the summer in the south like you are they should really grow.

Larry-

The reclaimed water system is always nice! A buddy of mine has it, however, he's not really passionate about plants or anything so he fails to see what a resource it is. lol

Thats a bummer about your coconut. Mine was so/so until this spring. It had about 3-4 stunted fronds, a few a little burnt up. (I posted those pictures a few months ago). The next spear to fan is in perfect condition and its starting to get tall.

WOW what a steal for only $50. That is amazing. Want to do some bargaining for me? Just kidding. Where did you get that sucker at? I may go for a bike ride on the trail Sunday. If I have the legs to reach Tarpon I'll make it a point to pass by. Have a good one!

Shaun

Andy
I do not have them in full sun i did but they browned .
I was told that was sunburn so i moved them.. They are in half shade half sun and havn't grown a bit I WATER THEM ABOUT EVERY 3 DAYS.. I realy don't know what i'm doing wrong !

Its still NOT raining here! The radar was lit up tonight and somehow, New Port Richey missed it yet again. I'm getting tired of all this watering. Argh!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Greg where it is 84.1F at 10pm humidity 80% why do palms grow so well>

Topher-
I keep mine if full sun all summer. Having said that I position them in the house so they get full sun during the winter. Put them out there. The new growth will not brown.

It's sure been a crazy summer with rain fall. July was very wet here in Orlando metro but now August has been nearly bone dry. The palms are in dyer need of water all around. One minute we're a flood plain, the next a desert. Bring on the hurricanes please to bring some much needed August rain to Florida!! =)

Here in New Port Richey,. we have had one measurable rainfall in 2 weeks - a 10 minute deluge which gave us .31". Other than a sprinkle, that's it. St Pete/Tampa have been pounded but somehow we've missed it all. It magically splits No/So as it approaches. It is sooooo frustrating, and now they say a dry hot week. Like it hasn't been? Yesterday we hit 93.9F on my therm, like the day before and the day before etc...what a bizarre summer! Greg

Ok somewhere between my constant non stop raining for almost a month now and you southerners scorching hot heat must be some perfect weather? who has it? stand up and admit it lol!!

Today was the highest temp I have logged on my station here in Tarpon Springs in 2 years (97.5F at 330PM). But, the humidity was only moderate (dewpoints in the mid to upper 60s) so it really didnt feel all that sweaty hot.

Not only was it hot, again, but with the lower dewpoints the sun is just baking! When I got home from work at 315pm, my therm read 98.8F and there was nary a cloud. The car read 100.1 coming home. Between the lack of rain, clouds and the heat, it truly is miserable. What a brutal summer. It was out first day of school (I am a teacher in a portable) and the poor kids were baking walking out to my classroom, and my A/c was only so-so in there. So, where is that "perfect" weather? Not here. Here's hoping that tropical low near PR comes here as a rainstorm. Greg

Greg-

Very similar temperatures down here in Tarpon Springs. My station logged 98.4F at 334PM this afternoon. Fortunately, dewpoints were once again only in the middle to upper 60's, so the heat index really wasnt all that bad (104-105F). The worst heat index of the summer was on August 9 (113.9F).

We,, the hot summer from H#LL continues with the past 5 days being well into the upper 90's, blazing sun on almost cloudless days, and incredible heat - and I caught a cold in this while back in the first week of school as the students returned! Arghhhhhh.....not a drop in 2 weeks....and lord my poor water bill will hurt, maybe even $50 this month! Ohio is drowning, Texas has never stopped, NJ has had severe storms, a tornado in Brooklyn, and Florida has seen precious little in rain and thunder. Weird? Greg lol

Very wierd. Im in chicago we have had 90's and 100's for a few weeks and 19 to 25 inches of rain every few days. Im not complaining. My palms love it and my bananas have doubled in size. I feel sorry for the people in the burbs with no sewer systems to take the water away. Theres rivers near by 7 to 10 ft over what they should be.

The rain here is terrible - already up to nearly 20 inches in August - over 4 times the total monthly total. I fly down to Orlando tomorrow and as much as I know you guys need it, I almost hope for Sunny skies cause I am so tired of this rain every single hour of the day. There's never been a month this bad I can ever remember.

P.S. Mike, I'm that guy in the burbs without the sewer system to take the water away. I got home early from work at 6pm today so that I could get a good parking space on high ground in the parking lot of my apartment. The people that parked in the low lying areas have MAJOR flood damage, several tow trucks here tonight (Glendale Heights) taking away the disabled cars. People were even pulling their cars up on the sidewalks and front lawns to avoid the flooded parking lot--nowhere else to go. Crazy times here in central DuPage county.

Im sorry to hear that paul. Thank god you will be saying goodbye to this. What if this is the new norm due to global warming. Yeah I think all of dupage needs to come up with a new idea to get that water out. Well good luck getting a flight out of here and have a safe trip.

gregystch from tampa - 5 posts back you claimed $50 per month for a water bill and I am guessing you think this is high because its been hot and you've been watering lots. I am not a tree hugger, but I do try to conserve where I can, as in I have an inground sprinkler system but only water the front lawn , etc. I do have lots of landscape in back that I use soaker hoses for and water as needed. Bottom line my water bill every 2 months in the summer months is about $200. Averages like $150 the rest of the year. What gives?

My water bill is almost always over $100 a month. Its usually about $40-60/mo for the reclaimed water (we have two systems here, one for irrigation and one for potable water). The reclaimed water is used solely for irrigation as it is not suitable for drinking (and is cheap at $0.95 per 1000 gallons).

Greg-

I got the same cold last week!

No rain here for the past six days and highs of 95, 98, 98, 97, 96, and 94. This is very warm for down here as the usual highs are only in the lower 90's.

Sure enough I try to escape the flood plains of Chicago for the supposedly "bone dry" Central Florida and what does it do all last night? rain, rain, rain. Over an inch of rain here and my flight was delayed over 1 hour for this mess. Now Chicago is suppose to be dry this weekend and wet here in Orlando. Oh well, seems you can't escape the rain no matter where you go. =P

My coco palm seems to like it though - seems to grow quite a bit every time I get down here. Putting out lots of new fronds.