We've added an element to our Forum Profile to gather each user's
AHS Heat Zone. This optional field is the complement to
USDA Growing Zone. While the
USDA Zone records the average
minimum temperature, the American Horticultural Society's
AHS Heat Zone rating reflects the number of days (in the average year) that you'd expect to experience temperatures over 86F (30C). This is the temperature above which many plants begin to experience heat-related stress.
You can enter this value in your user profile by going to
User CP->
Edit Profile. It's in the Additional Information section, down below USDA Zone.
There are a couple ways of finding the AHS Heat Zone for your own climate:- Lookup by Zipcode (easy for US zip code)
- Lookup by Map #1(this is in PDF form, so if you don't have the free Acrobat Reader Plugin, this method won't work)
Lookup Map #2 (this is rougher, but available without the plugin - Guesstimate using the Chart
"The 12 zones of the map indicate the average number of days each year that a given region experiences "heat days"-temperatures over 86 degrees (30 degrees Celsius). That is the point at which plants begin suffering physiological damage from heat. The zones range from
PHP Code:
AHS HEAT ZONE: # Heat Days
1: 0
2: 1 to 7
3: 8 to 14
4: 15 to 30
5: 31 to 45
6: 46 to 60
7: 61 to 90
8: 91 to 120
9: 121 to 150
10: 151 to 180
11: 180 to 210
12: More than 210
