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Strawberry Plasticulture – September 18,
2003
Vol 4, No. 50
In this issue:
-1. Early morning update from NOAA on Isabel
-2. On-farm demonstration in Alamance yesterday
a) importance of hand planting tool for red clay!
b) avoid the water wheel planters used for plugs
-1. Early morning update from
NOAA on Isabel (see this website:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT3+shtml/180839.shtml
HURRICANE ISABEL ADVISORY NUMBER 49
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
...LARGE CATEGORY TWO ISABEL BEARING DOWN ON THE NORTH CAROLINA
COAST...
A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM CAPE FEAR NORTH CAROLINA
TO CHINCOTEAGUE VIRGINIA...INCLUDING PAMLICO AND ALBEMARLE
SOUNDS...AND THE CHESAPEAKE BAY SOUTH OF SMITH POINT. A HURRICANE
WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE
WARNING AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 24 HOURS.
ALL PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO
COMPLETION IN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA.
AT 5 AM EDT...0900 UTC...THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS EXTENDED
EASTWARD FROM SANDY HOOK NEW JERSEY TO MORICHES INLET NEW YORK. A
TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT NORTH OF CHINCOTEAGUE TO
MORICHES INLET...INCLUDING DELAWARE BAY. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING
REMAINS IN EFFECT SOUTH OF CAPE FEAR TO SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SOUTH
CAROLINA...FOR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM SMITH POINT NORTHWARD...AND
FOR THE TIDAL POTOMAC.
AT 5 AM EDT...0900Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE ISABEL WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 33.1 NORTH...LONGITUDE 74.7 WEST OR ABOUT 155 MILES
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF CAPE HATTERAS NORTH CAROLINA. THIS IS ALSO
ABOUT 145 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CAPE LOOKOUT NORTH CAROLINA.
ISABEL IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 14 MPH...AND THIS GENERAL
MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THE
FORECAST TRACK...THE CENTER OF ISABEL IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL
IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA TODAY. HOWEVER...CONDITIONS ARE
DETERIORATING OVER A LARGE AREA WELL BEFORE THE CENTER REACHES THE
COAST. HURRICANE CONDITIONS SHOULD BEGIN SPREADING ONTO THE COAST
IN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA LATER THIS MORNING. SUSTAINED
HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS COULD ALSO EXTEND INLAND UP TO 150 MILES
ALONG THE PATH OF ISABEL.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 105 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THIS
MAKES ISABEL A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
HURRICANE SCALE. LITTLE CHANGE IN STRENGTH IS LIKELY PRIOR TO
LANDFALL...AND WEAKENING IS EXPECTED AFTER LANDFALL.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115 MILES FROM THE
CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 345
MILES. NOAA BUOY 41002 LOCATED ABOUT 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE
CENTER RECENTLY REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 54 MPH.
ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 957 MB...28.26 INCHES. NOAA
BUOY 41002 RECENTLY REPORTED A PRESSURE OF 978.8 MB...28.90 INCHES.
STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 7 TO 11 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...
ALONG WITH EXTREMELY LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...IS
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE NORTH OF WHERE THE CENTER CROSSES THE
COAST. STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 4 TO 8 FT ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS
IS EXPECTED IN CHESAPEAKE BAY AND THE TIDAL PORTIONS OF ADJACENT
RIVERS.
STORM TOTAL RAINFALLS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS...ARE LIKELY IN ASSOCIATION WITH ISABEL.
THERE IS A THREAT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES OVER EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA AND SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA TODAY
REPEATING THE 5 AM EDT POSITION...33.1 N... 74.7 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...NORTHWEST NEAR 14 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...105 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 957 MB.
FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR
PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE AND STATEMENTS FROM
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS.
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT 8 AM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT
COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 11 AM EDT.
FORECASTER BEVEN
-2. On-farm demonstration in Alamance yesterday
a) importance of hand planting tool for red clay -- just before the demonstration
at 4 pm in Alamance yesterday I had 2-3 calls on specifications for making the
hand planting tool shown on http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/sept30/index.htm.
This planting tool for fresh dugs is made out of steel and is about 10 _ inches
long. The handle is about 4 inches and is wrapped heavily in duct tape for comfort
of the hand (and it is a good idea to wrap around the handle some foam cushioning
just beneath the duct tape to keep the palm of the hand from getting bruised
from repeated use of the tool). In demonstrating the tool it was apparent that
it could be very useful for planting in red clay (a real hand-saver). The idea
of using just your hand to open the 5-6 inch hole in the red clay was not appealing
to anyone who tried it. The fresh dug plants we received >from the Mountains
of NC just for this demonstration were from Jeff Harzog and Keith Barlow (B & H
Nursery). The roots were already trimmed to 4-5 inches. So, there was not even
an extra _ inch of root going beyond the section of the tool that grabs the roots
(notice in Sept. 30 advisory last year we demonstrated the use of this tool with
a white paper towel -
- fig. 5a -- this shows the paper towel extending another
1 _ -2 inch beyond the curved area of the tool that “grabs” the bottom
of the root system, and we did not have this kind of excess root length to work
with yesterday). The planting technique for using this tool is nicely illustrated
at this web address starting at Figure 12:
http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/sept3_03/index.htm
You will notice that the tool in Figure 12 (from Sept. 3, 2003 advisory) is not
as wide as the tool shown in Fig. 5 from Sept. 30, 2002 which has a 1 _ inch
width. I would personally recommend the wider width tool in case you have some
very large roots as show in http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/sept3_03/index.htmat Fig. 8.
b) It is best to avoid the water wheel planters used for plugs and preferable
to build your own spacing wheel (see Fig. 3 in http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/sept16_03/index.htm)
to mark the location of the planting hole. In essence, the water wheels are cutting
too wide a hole in plastic mulch, and also have the effect of disturbing the
soil in a way that makes hand-setting with a planting tool less successful. It
is sort of like using a block to make a hole for a fresh dug root system that
is more column-like (very narrow). The “narrow column” (roots) need
to be in very close contact with the soil >from just beneath the crown to
the base of the root. The water wheel makes a wide, shallow hole. And, by disturbing
the upper 2 _ inch layer of soil with a water wheel planter you make it harder
to hold the “narrow column” of bare-roots in place. Valuable time
is wasted pulling soil back towards the top of the roots system (just beneath
the crown). The hand tool mentioned above http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/sept30/index.htmis ideal for setting the column-like bare-root. Another pointer is to not make
the curved part of the tool which grabs the plant roots too sharp - it can severe
the roots if it is not dulled somewhat.
E. Barclay Poling, Small Fruit Specialist
Campus Box 7609
Kilgore Hall - Office 252
NC State University
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7609
919.515.1195
919.515.2505 (fax)
919.418.9687 (mobile)
web site:
http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/
click HERE
to return to strawberry advisories page
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