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Fertilizing and Rain for next weekend!

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K-Rimes:

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--- Quote from: a3pulley on November 15, 2025, 10:13:26 PM ---
--- Quote from: K-Rimes on November 15, 2025, 01:21:02 PM ---


Santa Barbara has already received a lot of rain. My old place was directly beside the "San Marcos Pass" weather station, which has received 8" of rain already.

Wish I'd gotten more fertilizer down in the yard, but rain alone seems to juice plants up pretty good in comparison to well or city water.

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I’m always amazed at how much more rain you guys get in SB than we do on the coast in LA. There’s orographics for you I guess… (PV averages 13 inches per year! Last year we only got 6…)

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It is certainly an anomaly in California for how south it is. Even just 40 min north, the totals can be half. I see why the Chumash natives did so well here. This is a really great start to the rain year, but I am cautious to say this will be a great year overall. Can't recall which year it was when it was hot and heavy with the rain to start and then stayed dry all the way till March

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How useful to trees is rain late fall/early winter? When they are dormant, is water even useful? I would think only Spring showers are useful leading into active growing periods. I am not an expert, so I am quite curious.

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It's not as important as water during the months that the plant is actually growing, but it can't hurt. I think big doses of rain are particularly helpful in reducing the build up of mineral and salts in root zones, this said. It's what plants crave.

a3pulley:
One more non-expert take: we receive no rainfall from ~May to ~October, so soil is bone-dry except where it's irrigated. Soil biology pauses, mulch stops breaking down, and irrigated sites get loaded with chorides from city water. Rain increases worm/fungal activity, breaks down wood chips, and flushes excess salt from soil. So I think it's a solid benefit even to dormant trees.

SHV:
On my farm, the rain recharges shallow aquifers that my trees rely heavily on for those with established tap roots. As Kevin noted, flushing the salt buildup from irrigation always benefits the trees.  Avocados always get a really nice boost in growth during Fall showers. 

SDPirate:
I think fall rain is a good thing, the timing of the rain not as valuable as spring but still you want to get those last growth spurts out and hardened off before winter sets in.  Not to mention that while many of the species may go dormant during winter, I have plenty that surprisingly still push growth even in the dead of winter.

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