Great ideas! Let's try to refine what we'd like, and propose some wordings. I'll try to make an inclusive list of proposed "climate" fields b y re-editing this post to reflect suggestions..
http://garden.org/thread/view_...
Let's add as many things as we can, instead of weeding things out. Dave can eliminate or combine features.
I think it breaks down into two different kinds of features, "regional climate" and "my habits". Here's a link to possible "Habits" fields:
http://garden.org/thread/view_....
- length of daylight hours (on the 21st of each month)
- Tropical, no chill period
- avg humidity
- pronounced wet or dry seasons (list which seasons)
- sometimes requires protection from rain
- sometimes requires irrigation or hand watering
- humidity extremes
- - - - -
profile search feature so we could look for people with problems/conditions similar to our own.
Climate Stats:
- - USDA Zone - average winter low temp
- - Sunset Zone
- - first & last frost dates (50% and 90%)
- - length of growing season
- - rainfall (per month, per season or per year)
- - degree days
- - avg. summer high temp.
- - Cloud cover days (per season or per month?)
- - Sun days
- - Rain days
Locale
- high winds cause problems
- flat / steep terrain
- valley, mountain, plains, semi-desert, desert, boggy
- urban, suburban, rural, forested, farm country
Soil:
- sandy soil
- heavy clay soil
- alkaline soil
- acid soil
- hardpan soil
- waterlogged soil / poor drainage
- Soil temperature (per season or per month or per week)
- Soil moisture
- I mostly grow in highly amended soil
Misc:
- length of tomato growing season (days above 50 degrees)
- Major Pests & diseases
