Looks like there’s a powerful storm coming on January 9th.
The forecast is for 25 F here next week. My avocados, mandarins, strawberry guava and bougainvilleas will not like that.
Sounds like “a blast from the past”
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Meanwhile, in NY we are having a repeat of last year’s mild winter, so far (and I know it’s early). Pruning is easy when it’s mild, and I can take off my gloves when I start up the chain-saw without discomfort, also when I pull out the electric tape to fasten a branch to more horizontal position. However, given my druthers, I wish it was much colder to assure better bud hardiness. This is the weather you expect about 800 miles south of here, where stonefruit crop loss is more common.
As far is you in the West, does the gratification of finally getting meaningful rain equal the frustration and anxiety created by drought? Much as dry summers benefit most fruit species, years of suffering through repeated CA droughts makes me appreciate our relatively reliable rain and snow.
Drought isn’t a hardship if one has adequate irrigation water. I absolutely love CA dry summer wet winter weather pattern. Dry warm summers with irrigation are vastly better for most fruit than humid rainy summers. Both from the standpoint of fruit quality and lack of pest pressure. Then in winter the rains come, it hardly freezes, and it’s like a second mild summer. That beats the snot out of cold and snow. Winter gardens do great in CA.
IMO it’s not even a contest CA vs NY. A knockout in the first round. I get in CA and see mile after mile of fruit orchards in bloom or loaded with fruit and it’s a beautiful fruit heaven to my eyes. But as they say different stokes for different folks.
So why you in Texas? You deserve to be happy, you know.
I moved to CA from TX in 2000. I didn’t know a soul out there. Left in 2004 for health reasons related to poor air quality, But I’d like to go back to an area with better air. I need a couple more yrs here to finish a business project.
Nice and moist here. Warm enough that tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini are doing great along with all the tasty greens. Citrus is all holding well with only a little bit of splitting on some ‘Washington’ navels. Weeding and slug hunting are easy and productive right now as well. The grass is green and I haven’t had to mow in a month. No complaints.
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If we reach 10" of rain this year suitably spaced out over time, then it will provide about 8 weeks out of 52 weeks of my irrigation needs.
That seems like high water use for winter. I can see citrus being close to that but anything that drops it’s leaves in winter shouldn’t use 1.25 inches per week in winter. 1.25 x 52 = 65 inches per yr. I can believe that but summer should be 2-3 times as great as winter which would put your annual use near 100 inches.
How much water do you think your fruits use in winter and summer?
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@fruitnut – the majority of rainfall in my present locale is typically spread out from September through March, occurring anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks apart. I’d estimate the median rainfall is about 1/3 inch. The weather is temperate but as you probably know the evapotranspiration rate is high in comparison to coastal areas in the upper 2/3 of the state. So even when the daytime temperatures are cool (60’s F) I can lose 5 inches of soil moisture in 10 days. If it is not corrected, newer growth will begin to stress.
Now concerning this idea that my deciduous trees drop their leaves in winter. Currently my Flavor Grenade Pluot, Mid Pride Peach, Snow Queen Nectarine, Cot-N-Candy Aprium, Li Jujube, and M.R. Pomegranate are leafless. However, the cherries, plum, nectaplum, yellow nectarine, almond, and figs are leaf-full and probably won’t drop leaves until February – just in time to leaf out in March. My apples and pear are essentially evergreen. 
Come down to San Diego county, fruitnut, when you can wrap up things in TX. Our air quality is very good, and it’s about as close to Hawaii climate as you can get 
When I lived in Topanga canyon, I had some almond trees planted on a dry hill that never got any irrigation and survived years with almost no rain. The trees lost their nuts to squirrels so I have no idea how productive they may have been, but they needed hardly any water at all when they were dormant. I wonder if your ideas about the amount of irrigation required are accurate- have you done any experimentation to reduce your water use on a few trees? OK, you are the farmer there, and I probably sound like an idiot, but I never worried about watering fruit trees in CA during the winter and never lost a tree to drought during that time.
A drought here can cause trees to defoliate early, but it doesn’t necessarily damage next years crop.
… a very different microclimate from mine.
I measure soil and leaf moisture. Both are a real concern.
Of course it is a different climate, but it is not like Malibu and gets very dry without real coastal fog influence. Dry is dry.
Do all commercial orchards in your area irrigate as much as you do during the winter? I suppose if you all do it, the research has already been done.
It depends what they’re growing and where they’re located. The region is a patchwork of microclimates.
I rarely irrigate from October to April (depends on how wet or dry the year is, of course). California is a big state.
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Hmmm, nothing about measuring leaf moisture here, they measure shoot growth to determine if irrigation is adequate.
I spent some time searching and am surprised there appears to be so little research on deficit irrigation in commercial fruit production, but this study doesn’t even discuss watering trees after harvest until spring growth begins in Australia. Some research talks about deficit irrigation to induce dormancy.
Oh well, not really any of my business- I’m not in drought country and have no idea what I’m talking about. .
