Darlingtonia Temperatures log 2013

May 5th 2013
Temperatures today May 5th





May 6th 6PM, hottest day of the year so far.



A clear sunny day with temperatures in the greenhouses reaching 30c+ at times.

The Mother Colony is the higher temperature as the air temperature decreases. Although this is in the same sized tray as two other colonies it has more bulk as the sphagnum has grown higher over the years. the temperature rises slower than the other trays but also falls slower.

MrsG reports that at 6am the trays are now still about 2C above the ambient greenhouse air temperature.

Flowering is looking to be less this year, both the original colonies have been thinned to younger growth.

May 7th 2013
A quicky.

Minimum greenhouse temperature last night was 11C (52F)
Mother Colony minimum 17C (63F)
None of the others fell below 15C

Day temperatures in the trays 24 -26C ( 75 - 79F)

May 16th 2013
We're having a cold wet spell at present, so nothing untoward for the plants.

Tonight 16th May 8PM the root temperatures are 16 - 17C ( 61 - 63F)

May 18th 2013
It's like autumn (fall) is setting in. The root temperatures are only just scraping 14C (57F) today. This is not normaL

May 19th 2013
It looks like the mini cool spell has passed. Quite a lot of sunshine today with root temperatures back up to 22 - 23C (71-73F).

I've replaced a pane in each greenhouse door with wire mesh to increase ventilation and keep temperatures down a little.
That will be it for the top lean-to greenhouse. The bottom greenhouse will normally have the remaining two panes removed later.

May 28th 2013
Just back from a week up North.

The max -min thermometer recorded 31.4C (88.5F) while I was away, probably over the weekend which was very sunny.
I have no observation to confirm but the root temperatures must have reached 30C (86F)with that air temperature.
It's cool again now 15C (59F) and drizzling at 4pm today

May 31st 2013
After 4 days of temperatures where day and night only varied 3 or 4 degrees C and barely exceeded 16C (61F) we're now back into the twenties. 22C ( 72F) today

Edit :- I forgot to mention I removed the remaining two glass panels from the door of the bottom greenhouse. All three sections are now meshed

July 5th
The temperature since my last post have remained fairly constant.
Day root temperatures in the low 20sC and night temperature around 18C. The new half tray of course has varied an extra 2C above and below.

We have now been promised a bit of a heatwave so we'll see what happens this weekend and the coming week.

Temperatures today at 4pm were as shown.



All plants are growing well and looking pretty good

July 6th
Well the promised warmth is here.
Overnight the root temperatures were at a low of 20C except for the half tray which fell to 17C.

Daytime temperatures were high with a maximum air temperature of 36.5C (97.7F) in the greenhouses, unfortunately, for this purpose, I was out until 6PM so the root temperature record is at 1815 when temperatures were already dropping.



The Mother colony is showing a high of 29.6C (85F), I suspect that the half tray has been higher than this but has lost heat faster.

Tomorrow is promised to be at least as warm, watch this space

July 7th
Another warm one, in fact warmer.

Maximum greenhouse air temperature was 37.1C (98.8F)

Overnight the minimum air temperature was 19.1C (66F)
Minimum root temperature at 9am was as below



So we have what recently were maximum daytime root temperatures at the start of the day.

One sunny day later at 4pm
The half tray reached 32.3C (90F) with the Mother colony at 29C (84F).

Two hours later at 6pm
The half tray temperature has dropped but all the other trays have continued to climb., the Mother colony being the highest of the others at 30.2C ( 86.4F)

All plants are looking in good condition
July 8th

A warm start, the overnight air minimum was 18.7C.
The overnight root temperatures were quite high at 9am




The morning was cloudy so no way the temperatures were going to reach the highs of the past two days. A sunny afternoon had air temperatures peaking at 31.2C (88F). Root temperatures peaked at around 6PM.

I never saw the half tray temperature above that of the Mother colony which had a 3.6C advantage at the start of the day. 25.5C (78F) is therefore the day's max

July 9th
Back to a cloudless day, just a little mist very early on.

Overnight minimum air temperature a cooler 15.8C (60.4F)

I'm getting trays peaking at different times so the photos are getting larger



Maximum air temperature recorded at 36.1C (97F)
The half tray peaked at 3.30PM @ 30.8C (87.4F)
The Mother Colony at 6PM @ 28.4C (83F)

The plants are not showing any stress.

July 21st

Cool and cloudy.
Minimum air temperature 16.8C (62F)
The maximum air temperature didn't even brealk 20C (68F) today.



The heatwave was supposed to last until August, so much for that.
The forecast for the coming week is getting wetter daily, not a bad thing if we get it.


July 22nd

Again a cool, cloudy start.
Minimum air temperature 16.1C (61F)
The root temperatures started the day at 17-18C.

