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Weather predictors--true or false?By David G. Hallauer Meadowlark District Extension agent, crops and soils/horticulture There are few topics so commonly discussed, and yet cursed, than the weather. Yet, for all our predictive capability, technology, and even expertise, it remains one of the more difficult things to nail down with any consistency. I guess that's what makes it good conversation fodder. Take for instance our weather this fall. Predictions and observations have been abundant. And while they're interesting to listen to, I guess we won't really know what to expect and plan for--until its well passed. That said, Kansas State University Climatologist, Mary Knapp, recently gave some insight in to two common 'predictors' that may not be as predictive as we thought. Consider the wooly bear caterpillar prediction. Folklore has it that when the brown band on the wooly bear is wide, the winter will be mild. Research says: not so fast. According to Knapp, this research indicates that when the wooly bears have a wide brown band, it's just as likely to be harsh. Why? Caterpillars reflect what's happening right now in fall or what happened when they hatched--not predict winter weather. The second 'old reliable' weather predictor is everyone's favorite squirrel burying practice. In other words, if the squirrels are burying a lot of nuts, its going to be a long cold winter. Again, Knapp says not so fast. In all actuality, they're burying lots of nuts because there are an abundance of nuts to be buried. And you thought weather was complicated. For more information about the Kansas Weather Data Library visit www.oznet.ksu.edu/wdl. More corn test results available Kansas Crop Performance Test results from corn tests in Doniphan, Marshall, and Riley (irrigated) counties were released in early October. Check out the results at http://kscroptests.agron.ksu.edu/ or request a copy from your District Extension Office. Fall tomatoes If you've still got tomato plants bearing--well good for you. A fresh tomato right now sounds pretty good. We've seem some pretty cool nights of late and each date that passes on the calendar means we're one day closer to frost. At that point, you want to have those tomatoes all harvested or you won't be happy with the results. If possible, let tomatoes ripen on the vine. But if a frost is forecast, you can ripen tomatoes off the vine as well. To do so, tomatoes, must have reached the 'mature green stage.' 'Mature green stage' tomatoes aren't yet red, but they are mature enough to harvest. Look for full-sized tomatoes with a white, star-shaped zone at the bottom end of the fruit. If harvesting at this stage, sort tomatoes into three groups for storage. Allocate fruit in to mostly red, just starting to turn, and those that are still green. If you find defects (like rots or skin breaks) discard. They're more trouble than they're worth. Store the early picked fruit by placing them on cardboard trays or cartons. Just be sure and use layers of newspaper to separate fruit if stacked. On occasion a tomato may rot and leak juice. The newspaper will keep the juice from contacting nearby or underlying fruit. Store all the groups of tomatoes at as close to 55 degrees as possible until needed. 10/20/08 Date: 10/13/08
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