Re: California vs Florida climate zones

**N* S* <T*@PlantSoup.Com>**

Another difference between CA and FL gardening is the change in  
temperatures over the course of a day.

So while Florida (and many other regions of the country),  
temperatures fluctuate only slightly between night and day, CA,  
temperatures fluctuate greatly over the course of 24 hours.

For example, on April 1 of this past year (just to pick a date at  
random) in Miami, the low was 70, the high was 80 (average high for  
that date is 82).  In my area (just north of San Diego) the low was  
48 and the high was 64 (the average high for that date is 60).

Notice that the difference in average highs as well.  Florida heats  
up earlier in the season than we do.

For plants, that means that in California, it takes longer for enough  
heat to accumulate to ripen summer veggies like tomatoes and  
eggplants.  Flowers take more days to bloom, too.

When the rain comes makes a huge difference as well.

Because we get rain in winter when it is cool, rather than in summer  
when it is warm, we don't get that big, lush growth that most people  
associate with subtropical climates.  Without that luxurious growth,  
we don't get a large accumulation of organic matter in the soil, so  
our soils tend to be very nutrient poor - another reason that plants  
grow differently here.

Spring is a good planting season in California, but fall is the  
best.  Fall is when the soil is still warm but the air has cooled.   
That way, there is less water stress on above ground growth, while  
the underground portions (roots) become established.  It may look  
like nothing is happening, but actually, the plants are getting an  
extra season of root growth  before they push top growth in the  
warming air the next spring.

Fall (and winter) planted plants are watered by rains (when we are  
lucky enough to have them), and that reduces the stress on our  
incredibly over-subscribed to municipal water systems.  Since 80% of  
our water is imported and more than half of that water goes into the  
landscape, it is really really important for Californians to take  
advantage of the natural rainfall as much as possible.

I could keep on but you probably get the idea.

Nan

*****************************************
Nan Sterman  Plant Soup, Inc. TM
Garden Writer • Speaker
Gardening Coach • Horticulture Consultant
NSterman@PlantSoup.Com
760 634-2902 (v)  760 634-2957 (f)
PO Box 231034
Encinitas, CA 92023

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