The sun started to thin the cloud at around noon making the afternoon much warmer.

Root temperatures took much longer to rise so the maximums were at 6pm even for the half tray.



Maximun air temperature finished ar a respectable 32.8C (91F)

Now where are those thunderstorms.

July 23rd

Thunderstorms all night and all day ;D

Minimum air temperature 18C (64F)
Maximum air temperature 26C (79F)

Root temperatures started the day @ 18.5 - 20C
Maximum 23.5 - 25.5C

July 24th

Sunny and humid. We need the thunderstorms back ;D

Minimum air temperature 18.8C (66F)
The root temperatures 19.5 - 21C.



Maximum air temperature 31.6C (89F)
The half tray reached 27.5C at 3PM

July 25th

A dull cloudy start turning sunny and humid.

Minimum air temperature 18.9C (66F)
Minimum root temperatures 19 - 21C



The half tray peaked at 4.15Pm @ 27.4C (81F)
Maxcimum air temperature 30.2C (86F)


July 26th

Sunny

Minimum air temperature 18.7C (66F)
Minimum root temperatures 18.8C (66F) in the half tray, 21.3C (70F) in the mother colony.



The half tray peaked at 4.30PM @ 26.7C (80F)
Maximum air temperature 31.2C (88F)

All plants enjoying the sun

July 27th

Sunny, light cloud. Very heavy rain promised later in the day but only a slight shower by 6PM.

Minimum air temperature 17.8C (64F).
Minimum root temperatures 18.2 ( half tray) - 20.7C (Mother colony).



The half tray peaked at 3.30PM @ 28.5C (83.3F).
Maximum air temperature 29.8C (85.6F)

July 28th

Cloudy start after a rainy night, still quite humid. A shower at about 5pm, quite cool afterwards.
Minimum air temperatureb 18.2C (65F).
Minimum root temperatures 18.4C (half tray) - 20.6C (mother colony).



The half tray peaked at 3.30PM @ 25C (77F)
Maximum air temperature 27.5C (81.5F)

July 29th

A sunny start with a shower at about noon.

Minimum air temperature 18.2C (65F)
Minimum root temperatures 18.5C (half tray) - 20.5C (mother colony)



The half tray peaked at 2.50PM @ 25.2C (77F), the air temperature at that time was at a peak of 26.5C (80F). It then became cloudy and cooled rapidly. As can be seen above the bottom greenhouse air temperature was down to 21.5C (71F) at 6PM

July 30th

A cool start, sunny with occasional raindrops.

Minimum air temperature 16.2C (61F).
Minimum root temperature 16.2C(Half tray).
The mother colony was at 19.3C at 9 am and by 10.30am had fallen to 19.1C as the air temperature was still below that.



The half tray reached 25.2C at 3.30PM

Maximum air temperature 26.5C (80F)

July 31st

The last day of the month and what a day. Cloudy, cool and wet, more like April than the last day of July.
Minimum air temperature 17.2C (63F).
Minimum root temperature on the half tray was 17.3C.

The mother colony started at 20.2C and finished at 19.7C at 6PM.

Maximum air temperature 20.5C (69F)
The half tray peaked at 20.2C
Not worth wasting a photo on really

The rain was supposedly a warm front travelling north so we're promised temperatures in the high 20s low 30sC from tomorrow onwards.

August 12th

We're having moderate temperatures at the moment so really there's not alot to report.
Over the past 2 days air temperature has been between 15 -24.8C.
Root temperatures today didn't even break 20C (68C)
I'll update every few days unless we hit another heatwave

August 15th

The 13th and 14th were coolish, particularly the 13th with a minimum of 12.8C (55F). Maximum air temperatures were moderate with root temperatures peaking at around 20C (68F)

Today there has been an air temperature rise up to 27.4C (81.3F).
Root temperatures broke 25C (77F) again.

I have to report that Othello has dropped out of the temperature recording. The colony just got too big and I've had to transplant it into a double tray and place it in a different location.
At this point I'd appreciate someone telling me why transplanting a single tray into a double tray requires four extra trays of Sphagnum moss.
The original Othello position has been taken up by a Siuslaw plant (colony) which is in a single tray so temperatures should be the same. This late substitute is using the old Othello thermometer, Othello has a brand new one.

It's such a shame that aluminium and glass are inelastic.

August 16th.

The day started with a fairly good amount of rain, it stayed cloudy until about noon.
Minimum air temperature 18.3C (65F)
Minimum root temperature 19 - 21C



Maximum air temperature 27.5C (81.5F) which is exactly the same as the half tray recorded at 3PM.

