UV rays this year.....

[David from Dothan]

.....seems to be seriously affecting MANY gardeners, this year according to a lot of

YouTube posts. We are having way more difficulty with growth and production than we normally experience.....the ONLY exception being the asparagus. The UV index forcast for us, today, is 11 (extreme). In desperation, I have ordered a roll of 60% UV Block vegetable/greenhouse cloth for the raised beds. GOTTA do something.......

 

[DirtMechanic]

Actually uv has more energy than infrared which is counterintuitive for growing plants. And in order for that increase to happen either the sun is doing something different or the atmosphere is thinner or youtube is full of shit. Do you have any proper third party documentation?

 

[David from Dothan]

Just 1st hand happenings......and skies FULL of "contrails", colors and haze in the atmosphere.......oh....did I mention "CONtrails".......

 

[alp]

Well, we will have shortage in a short of food, eg broccolis, lettuce and early harvest for rye, wheat.

We should find out how to be less affected by the 4 elements and propagate new plants which are drought-resistant and yet beneficial to our health. It's something we should sit up and be proactive.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44680164

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/19/climate-change-affect-food-production

 

[alp]

Apparently, there are UV-B and UV-A. Need to read proper research papers.

UV-B radiation has been shown to be harmful to living organisms, damaging DNA, proteins, lipids and membranes.Plants, which use sunlight for photosynthesis and are unable to avoid exposure to enhanced levels of UV-B radiation, are at risk.

Tanning Your Plants: The Curious Effects of UVA and UVB
https://www.maximumyield.com/tanning-your-plants-the...effects-of-uva-and.../2990
1 Mar 2017 - Tanning Your Plants: The Curious Effects of UVAand UVB. ... Well, UV radiation can be harmful to plant tissue too, but modern research is proving there are also several distinctly positive responses to UV radiation.

The debates go on...

 

[DirtMechanic]

Just 1st hand happenings......and skies FULL of "contrails", colors and haze in the atmosphere.......oh....did I mention "CONtrails".......

I always seem to misplace my tinfoil hat. I have one for you...when I was in Alaska wandering around looking up at the Northern Lights and realized that was radiation coming at me that was making the sky glow.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Apparently, there are UV-B and UV-A. Need to read proper research papers.

UV-B radiation has been shown to be harmful to living organisms, damaging DNA, proteins, lipids and membranes.Plants, which use sunlight for photosynthesis and are unable to avoid exposure to enhanced levels of UV-B radiation, are at risk.

Tanning Your Plants: The Curious Effects of UVA and UVB
https://www.maximumyield.com/tanning-your-plants-the...effects-of-uva-and.../2990
1 Mar 2017 - Tanning Your Plants: The Curious Effects of UVAand UVB. ... Well, UV radiation can be harmful to plant tissue too, but modern research is proving there are also several distinctly positive responses to UV radiation.

The debates go on...

I found the link broken. Maybe it is missing some bits?

 

[Becky]

I've not noticed UV levels going above 'Very High' according to data from the Met Office:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public...&zoom=5&lon=-4.00&lat=55.01&fcTime=1530576000

 

[David from Dothan]

UPDATE......The day I received the 60% UV Block greenhouse cloth, the collard plants were wilted down so bad they looked like they were on their "last leg". I took 2 saw horses to temporarily cover them to see what would happen. An hour and 10 minutes later, I looked out and they had COMPLETELY recovered. I finally got around, this morning, to putting up a more "permanent" frame........Now, if ALL the cabbage butterflies would die, I'd be a REAL "happy camper".

 

[La Garden]

Being in Bama' much like Louisiana it is more about the heat. Most of my container garden is doing well not because of anything UV, but because for most of the day it gets shade and avoids upper 90 to 100 degree heat.
https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/Louisiana/Shreveport/UVindex.htm
8 and 7, about common for the middle of the summer in the south.

 

[DirtMechanic]

It may seem strange but I mounted horizontal cattle panel fencing above the cucumbers and about half the tomatoes so that they had a nice table to spread out upon. The shade they created below made a real difference to root temperatures, and production. I did not realize it at the time, but the trick was that the flat support was wide enough to provide shade throughout the changing angles of the sun across the heat of the day.

 

[La Garden]

This I suspect is why my smaller one and two gallon pots are not doing was well as the much larger containers.

In the morning I am going to try a new experiment with the vine plants in the small pots. Pots/roots in the shade all the time and the vines in the sun. I will know quick as most are in the flowing mode and have made few sets. If that changes then I know it was the right move.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Put some type of thermometer in the pot to see. It is hard to imagine a smaller pot of any sort not coming to ambient temperature. Here I have seen the shade temps exceed 90f this summer.

 

[TomatoTango]

Yeah but we’re getting serious smoke and our daily readings say to stay indoors for about the last month. So 125F temps combined with smoke have vaporized my production and cut it in half from where I normally am. Oh well, the fall/winter garden is easier to manage anyways. Climate change is certainly taking a toll but even I don’t smoke enough grass to believe in chemtrails.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I bet it has been cooking water out of the ashphalt down that way.