Santa Anas

[SHV]

Yeah, these winds suck. Been without power since this morning. Any new growth flushes have been torn to shreds by the wind gusts. It’s also doing a great job of thinning the avocados 
I can tolerate all of this so long as fires are removed from the equation.

[zephian]

We've had our emergency operations center up and running most days the past couple weeks here (dept of transportation)
this week we had 70mph gusts. I'm putting rocks and heavy objects in my pots to keep them upright. My poor bananas have seen better days. atleast our temps have dropped in to the 80s and we have 12%+ humidity.
We hit 35 degrees last night, with the wind it felt like freezing temps

[spaugh]

Yeah, these winds suck. Been without power since this morning. Any new growth flushes have been torn to shreds by the wind gusts. It’s also doing a great job of thinning the avocados 
I can tolerate all of this so long as fires are removed from the equation.

Sorry your fruit are falling off, are you able to run the irrigation without power or your pumps are dead? 

[SHV]

Fortunately, irrigation went off early this morning before they cut power, but yes, no well water moving forward until they restore power.  If these power cuts are going to be an annual occurrence in SoCA, it might be time for me to start planning backup generators for the farm.
The Avos are disappointing because the trees were loaded this year from the rainy winter and mild summer.

[SeaWalnut]

Hottentot fig is a fruit plant that prevents fire from spreading because of its high water content.
The fruit is edible, resembles a fig and ive read thats used in California as a barrier against wild fires but on slopes it can colapse similar to a land fall because its heavy from the high water content.
Fire protection and fruit farming mixed together.

[CA Hockey]

Buttercream mango snapped at graft union. Other than that, trees surprisingly made it through. Even newly grafted tender growth on mangos figs and avos seemed to do just fine. A few lost leaves which revealed some surprise atemoyas hanging for me. I was worried I wouldn't have any annonas to show despite having some 9 trees each about 6-8 feet diameter.

Brad - hope everything is ok.
And hope we're done for the season. I remember in 2017 the winds hit in April, on my daughter's birthday. Knocked out 95% plus of my stone fruit  including my cherries.

[shinzo]

Sorry to hear that Brad, i hope you and your family and plants will be safe.
My thoughts are with you!

[spaugh]

Things look pretty good here really.  The plants are looking a bit dried and burnt but the important part is all the cherimoyas and avocados are still on the tree.

[roblack]

Scary!! Wishing you and your family, and your property and plants safety and wellness.

[spaugh]

Scary!! Wishing you and your family, and your property and plants safety and wellness.

All is well.  We didnt have any fires near by.  And the wind is gone for now.  Its still really dry.  My meter says 1% and its in the mid 80s this week.  We should get into our rainy season soon hopefully. 

I had a lot of banana trees that had thrown out big racks that got completely hammered in the wind.  All are shredded and burnt looking.  Will probabaly have to chop them down and let new pups grow and write these ones off. 

We did get one big rack off in time.   The heat also kind of ripened everything at once too.  We are trying to work through all of this stuff.

[beicadad]

Nice harvest Brad. Good that your family is safe and plants are doing well.

[Luisport]

WOW! Amazing Brad! Congratulations!   

[palmcity]

Sorry to hear Brad
I’ve heard about the winds but not being familiar with the climate there, what causes them and it the same time every year?

Edit: I was curious enough to google it. Incase anyone else is unfamiliar and wondered https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds

Very interesting wiki read. I was not aware of fungal infections etc. associated with the Santa Ana Winds at least per who ever wrote the wiki thread. "The winds carry Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii spores into nonendemic areas,[24][25] a pathogenic fungus that causes Coccidioidomycosis ("Valley Fever"). Symptomatic infection (40 percent of cases) usually presents as an influenza-like illness with fever, cough, headaches, rash, and myalgia (muscle pain).[26] Serious complications include severe pneumonia, lung nodules, and disseminated disease, where the fungus spreads throughout the body. The disseminated form of Coccidioidomycosis can devastate the body, causing skin ulcers, abscesses, bone lesions, severe joint pain, heart inflammation, urinary tract problems, meningitis, and often death.[27]"

Good to hear your family & home are ok. With all the news of fires reaching homes etc. I was curious on insurace rates and at least per google search average Florida home was $3575 vs. $793 average California home per https://www.insurance.com/home-and-renters-insurance/home-insurance-basics/average-homeowners-insurance-rates-by-state .... I guess the fires and quakes are no where near the destruction vs. hurricanes.  I would not have guessed these numbers as I normally think more money for California living but not the case on home owners insurance and perhaps not the case on other items...

[spaugh]

The vast majority of homes in CA are not in locations that can suffer from a wildfire.  Like the bay area, and los angeles.  Its mostly the more rural areas or hilly wooded areas that have fire risk.  So if you live in a fire area then your insurance i harder to get and costs more.  Trust me, it was a pain to get insurance at my house.  So when you read average cost of insurance in CA it may be kind of misleading.   Im paying 1300$ a year to cover 200k worth of structures and 50k of property.   I guess it would be more expensive if we had a nicer house.  Ours is a small fab house.  We want to build a nice house some day.