August 17th

A cool day, mainly cloudy as expected in the forecast. I'm not sure where the promised rain went though, it wasn't here.
Minimum air temperature 16.3C (61F).
Minimum root temperatures 17 -21C (63 - 70F)

Maximum air temperature 23.5C (74F).
With the cool day the root temperatures didn't move that much. The half tray managed to catch up with the rest which really just stayed as they were at about 21C (70F)

August 18th

A cool but bright start to the day, surprisingly not a hot day considering the amount of sunlight.
Minimum air temperature 15.5C (60F)



Maxcimum air temperature 25.1C (77F)

I added the single thermometer for Othello to the above, top left.
it's in an area where it gets somewhat less direct sunlight than previously.
Anyway, to show that the previous root temperatures didn't have a negative effect on the plant, here's the first youngster that appeared on May 16th.



I just have to say, how slow can you get, three months old and not quite flowering size yet. ;D ;D ;D

August 19th

Cool day with broken sun.

Minimum air temperature 15.1C (59F)
Minimum root temperatures 15.4 - 18.8C (60 - 66F)

Maximum air temperature 22.2C (72F)
Maximim root temperatures 19.2 - 20.8C (66.6 - 69.5F)

The lower greenhouse has of late given lower air temperatures.

August 20th

Another coolish start although sunny.

Minimum air temperature 15C (59F)
Minimun root temperature 15.1C in the half tray, the others were around 17-18C (62.6 -64.4F)
Not a great deal of movement in temperature during the day.



Maxcimum air temperature 25.6C (78F)

We've been forecast a return to the hot stuff for the coming weekend, we'll see ;D

September 1st

A bright day but still very autumnal, warmer temperatures forecast for later in the week, meanwhile it's good for running marathons.

Minimum air temperature 11.5C (52.7F)



Maximum air temperature 21.3C (70.3F)
Note that the half tray is currently not catching up with the larger trays during the day.
Othello must have the most sheltered position, it's retaining heat better than the others.

September 2nd

A cloudy start, cool wind. No significant temperature rise until mid afternoon.

Minimum air temperature 13.5C (56.3F)



Maximum air temperature 24.6C (76.3F)
The half tray peaked at 5PM @ 20.9C (69.6F) which was matched by Othello an hour later.

September 3rd

A bright sunny start, cloudy mid afternoon then sunny again.

Minimum air temperature 16.2C (61.2F)



Maxcimum air temperature 23.6C (74.5F)
The half tray never caught up with the larger trays in the top greenhoiuse. Othello remained the highest all day peaking at 22.8C (73F)

September 4th

A warm sunny day.
Minimum air temperature 15.8C (60.4F)



Maximum air temperature 27.5C (81.6F)
The peaks were as on the photo.

September 5th

A bright sunny day again.

Minimum air temperature 16.2C (61.2F)



Maximum air temperature 26.7C (80F)
The half tray peaked at 4pm @ 24.3C (75.7F)

For the next couple of days we're forecast rain and much lower temperatures.


September 6th

A cool dull day with some rain.
Not the rainfall forecast but the temperature drop was.

Minimum air temperature 14.5C (58.1F)
The minimum root temperature was 14.9C. This was the half tray, not early in the morning but at 1PM
You will note that the thermometers end lower at 6PM than they start at 9am. They are still losing heat. The air temperature never went above the temperature of the larger trays.



Maximum air temperature 16C (60.8F)

September 7th

Chilly cloudy start brightening up mid afternoon. Temperatures well down, it certainly looks like autumn has set in.

Minimum air temperature 10.8C (51.4F)



Maximum air temperarture 19.1C (66.4F)

September 8th

A sunny but cool day.
Minimum air temperature 9.8C (49.6F)



Maximum air temperature 19.3C (66.7F)
The trays were slightly warmer mid afternoon but you wouldn't shake a stick at the difference.

An update.
These photos are available in another thread but I believe their inclusion here is warranted.

The half tray was planted up on June 16th when a young plant was seperated from the Mother Colony.



Over the summer this plant was subjected to the highest temperatures of any of the trays. The peak temperature being 32.4C (90F). This does not appear to have stressed the plant as it is showing good growth.
The tray today, September 8th



There are now three crowns.
I was surprised at the difference, it's not that obvious when you see the plant daily. It looks very happy with its treatment.


September 9th

A fairly bright cool day. A thunderstorm nid-late afternoon.
Minimum air temperature 9.7C (49.5F)



Maximum air temperature 18.6C (65.5F)
I took an early reading as the temperature dropped due to the thunderstorm. A 14.8C (58.6F) air temperature at 5PM is not t-shirt weather.

I think now is the time to stop the daily temperature postings, I don't think they will provide any new information on these plants. No doubt I will add the occasional reading over the rest of the year.