Storm

By now most everyone from Grants Pass to north
Seattle are aware of the excessive rain, with heavy
rain in the Eugene-Corvallis area and the Seattle area. 
So far the weather reports have been pretty accurate. 
The next 8 days show 6 of 8 days with rain, so we
 need to be vigilant.  Keep gutters clean, dig ditches
for excessive water;  keep water moving slowly
INTO the soil to replenish the groundwater.

Rain

Looks like the weather warning was a bit
harsher than predicted but a couple more
days to worry.
Looks like Seattle was the center of the heavy
rains, not southern Oregon.
Looks like rain for 6-8 days this next weeks.
Time to be sue the gutters are clean and small
ditches around the house for the next few days.

Weather info: Friday September 27  BE AWARE

 

History in the making for the PNW over the next few days: 

The Deluge of 2013. While specific location details are yet 

to be determined because nature spins its weather cycle.

 Everyone in the region will be impacted by the upcoming

rain/wind event.

 

The Rain: between today and Monday afternoon, esp in 

western Oregon, the amount of rainfall due to arrive will 

be measured in multiples - of inches and impact. Southern 

OR coastal zones 8-12 inches; central/northern coastal zones 

6-9 inches; Willamette Valley anywhere from 2-5 inches.  With

leaves beginning to drop, localized street flooding will be 

elevated even more than usual, as the amount of water will

 seem biblical given the short period of time. Creeks and rivers 

are not super high to start, so this will be a blessing, however, 

the freezing zone will be high, so almost all the precip will

 simply rush downhill. If your location is flood prone, best to 

prepare just in case.

 

The Wind:  Winds will be strong enough to potentially cause

 power outages, limb fall, etc. as foliage will accentuate the

 impact. Rural patrons may want to inventory potable water

 in case power is out for a few hours. Safe not sorry.

 

The Future: OK, everyone asks, when will the onslaught stop? 

Maybe by the middle of next week the daily precip will cease,

 but not for long, as models hint of more rain and breezy 

conditions by the weekend of Oct 5,6. We can only hope

for model error. Some recent solutions hold us in an overall

 wet pattern through the middle of October. Oh my. Update

Monday.

 

Oregon, -Rufus

Hazelnut harvest continues ahead
of the rain this weekend.
Pears nearly done.
Some late apples.
Tomatoes still doing well.
Grass fields sprouting nicely.
Mulch overwintering plants.
Grass slow at recovering.
A lot of maple leaves falling.

Weather

Potential for a major rain event on tap over the 

weekend. This statement is meant to allow some prep time, 

where appropriate, for patrons in flood prone areas to

 assess their needs. Some Nat'l Wx Service scientists 

are projecting upwards of 10 inches along Oregon's

 south coast, 5-6 northern coastal zones, 2-4 inches 

in Willamette Valley between Friday afternoon and

 Monday night. ALL AREAS will be impacted by this 

powerful, tropically fueled, developing storm system.

From Livermore, CA - Rufus

Indian summer

From The Old Farmer's Almanac

In the fall, it seems that almost any warm day is
 referred to by most people as "Indian summer."
And, while their error is certainly not of the world-
shaking variety, they are, for the most part, in error.
Here are criteria for an Indian summer:

As well as being warm, the atmosphere during Indian
 summer is hazy or smoky, there is no wind, the
 barometer is standing high, and the nights are clear
and chilly.

A moving, cool, shallow polar air mass is converting
into a deep, warm, stagnant anticyclone (high pressure)
system, which has the effect of causing the haze and
 large swing in temperature between day and night.

The time of occurrence is important: The warm days
 must follow a spell of cold weather or a good hard frost.

The conditions described above must occur between
 St. Martin's Day (November 11) and November 20.
For over 200 years, The Old Farmer's Almanac has
adhered to the saying, "If All Saints' (November 1)
brings out winter, St. Martin's brings out Indian summer."

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr is right.  On the valley floor
 is was 43 degrees F  this morning at 8:00am, the next week
shows AM temps being in the mid 40's and the high
 just under 70 degrees,  good for cole crops, not
 good for warm season crops.

Rain - looks like fall is here.  We STILL  may
have an Indian summer.  We have one month
until November.

Rain is tough on hazelnut harvest, good for bring
 the nuts down but bad for harvesting but so far
 the rain has been great for cutting down the dust
and in most cases, just slowed harvest a bit.

More samples coming in with grapes having
major powdery mildew AND now botrytis or
gray mold.  Since it is so late, nit much can
be done, plus the rain will wash off any
protection.

About 60% of the hazelnut crop haws been
harvested.

Garlic planted in September, really slow at
coming up.

Tomatoes surviving the wet weather pretty well.

Time for cole crops, but finding it hard to
locate good quality cole crops.

Great RAIN

6 out of 10 days with rain.
Watch for late blight on tomato and potato plants.

Rain will start splitting semi ripe tomatoes.

Any root crops are OK if the soil is well drained.

Watch for cold weather and hail the next few days.
Usually by November, the irrigation system needs
to be drained. Also we need to drain hoses of water. 
Tools need to e put away in a a dry area, the rust
sanded off and a light oil applied to all tool
with metal.

Weather

Rufus at the WxCafeTM

Friday September 20

The effort today on behalf of the grape & hazelnut industry here in the PNW is to search for dry days. As the past week proved, some patrons will find that 'extra' dry day here and there, depending on location.

