Hello, and welcome back to my gardening series! As you can see, afternoon high temperatures over the next few days are going to be very hot, with highs approaching the triple digits on Tuesday and Wednesday. That being said, it will be extra important to give your outdoor plants water this week as the hot temperatures will stress them out.
I would also recommend tending to your gardens in the early morning or after sunset to avoid that heat.
If you have potted plants that are heat sensitive, then it may be a good idea to bring them indoors for a bit so they can recover from the heat. Some watering may be necessary in raised and in ground gardens as the heat will dry out the top layer of soil very quickly.
Louisiana (left), Mississippi (center), Alabama (right).
Believe it or not, the soils in our region are getting pretty dry! Despite the copious rain we got in May and June, the soil has dried out considerably since tropical storm Arthur made its way through the area back in June. Soil moisture index values between Montgomery and McComb, MS are still above normal, however everywhere else is looking pretty dry.
Values are below average (0.5 or less) in southern and central Louisiana, the northern half of Mississippi, and the northern half of Alabama.
In Mobile, a little under 2″ of rain has fallen since June 25th, which is nearly 6″ below normal for this time of year. While the current drought monitor doesn’t have any of our area in drought, if as little precipitation as we’ve been getting continues combined with days with highs in the upper 90s and low 100s, at least some drought could return.
Luckily, the NOAA CPC is predicting slightly above normal precipitation for our area in early August. While there is no guarantee that we get tons of rain, NOAA has picked up on a potential pattern change which could deliver more precipitation for us than we’ve been getting.
See you next week!
