Living in a supremely foggy area....hampering photosynthesis for Trident Maple?

sheepinajeep

Hi there,

I noticed that a few other people on this board are from the San Francisco bay area, and so am I. I just happen to live on the coast where it seems like there is always a lingering amount of just enough fog to effectively block out rays from the sun.

Literally, I went to a plant nursery perhaps 3 miles east of me....all the plants were bathed in sun. My condo? Nope, not a ray of sun.

My worry is that my plants are not getting enough light on a constant basis. Yes, sometimes there is sun, without a hint of fog. Lately, it doesn't seem to be that way.

We live on the first floor of a condo complex. My ficus and scheffleras are indoors....they get shifted to the east facing window sill during the day, where sometimes the sun is able to get through the fog and touch them with light.

I just bought a starter trident maple from the nursery. Kinda worried about it just because it will be outdoors on the porch, which doens't get direct direct light from above just because the upstairs neighbor's porch is right above ours. So if the sun is out, the plant will get a slanting sort of light, as the porch faces south.

Man, it just feels like I am living in the wrong condo!

I know that there must be SOME photosynthesis going on, but not sure if there is enough.....meaning, will the Trident Maple be okay? Since he came from the nursery just down the street, I figured he was acclimated to the weather, including the fog. I am not too worried about the other plants....they seem to be doing good. Would hate to lose the Trident Maple so soon if the fog doesn't let up!

Thanks for the opinions people!

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Aurelius

Inadequate sun will result in longer internodes and larger leaves.
So will excess nitrogen though.

Jgs bonsai

I live in the fog belt just south of San Francisco. My experence is that the trident maples do fine but they do grow slower that those that have more sun and heat. I would not worry about your tree growing well. Many growers from the hot areas have significant leaf burn because of those hot days. Many of the hot area growers I know are envious since my trees don't experence the leaf burn.

JGS

cbobgo

do you have plants and trees growing around your condo? If so,then there must be sufficient light getting through.

As mentioned, your leaves may be a little larger, and you might not get as strong growth as possible, but they should grow ok.

If you miss the sun, drive on up the road to visit us in Lake County. It hit 107 degrees yesterday!

- bob

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sheepinajeep

Yes, we do have tree and plant growth around here....but those plants get more sun than mine do! I just hope enough sun manages to slant at an angle for the trident maple!

Yeah, you show off's out there ....I am SO envious that you have warmer weather! the weather over here has been overcast and foggy....sometimes I run around in a sweatshirt and I am actually making a scarf for the upcoming cold months...much to the horror of some of my other friends, who are sweltering in 90+ degree weather....but still, it would be nice to have SOME sort of warmth over 65 degrees!

Well, here's to hoping that the maple does well!

Emperor Fish

I have my tridents in FULL shade now - they grow much faster there.

Oh, I live in England btw.

Regards,

Fish.

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