Enjoy
the pastime of carving pumpkins for Halloween? You may have to shell
out a little more money for them this year thanks to Tropical Storm Lee
and Hurricane Irene. Both of those storms brought so much rain to parts
of the south and northeast that many pumpkin crops are now molding.
Several
areas in the Northeast have received 2 feet of rain since August 1st.
Then, in addition to that, many of the same states were under frost
advisories or freeze warnings last week. Since pumpkins sit on the
ground, as compared to say apples which hang high in trees away from the
flooding rains and ground frost,more rain and cold temperatures int he
forecast has some farmers worried. It doesn't have to be below freezing
for frost to develop. In fact, frost can occur when the air temperature
is say, 35-38°, but because cold air sinks, that causes the ground
temperature to be cooler than the air temperature. This creates frost on
already water-logged pumpkins.
But
it's not just the tropical systems that are entirely to blame. The wet
weather that came before Irene and Lee caused outbreaks of phytophthora,
a
water mold, which has been a main culprit in the pumpkin shortage,
according to the Associated Press.
The nations pumpkin crops
aren't a total loss, especially since only 1 of the top 5 pumpkin
producing states was majorly affected. California, Ohio, Illinois, and
Indiana round out that top five.
No comments:
Post a Comment