Full Smith Period warning

[Thelma Sanders]

A 'snow' period?

What's that all about

[BUFFS]

Oh dear- that must be so frustrating.

My peppers are that height too- even under a cloche.

It's suddenly stuck me that it'll be September in less than 5 weeks time, and I always associate Autumn with the beginning of the school Autumn Term:

our last "real" summer was 2006 so you can see why we up here reckon the boffins are talking tosh when they keep warning of global warming, the rate its going I will soon need a polar bear hunting licence to protect me crops and a need develop a taste for blubber, as opposed to the official blubber on the heat waves of which we see none...

[Penellype]

Can absolutely understand your frustration Buffs, the north west has had the worst of things with almost no decent weather at all, whereas here we have had plenty of nice days, just some unseasonably cold nights.

Unfortunately global warming is not a case of it being warmer here. 2015 is comfortably heading to be the warmest year on record globally, partly due to the warming el nino area in the pacific ocean. There is a real possibility that the UK will become rather colder as the world warms up, as one of the consequences could be the weakening or stopping of the gulf stream, which keeps the seas around us warmer than they otherwise would be.

[SusieG]

Brrrrrr

Penellype, I feel totally depressed after reading your last post re global warming ...
Think I'll just go under my duvet with a good bottle of red and give up now!!!

Can absolutely understand your frustration Buffs, the north west has had the worst of things with almost no decent weather at all, whereas here we have had plenty of nice days, just some unseasonably cold nights.

Unfortunately global warming is not a case of it being warmer here. 2015 is comfortably heading to be the warmest year on record globally, partly due to the warming el nino area in the pacific ocean. There is a real possibility that the UK will become rather colder as the world warms up, as one of the consequences could be the weakening or stopping of the gulf stream, which keeps the seas around us warmer than they otherwise would be.

[Penellype]

Penellype, I feel totally depressed after reading your last post re global warming ...
Think I'll just go under my duvet with a good bottle of red and give up now!!!

Oh dear, sorry, I didn't mean to depress you! It is something that I feel very strongly about and sometimes my frustration with the people who don't do anything about it escapes, particularly when people deny it is happening. Nobody really knows what the full effects of it will be, but one thing is certain, it will not be confined to any particular part of the planet or any one effect. As individuals all we can do is try our hardest to contribute as little as possible to it, and growing our own food is one of the things we can do.

[Gillykat]

Couldn't agree more Penellype - I've been a birder/naturalist since the 1980's and definitely noticed a difference in dates, temperatures, trees & flowers bursting into leaf, migrant birds etc. Folk will argue that humans cannot change weather patterns but I don't know.....chopping down rainforests and just generally abusing the planet as we are HAS to have an affect! There's only so much destruction can happen before the planet's natural balance begins to tip Humans are SO stupid!!!!

[Thelma Sanders]

particularly when people deny it is happening.

I don't think many people deny it is happening, but a lot of people disagree about the amount of warming being recorded, when results are continually being adjusted (always up? )and WHY it is happening.

However, I don't think here is the right place for debate on such a contentious issue

[WPG]

Northern Ireland has had quite a few full Smiths periods during July, and the first confirmed potato blight here was found near the north coast on July 15th, in a crop of King Edwards.
Today I had to cut some suspicious looking leaves off my tomatoes

[Snow]

I know it depends year on year but which month is the most common for blight to appear? July, Aug, Sep? I'm in Witshire and hear it hits here earlier than the northern areas but I don't know when that might be on average.

[Penellype]

Depends vastly on the year. From my notes on Sungold:

2012 1st September (5 full Smith periods in July and 1 in August)
2013 25th October (1 full Smith period in July and 2 in August)
2014 30th October (0 full Smith periods in July or August but 5 in September)
2015 ? (1 full Smith period in July)

[Potstubsdustbins]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ By golly we have a time lord in our midst

[Penellype]

I knew my typing would get me into trouble eventually! I've corrected it - I don't think I will still be here in 2105.

[solanaceae]

Anywhere from late July to late August is when it usually first arrives here.

Also I've found that using Smith Periods as an indicator for when blight will strike isn't always helpful.

There have been times when there have been Smith Periods and no blight and there have been times with no Smith Periods, not even any rain about for sometime, and yet blight still manages to strike, last year being a prime example.

After last year I now prefer to use the 'blight incidents map' on the fight blight site, as a more useful guide. At the moment they have the fewest reported incidents for this time of year that I've ever seen. Perhaps the majority of us will not see blight at all this year then. Hopefully, this is the silver lining in the cloud of what's been a somewhat dreary summer for our Toms.

[Thelma Sanders]

The Blightwatch site is here, if anyone hasn't seen it yet
Fight Against Blight - Blight Incidents | AHDB Potatoes.

It's what I keep saying, you may have a Smith period warning but if there's no blight near you - then there's no need to panic

[Martin H]

The Blightwatch site is here, if anyone hasn't seen it yet
Fight Against Blight - Blight Incidents | AHDB Potatoes.

It's what I keep saying, you may have a Smith period warning but if there's no blight near you - then there's no need to panic

Thanks for the link to incidents, I'd lost it. You used to be able to click through from the Blightwatch page but either it's gone or moved to somewhere I can't find it.