Rivenrock Gardens Cactus Blog

A customer wrote us a little note, they wanted us to know that they like the leaves we’re sending out… but they noted that the leaves seem paler than last year… here’s the note I sent back…

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   I’d say these hot temperatures might be making them paler.

   We’ve had nothing but weather in the mid eighties to over 100 for the last three months.  I’m giving them plenty of water, and they do seem to be enjoying themselves.  But the leaves tend to become paler to reduce solar gain. With a lighter color they are less likely to get as hot on a  100 degree day.  I’ve noticed that in the winter they are darker, I think in that case they are trying to become darker to bring in more heat from the sun on those weak-sunned winter days.

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  So we’re back again to the fact that agriculture cannot be as regulated as a factory with regulated environmental conditions. If I had my druthers it’d be seventy three degrees around the clock and year, and it would rain three nights a week each week through the year, and the rain would always fall between one AM and four AM (unless I need to go somewhere early, then I’d have to toggle the raintime).

   We had an old farmer down the road who told me twenty years ago  “that’s the great thing about farmin’, you never know what’s gonna happen”.   Almost anytime the conditions give us too much rain, too much cold, too little rain, or too much heat…. too many insects, or deer or gophers, I think about what that farming philosopher told me nearly half my life ago.