The heatwave

Its 42C now in Melbourne and its going to be 43 tomorrow. Despte having lived here for nearly 13 years I don't recall it ever getting to 43. Then friday >40C Saturday > 40C before a cool change (according to the forecast).
i hope this one isn't accurate:
http://www.weather.com.au/vic/melbourne
also it has not rained here for approx one month.

This is probably nothing compared to Mildura or Swan Hill, or Adelaide and other places in SA or Perth and others in WA lol. (actually im from Perth and it got to 46C once or something crazy like that).

I recommend cactus growers in heatwave-affected areas to not water until the cool change comes through or you may regret it. (heat dormancy; water-they rot).

Well its bloody hot here, 42C. Noticed alot of my smaller plants in the ground looks pretty well cooked to death.

update: it was 43C today. forecast 43 (possible 45) for tomorrow and 43 again friday.

Adelaide got to 45.6C!

MichaelCactus wrote:

Noticed alot of my smaller plants in the ground looks pretty well cooked to death.

not good!

Melbourne CBD got to 44C today, with some areas (like mine) getting to a degree hotter at 45C.
43C is expected tomorrow.

43 in gypsyland Bairnsdale, stinkin hot with an added slap to the face with super hot winds just to ice the cake.

Thou my cactus are loving it. no stress other than 2 mamms which i moved into a shady spot yesterday. all mine get filtered light via shadex till about 4:00 then I get some direct light on around half my collection. Had a number of gymno's flower today which was nice and another turb flower

I'd hate to have 45.6 thats cookin with gas. You could slow cook a chicken in Adelaide

Stay cool everyone. Hope none of you have any losses.

It got to 44.7 degrees here yesterday and in my green house it was 55+ dregree and off the scale. Watering them, but its hard to convince them to survive in my conditions - even in a desert they are under trees and little nooks and crannies. Still not too many losses, and its only going to continue into the middle of next week.
Grrrrrrrrrrr - I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

cheers mm
Calycium

Yeah, I've been watering selected plants. Most of mine seem to be loving the heat. I've had multiple Turbs and Gymnos flower (but thats not always a good thing lol).

Its other plants in my garden that are coping it. Non-succulent seedlings have been hurt as well as my tomato and pumkin plants nearly being burnt to ashes.

Does any one else have any other plants that are not particuarly taking the heat well, warnings etc?

Cacti seem to be fine although hot to the touch! apart from a couple, one loph and a P. azureus which wrinkled a bit before I swiftly shifted under shade cloth and watered..all good now.
I tried my first vege patch last/this year and have been tormented by strong winds and now this heat.. It can all die in hell.. Seriously reconsider some defences in the future!

45.1 degrees in Melbourne today!
tomorrow a cool change of only 37.

My plant casualties include a lobivia, one gymno mihanovichii and one astro myriostigma. all plants are incredibly hot to the touch. many Gymnos and astros flowered today but were very dehydrated. Also my lophophora williamsiis were flowering but they do so all the time, but I did have my first ever flower on my L.diffusa.

oh, You poor guys in Adelaide!

Well seems a couple of Parodia's and Astro's are happy with the heat, all my others not so much. My 2 asterias, Hakuun, and a capricorne all flowering with 2 or 3 flowers, while the others are budding.
My loss's include some Trichocereus species, it was only like the diameter of a 20c coin and like cm high, but it was unusual so i wanted it to grow, and umm.. a mamm or 2 plus a couple of Chamacereus.

Most of my plants seem to have come through the heat largely unscathed. Oddly enough, the only specimen that's looking a bit battered from the heat is - of all things - a common-as-muck prickly pear that got a bit sunburnt.

No one ever gives a thought to us guys in the west...

We get real hot weather whenever the Bight gets a decent high - and where i work, we're contstantly over 40 during the summer...

At home, my young lophs know all about it now - they got caned in the first heatwave before Xmas, i lost about 20 of them

Toughen up, you Eastern States Princesses.

LOL

Doesn't seem to bad for everyone.

This is my first summer with my green house and I'm so glad given this heat wave.
It sucks that in my climate if you want to grow the types of plants I do that you need a green house.
LOL, it funny instead of my family putting in money for a car for my 21'st I asked for a green house instead.
My mum thinks I'm a weird kid


It's also amusing that through this that high 30's is a cool change.

I'm a little south-east of adelaide it was 42.8, 46.3, 44.1, 42.8, and 33 today. Plus wind. No cacti died but they look sick and stressed, gone very wrinkly and yellow on the north-west side (all in the ground, full shade all day). VERY dehydrated. No point watering atm as this will just confuse them.

It also causes them to throw pups prolifically, more than is desireable.

I lost about 25% of the natives I planted in winter including three sandalwood trees whose hosts had died earlier in spring.

Boo-hoo.

Plants just aren't cut out for 46.3! I would take two weeks of 35 before I'd take two days around 45. It turned my beautiful garden into a distaster zone, with no rain forecast.

Bring on autumn.

Consolations to everyone else, let's hope we can sweat through the rest of summer with minimal losses.

Oh to be an Eastern States Princess. Adelaide hot hot and then some. Was over in the west recently, it was hot but not the dry heat we get here... you got it EASY chum :-)

sad to hear you lost so many good plant tho'

Heat isnt what we've got to worry about here, bushfire's right at my front door pretty much here in Eaglehawk. Its thick and smokey and we're on fire alert

Scary stuff Michael! yeah i heard of the fire in Eaglehawk on the news and thought of you mate.

There are so many fires, extremely concerning. Practically the whole state is on fire!:
http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/incidents/incident_summary.htm
even two blazes in the Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren that claimed some houses.

Also the hottest temperature ever recorded since records began in Melbourne CBD today, 46.4 degrees. (47 for me). temps were in the mid to high 40's throughout the state with places in the north reaching 48.