climate heating and negative effects on crops

[Michael Almon]

I've certainly noticed negative effects on some of my crops due to extreme heat and drought swings.  Are there particular permaculture methods that can mitigate heat more so than conventional growing?  I'm paying an arm and a leg for irrigation, and I still suffer damage.
Michael Almon

Hotter summer nights are particularly problematic
Link to - Hotter summer nights affect everything from death rates to crop yields to firefighting | High Country News.

"Climate disruption is causing overnight lows to rise at a faster clip than daytime highs.  June through August daytime highs have gone up at a rate of 3.5 degrees per century since 1970.  Daily summer nighttime lows have risen by 4.8 degrees per century.  This time-of-day asymmetry is a signature effect of climate change.  Karin Gleason, a climatologist at NOAA, said 'When it comes to human health, animal health, crop health, plant health, the biggest impact is that the temperatures didn't cool off enough at night'.  Rice, corn, and wheat yields will all drop by 5% to 40% because plants require a state of rest at night.  Potatoes will get smaller, tomatoes will have a harder time developing fruit, wine will get weird, from grape acidity and ripeness to aroma and color.  Invasive species will continue to expand northward.  Even more salmon and trout will die, because night temperatures play an outsized role in keeping rivers cool.

[Michael Almon]

My next question on climate heating effects is about invasive plants.  Has anyone else been invaded by Melothria pendula (AKA Guadeloupe cucumber)?  I had thought that bind weed or quack grass or Potentia indica (fake strawberry) were bad, but this one is the worst.

I've been fighting it here at Forest Floor Permaculture for 6 years, and it's just exploded this year.  My nickname for it is Kansas Kudzu, because it grows under, among, and over everything else.  It grows very fast, the vines branch frequently and intertwine, making them hard to pull.  And it puts on berries ("cucumbers") at every leaf axil, which fall off when the vine is pulled, propagating itself dramatically.

Attached is a photo of a trash can full of the vine and berries, all from just one weeding.  Also attached is the USDA Plant Database page showing it's extent in the U.S.  It shows it being in only one Kansas county, Cowley County, on the very south state line.  But I'm in Douglas County, a good 120 miles farther north.  Climate heating has pushed the plant hardiness zones north, so I'm thinking that's why it's arrived in Douglas County.

Anyone else have experience with Melothria pendula?  Any suggestions for dealing with it?
Michael Almon

On 8/31/22 22:19, Sasha Banksova wrote:

Yes, the intense heat forced the seed heads to emerge fully bloomed on our brome hay fields by May. We didn't expect this early maturation, so we missed cutting at the boot stage entirely, creating stemmy, unpalatable hay bales that had a HUGE percentage of weed content. Yields were about 30% of what they were last year, and quality was orders of magnitude lower. Next year's plan is to walk fields starting late April and plan to cut in May. For reference, we had stellar yields of gorgeous quality weed-free hay last year, and we cut in late July through mid August.  

On the other hand, we had a bumper crop of garlic that grew in our 150 foot hugelkulture. Best garlic ever. A lot of folks struggled with keeping the bulbs dry while in ground during monsoon like rains. But having them planted in the hugel provided sufficient drainage and tons of nutrients.

NOTE: we don't irrigate our hayfields, but have multiple swales and a pond in our east field to capture and retain moisture. Our biggest problems in the hayfields now are low soil fertility, and PH. Will be working on that now through spring.

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[Joy Ellsworth]

I’d like to offer a suggestion to this question but I am under-qualified, only owing my Permaculture knowledge to reading in adulthood and childhood practice of land management within Indigenous culture.

Would bio-intensive intercropping be a right-fit solution? It requires reliance upon human labor rather than farm implements, but is better for retained moisture, soil health, and biodiversity above ground.

Thoughts?

~Joy

www.clementwaters.org

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[Laura Odell]

Hey there everyone! 

Michael, thank you for bringing this to my attention and asking good questions. 

I haven’t noticed this plant anywhere at PermaCommons or Delaware Street Commons…yet. 

I will certainly keep a look out! 

We just started with some irrigation, using the rain barrels at PermaCommons, but up till this point everything has coped well. 

We have a living ground cover everywhere and an increasingly diverse root, vine, perennial and shrub layer under the trees. 

Our soil is usually soft and sponge like, especially after a rain. 

Michael, I know your site is also very diverse, and I believe you also implemented swales for rainwater catchment. 

I’m guessing it was brought in by birds, but I would also wonder if it could have been in some compost or mulch that was brought in. 

Do they grow in sun or shade? 

If it’s full sun, I’d go with solarization. 

Sasha and Michael, have either of you contacted Franklin or Douglas County extension about this issue? 

It seems like Sasha has a good management strategy for hay fields. 

Best, 

Laura

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Laura Odell

Coordinator

PermaCommons Community Garden

1304 Pennsylvania St

Lawrence, KS 66044

"Gardens are not made by singing, 'Oh, how beautiful', and sitting in the shade."--Rudyard Kipling

[Sasha Banksova]

I've been in touch with both Douglas County Conservation, and Ottawa Co-op in Franklin. Both said to double down (40lb/acre) on lime, phosphorous, potash, and nitrogen.  

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[Ben Stallings]

Thanks, I got a good laugh out of that! Of course they said to put our crops on hospice care. But that's clearly not sustainable.

To be clear, though, did they suggest that in response to the unwanted plant [whose name has gotten lost in the replies], or to the hotter nighttime temperatures?

--Ben

[Michael Almon]

I also am having a hard time sorting through the multiple threads here.  I made two posts, one on heat stressed plants, and the other on USDA planting zones moving north following climate zones, and subsequently how the range of species is also moving north (in my case a southern invasive plaguing me - Melothria pendula).  People's answers have cojoined the two topics.  It's much better to keep each topic thread separate.

Michael