 The weekend weather is getting thorough press coverage. Basically, WET and breezy at times. For patrons using hoops, tunnels, greenhouse plastic, etc, be aware that the second storm, Sunday/Monday could, indeed, bring interior (east of coast range) wind gusts close to 35 mph (we've been told this is a critical level for certain types of covers). Coastal zones will likely get gusts >45. Moderate-to-heavy showers to follow the cold front on into Tuesday on both sides of Cascades.

 A break in precip will arrive by Wednesday afternoon, clearing from north to south, then yielding sunny afternoons, warmer (70s to low 80s) for 2 days, maybe longer. CAUTION: thurs morning could bring low temps close to freezing in the typically cold pockets east of the Cascades.

Weekly Crop Report

Pear and apple crop continues.

Hazelnut crop - which is slated to be a large
crop continues to drop nuts and be harvested
before the weekend rain storm.  Hazelnut leaves
hanging in the trees and not falling, yet.

Grass seed - fields being plowed, reseeded,
and  many acres being limed.

Expecting tomato late blight any day now. 
Morning temps were 51 degrees.

Spotted wing drosophila bad in the Corvallis
area but not in the lower valley around Lane
County except in some small areas.

Powdery mildew hitting the cucumber, squash
and pumpkin crops extra heavy this year.

Observation - Italian prunes were late this year,
in one area they were not ripe until the first
of September.

Winegrapes and pests

Vineyard Fruit Fly Alert:

Drosophila flies and their possible impact on winegrapes

Vaughn Walton, Ph.D., Horticultural Entomologist, OSU

Spotted Wing Drosophila, (SWD, Drosophila suzukii), has renewed our interest in the impact of fruit flies  on crop quality. Since the fall of 2009, several studies have been conducted to determine fruit fly impacts on winegrapes in Oregon. In 2013, limited impacts have been found due to preventative vineyard practices and optimal weather.  Consistent with previous years, it appears that fully intact berries have limited susceptibility to SWD attack. Some growers are experiencing increased berry cracking due largely to recent rain events. These berries may show increased incidence of disease which can be an indicator of Drosophila melanogaster (common vinegar fly) activity. We are providing a brief update on our findings from berries potentially impacted by fruit flies this year:

Cracked berries often result in large numbers of Drosophila spp. flies, including SWD, feeding on lesions, and this phenomenon may cause concern. Data collected from several vineyards during 2013 show some egg laying and larval presence of Drosophila spp. flies in cracked berries. Surveys conducted from 2009 to 2013 found that both SWD and Drosophila melanogaster were inside compromised berry tissues. Larval rearing has shown that D. melanogaster are the most commonly found species in winegrape tissues that are compromised.

Drosophila melanogaster is known to be associated with common spoilage bacteria such as Acetobacteria. Very little is known about the contribution of SWD to this phenomenon, as SWD is known to attack only ripe, fully intact fruit. Research is currently being conducted in order to determine the importance of D. melanogaster and D. suzukii in spreading spoilage bacteria.

In certain cases, where berries have already cracked, there may be value to manage Drosophilid flies and limit the spread of Acetobacteria using registered pesticides. For recommendations regarding effective fruit fly management options, please consult the grape section of the Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbook and the Spotted Wing Drosophila website for information on identification, monitoring and management of D. suzukii (http://spottedwing.com). Be aware that treating tissues such as cracked berries may increase the residual activity of pesticides. Adding a day or two to the pre-harvest interval (PHI) may be prudent when treating cracked berries. For more information regarding disease management, see the 2013 Pest Management Guide for Wine Grapes in Oregon.

For more information and to determine the best management practices, contact your regional extension horticulturist, pest consultant, or Vaughn Walton (waltonv@hort.oregonstate.edu), ph: 541-740-4149).

Grrrrrrr...

Dang web site has been really hard to access the
last two days.

Gardens have been hammered with rain, too hot, 

too cold, too many diseases; lots of  insects, etc.   

As fall creeps upon us, we can continue gardening  

 as long as temps remain above 27 degrees.  This is 

good for most cole crops.  As we finish gardening, 

add 6 inches of nice compost/mulch to the garden, 

which will help  to prevent soil compaction from 

heavy rains – which could start as early as 9-20-2-13.

Watch out for late blight.

Temps this AM were 52 degrees, brrrrr for mid September. 

Time for Remay cover cloth, water jugs, walls of

water, or cover with plastic hoop houses.

Produce

Cool weather will mean late bright on
potatoes and tomatoes.  Keep plants well
aerated or apply copper or Serenade to slow
 late blight.

Apples and pears still dropping early - lack
of irrigation and weird weather.

Seeing some pepper and eggplants that may
make it.  Hope for a nice Indian summer or good
weather until November 1st.

Lawns regrowing with cooler weather. 
Give a light fertilizer for the winter time.

Continue to dry all the veggie and tree
fruit produce.  Grapes this year made
 great juice.

Past week

Hazelnuts starting to drop.  Still looks
like an excellent crop but a lot of blank nuts also.

Cool, moist/wet weather in the AM's
will cause tomato and potato late blight,
protect the crops now that the morning
weather is misty and wet.

Apples and pears - harvest going well. 
If trees were not irrigated, a lot of
premature fruit drop.  Asian pears
looking good.

Table grapes - ripening ahead of schedule
by a bit.  Warm weather causing  botrytis
and powdery mildew.

SWD seems to have slowed down a lot, so
far.  The excessive warm weather over 5
weeks MAY have slowed the SWD down.

Weeds - been a good year for weed
infestations.