I’m not sure, but from what I gather this is the worst drought we have had in the Rustbelt since records were kept or at least one of the worst. I’ve been watering trees once in a while. The city planted new trees and they all died or maybe went dormant. We will see in the spring. No one watered them.
Olympic Giant Asian pears are a month early and not as big. I’ve been watering the trees some. More water for the new trees. This tree just got watered 2 or 3 times in the last few months.
No drought here. We are losing trees to flooding. Lost all our citrus except for a lemon tree. And right now there are 3-4 inch puddles around the yard with another week of heavy rains.
It was dry here for a couple weeks in midsummer and it has been a bit dry the last few weeks, but tons of rain in between… The only thing I had to water was my veggie garden and a couple kiwis I planted this year. Only the kiwis were getting unhappy, new pears and apples and persimmons were fine.
Horrible year in middle TN. Farmers, everyone suffering. I may have lost a couple 7-year-old pawpaws.
It is horrible here in SW Ohio. We have not had any rain in 28 days. The only rain before that was about 1/4" of rain twice in about a three week period before it really dry. The record here is 40 days back in 1908 from what the news said the other day.
It looks like we may break that record this year. No rain in the forecast for the next two weeks. The keep saying rain here and there but it never materializes.
I planted 6 trees this year. So far 3 have died because of no rain. I have been trying to water them but it is so dry it doesn’t seem to do any good. We need day long soaking rains. Not a quick downpour. The heat has been in the 90’s and 100’s for week long periods. My fruit is literally baking on the trees. If a piece of fruit falls to the ground it is hot like it has been in the oven.
No rain for 3 weeks now in Omaha but we should get some rain next Wednesday.
Tony
We haven’t had any rain since August 11, but things aren’t too terribly dry (well it is pretty dry), because everything was a muddy wet mess from the last rain (because the groundwater was full and nothing was seeping away) which took a while to dry out.
[Trees are dying. I lost all chestnut seedlings. My orchard is in the hook in se Ohio (meigs co)]
You are having a horrible time there in your county by the looks of it. Sorry to see that. Praying for rain for you and us here in the rest of Ohio and this side of the country.
No rain even in the forecast here in the next 2 weeks.
Is your fruit baking right on the tree like it is here?
It rained some in June, but i think its rained about a total of 30 mins or so since then. I think its more than 90 days here since it has rained to make a difference.
Most all of the yards that i have seen that people mow often are dead and brown. Even the weeds beside the road are dying.
Farmers are struggling to keep their cattle and horses etc watered… i see alot of them carrying water from public sources. ’
Hay will be short if there is a long winter… most all hay fields are full of weeds and no second or third cuts this year.
Some farmers are feeding their livestock hay now…as there is no pastures or grazing.
Yellowjackets are insane this year… seems as if there are billions or trillions of them. They are everywhere somehow no matter where you go.
Deer are getting hit alot… as are squirrels and groundhogs and likely stuff i dont see. They are migrating to find a possible creek with some water left.
Exceptional drought isnt good.
I am about 40 miles west of @TrilobaTracker and yes it has been difficult.
Here… mid June to mid July extremely hot (mid 90s mostly) and no rain…
Then we got a little break at the end of July with 2 or 3 rains… but then August and first half of September were back to hot and dry.
We did finally get some good rain this week as the hurricane entered the gulf and eventually tracked up thru Tennessee.
I lost some raspberry canes despite watering them a few times. I watered all my new starts this year several times… muscadines, currants, goosberry, persimmon, medlar, mulberries, etc…
All has made it thru so far.
Hopefully cooler temps and more rain soon.
Most years I can get by with little to no watering… this was not one of those years.
TNHunter
I second the huge amount of yellow jackets. I stepped in one nest and ran the walk behind mower into another. Finished mowing in my beekeepers suit.
On the plus side there are a lot less ticks this year.
Concord, NH here. We are not showing drought conditions anywhere in the state, yet our 1 million gallon pond is about to go dry. Despite three prior drought periods since 2020, this is the lowest we have seen the pond.
I got some trees I can’t hose that I planted last season. I got a little cart and carry (4) 5 gallon buckets of water to it and dump the water around the tree. Does pretty good.
And here in the Southern Adirondacks we’ve had non-stop rain this summer. We’ve been without rain since Sept 9 and the ground is still damp. I’m still mowing at the orchard and the house. The difference in rainfall has been amazing this summer.
I am doing the same here with 1 gallon jugs. My water supply is an old 12’ dug well. So I have to get water elsewhere to put on my trees planted this year. Still has not helped the three that are dying and or dead now.
Glad you are able to use the 5 gallon buckets of water to keep the alive.
It’s been rough, not nearly as bad as the rest of Ohio, but I’ll be hauling water out to some younger trees this week. I feel terrible for all of the animals suffering.
No drought this year in south Louisiana. We had 12” in several hours with that bi@ch Francine. It came within an inch of flooding my house. I wish I could send some of this water up your way.
Please do…we desperately need rain here.
We can use some rain here. It’s been dry Aug, and Sep so far. Plum leaves started to turn red. The rest of the fruit trees are ok . My Asian pears are ripening on schedule.
Not many mosquitoes in the yard. Nice cool and dry weather allows me to play more pickleball outdoor.
