Weather prediction for 2021 and veg recommendations

Skylarks

Morning all,

This time last year, we had glorious sunshine and we ended up with a hot, hot summer. Bit too hot 🥵 for me, great for my tomatoes. I purchased two other tomato seeds for this year and so far, it’s been much cooler this year 🌧 💨.

Do you think we will have a much cooler summer this year? 

I see that broccoli prefers cooler temperatures. In my first year of growing veg, my broccoli failed miserably. Now I know about hoops and mesh (from reading this forum), I’m tempted to give them another go. 

What other veg do better in cooler weather? 

Obelixx

Nobody can predict with any accuracy what the weather will do this year so just plan to grow what you like to eat and take the necessary precautions re netting against butterflies and pigeons for brassicas and selecting sunny spots for tomatoes and the like plus cooler spots for salad leaves and rhubarb.

herbaceous

Sunspot Cycle 25 is just beginning which indicates lower sunspot activity and cooler temperatures here on Earth on average, however the greenhouse gas index is rising and may have an adverse effect on temperature causing more heat and atmospheric disturbance.

I have just licked my finger and stuck it in the air and decided I will be making green tomato chutney this autumn.  I have been sneezing and my nose is running which usually means high winds and more rain.

Honestly I would go with @Obelixx except to say maybe stick to stuff you can preserve just in case 

Hostafan1

I predict it won't be " too hot " for me. 

BenCotto

I like Tomasz Schafenaker. I find he gives you the best weather.

BobTheGardener

The only thing which we can be fairly certain of is that in some places on Earth, the weather will likely be slightly more extreme than last year, as we continue down the global warming path.  I'm expecting hot spells to be hotter, cold spell to be colder, windy days to be windier and more flood and drought events.  However, because local weather is inherently unpredictable, we may not see all or indeed any of those this year in the UK, but someone, somewhere, absolutely will.

Other than the things Obelisk mentions, I've found myself growing a wider range of veg over the last few years as I know some types will fail due to local weather.  Last year was a disaster here for winter squash.  All I would suggest is to not put all of your effort into just a few types of veg as some things may not do well, leaving you with little or nothing for all of your hard work and careful nurturing.  With a wider range, you can almost guarantee you will have some good crops if other things fail.  This applies whether you believe in climate change or not, as plant pests and diseases are always at work.  For example, fill a greenhouse with only tomatoes, the veg plot full of only potatoes and along comes blight - what are you then going to harvest?  You can't even compost the diseased remains!..

Skylarks

Your weather prediction crack me up 😂. Yeah, I asked for that. Keep them coming though as they are amusing and I can take it 🤪

Thanks for the good advice about variety. I’ll have two raised beds soon and will still have my fabric grow bags so should be able to expand on the variety of veg to grow. 

BobTheGardener

Yeah, science can be fun!

Fire

It would be a bit more confident in predictions than the above. We can't tell yet, but usually the Uk summer is dependent on where the jet stream settles in. If it sits to the north of the UK we get more continental weather for the summer, influenced by African warm fronts to the south of us. If it sits further to the south of us we get more a wet, cool influence from the Atlantic. You can often tell by early July how things are going to pan out for the duration.

I find it good to check the actual data, rather than general impressions. It maybe that the whole of the Uk doesn't get a 'good' or a 'bad' summer, as these things can change regionally. My aunt remembers how good summer were depending on how many picnics she had. Comparing to average long term temperatures and rainfall is more useful. People often think season is cooler and miserable than normal when it's bang on the long term average.

BobTheGardener

Yes, I use those for my astronomy planning, but there's absolutely no way to forecast ahead far enough ahead to enable one to decide which seeds to buy.

Skylarks

The jet stream is interesting. Unfortunately, as Bob as mentioned, it will be a bit late in the season when it comes to seeds. I’ll just have to go with the flow