Weather- January 2010

[David Nicholson]

 Michael, I have only the vaguest recollection

[Lesley Cox]

As you say Susan, snow is just water, i.e. 2 of hydrogen and 1 of oxygen, so why, will someone please tell me, are plants supposed to get a nitrogen boost from snow. It seems to be an accepted fact but when ever or whoever I ask about it, I get blank stares.

("Little John is dead and gone, his face we'll see no more,
For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4")

[Sinchets]

Lesley, I remember watching a nature programme where they mentioned how the bodies of dead insects in the snow release amongst other things nitrogen as the snow melts and they begin to decay. The said that there were more insects than you would expect as they are carried on updraughts from lower altitudes. I usually put dilute feed in my first snowmelt water to mimic this.

[David Shaw]

Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere. Sulphur and carbon are also important gasses. I understand that snow absorbs these gasses and that they are released when the snow melts. Certainly as the snow melts the pH of watercourses goes down (becomes more acidic). I remember an incident at one Speyside salmon hatchery where all the fish were killed after a sudden thaw because the water became so acidic.

[ChrisB]

Does this have a bearing on the fact that the snow melts faster around plants?  I noticed big circles around my trees, shrubs and even perennials as it all began melting.  It looked as if the plants were giving off heat, but maybe it has more to do with nitrogen

[cohan]

Erm, I think the celebrations may have involved laying down and it is unlikely to be a coincidence that St. Valentines day is associated with 'love' 

yes, and if you lay down outdoors here in february, you may end up fertilising the soil with your flesh as well as more traditional, err, traces....

[cohan]

interesting thoughts about snow--hadnt heard about the nitrogen thing, and i was wondering about the acidity; melted snow is what my indoor plants get watered with for half the year, it seems, and acidic water is supposed to be preferable for potted plants (many using well/tap water are adding vinegar to acidify)..

unless you get it immediately after snowing, when it looks quite clean, the melted snow is full of debris-and i dont mean the car exhaust and garbage left behind in the city (black sludge in toronto )--out here there is a lot of organic matter, and especially spruce needles, i usually run it through a strainer before watering cacti and succulents ..

as for snow melting faster near trees, there is usually less snow hitting the ground below trees here, apart from effects of drifting, and some very open deciduous stands, such that there are now large bare areas in the woods after some warm days, even though the snow is still deep in the open; obviously dense conifers keep even more snow off the ground...
further, anything darker than the snow that protrudes, draws more heat to the spot, speeding melting-so stems, trunks, rocks etc, all melt out faster than surrounding unbroken snow..

ian, walking in snow is fine if you are just pleasantly strolling, but adds a huge amount of effort to even basic work--the last few weeks getting firewood in the bush was a terrific effort--i'd be huffing and puffing by the time i got to where i was going to saw, never mind hauling the pieces of logs out by hand, through shin to knee deep powdery slippy snow...lol
today was much easier, as the depth of snow has gone down in most spots, and being wet now it doesnt slide around as much
on the other hand, our packed down footpaths around the houses,esp in shadier spots  where they havent melted heavily, have just become smoother, and bear a strong resemblance to bobsleigh runs!

[Lesley Cox]

There was something in an ancient AGS Bulletin about a study someone had done to find out why soldanella flowers were able to come up through quite deep snow. I don't remember the details but as I recall, it was concluded that the soldanella did actually give off minute quantities of heat, enough to allow the flowers to force their way through. Many photos over the years, have been shown of soldanellas and other alpines and small plants, especially bulbs, flowering through snow, the stem having a hollowed area around it where the snow has melted. I've seen them on the Forum from time to time.

[cohan]

There was something in an ancient AGS Bulletin about a study someone had done to find out why soldanella flowers were able to come up through quite deep snow. I don't remember the details but as I recall, it was concluded that the soldanella did actually give off minute quantities of heat, enough to allow the flowers to force their way through. Many photos over the years, have been shown of soldanellas and other alpines and small plants, especially bulbs, flowering through snow, the stem having a hollowed area around it where the snow has melted. I've seen them on the Forum from time to time.

i've seen a lot of those images too; here, it could only happen if it was a late snowfall (common) which fell after the winter snow had melted and the ground thawed, since before the initial snow melt, the ground is frozen solid very deep, nothing could grow..

[ranunculus]

SOLDANELLA THROUGH THE SNOW

[angie]

Isn't that lovely .
Angie

[Anthony Darby]

Wow!

[Ragged Robin]

Great to see colour Cliff, your Soldanella shrug off the snow 

[ashley]

Does this have a bearing on the fact that the snow melts faster around plants?  I noticed big circles around my trees, shrubs and even perennials as it all began melting.  It looked as if the plants were giving off heat, but maybe it has more to do with nitrogen

Since plant metabolism is not 100% efficient waste energy is emitted, partly/mainly as heat.  Also dark objects absorb light then re-emit the energy as longer wavelength heat that tends to melt the surrounding snow.

[ChrisB]

Thanks all for the explanations.  Its been a puzzle to me for a long time about the patches that appear around plants.  So for a soldanella to do that is just amazing.  Thanks for the pic, its lovely.